HMCS Athabaskan (R79)
HMCS Athabaskan (R79) was a Royal Canadian Navy Tribal-class destroyer built at Halifax Shipyards. She was laid down in 1943, launched in 1946, and commissioned on 20 January 1948. Known as Athabaskan II, she began her career as a training ship on the Canadian west coast before the Korean War.
In February 1949, a large part of the crew staged a protest at a fueling stop in Manzanillo, Mexico. The captain handled the situation calmly and avoided using the term mutiny.
Athabaskan served three tours in the Korean War (1950–1953), taking part in patrols, anti-submarine work, escorts, and bombardments, and earning the battle honour Korea 1950–53.
After Korea, she was refitted and recommissioned on 25 October 1954 as a destroyer escort. She took part in training cruises and NATO exercises, and in 1959 weathered a major storm. In 1963 she collided with HMCS Bonaventure, and one of her final actions was rescuing the crew of the Liberian tanker Amphialos after it sank near Liverpool.
Athabaskan was placed in reserve in 1964 and decommissioned on 21 April 1966. She was sold in 1969 and scrapped in 1970 in La Spezia, Italy.
Her motto was "We Fight as One," and her typical crew numbered about 190.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 13:23 (CET).