Robert W. Mackay

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HMCS OKANAGAN, HMCS RAINBOW–50 and counting!

July 25, 2018 by Robert Mackay 1 Comment

It’s been 50 years since HMCS OKANAGAN, the third of Canada’s O-boats, sailed from Gosport for workups. And in November this year, the Submarine Association of Canada (West) will celebrate the anniversary of her commissioning in the Chatham Dockyard.

The occasion, November 2-4, will also mark HMCS RAINBOW’S 50th. More about her in a later post.

OKANAGAN went on to an illustrious career in the RCN, most of her operations taking place in the Atlantic out of Halifax. Along with her sister boats, OJIBWA and ONONDAGA, her life was extended by a major update of periscopes, sonar, torpedo tubes, etc in the late 1980s that kept her operating until the late ’90s.

One of OKANAGAN’S last tasks was the search for and locating of the flight recorders of Swissair 111 which sadly crashed off Peggy’s Cove in 1998.

Many of her crew, now known as “The Crunch Bunch,” will no doubt reminisce about an unhappy day in 1973 when the OKANAGAN had a run-in with the propellers of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Grey Rover.

HMCS OKANAGAN was paid off in 1998, and sold for scrap. Both her sister O-boats, though, are museum pieces in Ontario and Quebec. They can be toured by the public, and will give an idea of life in what some have called “the last and best” of the O-boats.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Canadian submarines, Oberon class, RCN, submariners, submarines

Write What You Know… “Terror on the ALERT”

September 5, 2016 by Robert Mackay Leave a Comment

Terror on the ALERT comes from my time in British and Canadian submarines. A mere dog watch, compared to many of my former shipmates. I 11 B Okan BlockHouse 1968was extremely lucky to find myself, in 1968, as ‘fourth hand’ as the Brits would say; in Canadian parlance, Operations Officer in Her Majesty’s Canadian Submarine OKANAGAN. The OK was the third and last of Canada’s Oberon class submarines, top-flight boats that served Canada well for more than thirty years. Regarding OKANAGAN, I can’t put it better than has Don “Buster” Brown, outside wrecker on commissioning, and later in his career Maritime Command Chief Petty Officer:

“HMCS/m Okanagan was the most glamourous and up-to-date O-boat ever built in her time and was, sadly, the last submarine (and vessel) to be built in Chatham dockyard’s long history of submarine construction.”

OKANAGAN commissioned on June 22nd, 1968, and less than a week later sailed for work-ups in Faslane, Scotland.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Buster Brown, Canadian submarines, Faslane, HM Dockyard Chatham, HMCS OKANAGAN, Maritime Command, Oberon class, RCN, submarines, Terror on the Alert, workups

HMCS OJIBWA, first of Canada’s O-boats

February 2, 2016 by Robert Mackay Leave a Comment

OjibwayOJIBWA was commissioned for the first time in 1965 in HM Dockyard Chatham, England. She served in the RCN until May 1988.

She is now at rest and on display, a magnificent museum piece located at Port Burwell on the shore of Lake Erie. See the Museum of Naval History.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Canadian submarines, Oberon class, Ojibwa, submarines

The Korean War, looking back

February 23, 2021 By Robert Mackay Leave a Comment

Seventy Years Ago on the Korean Peninsula

February 14, 2021 By Robert Mackay 2 Comments

The Battle of Moreuil Wood, 101 Years Later

March 24, 2019 By Robert Mackay Leave a Comment

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Forces With History" is published via email 1-2 times a month. It deals with issues of interest regarding Canadian armed forces, modern and historical. Please give it a try if so inclined--comments and feedback are always welcome!

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Contact Info

From saddles and spurs to periscopes and North-Seekers, Robert W. Mackay is an avid military, naval and wartime historian.

He is currently working on a mystery.

T: 604-541-9098
E: info@robertwmackay.ca

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