HMCS Kootenay (DDE 258) was a that served in the Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

 from 1959-1996.

She was the fifth ship in her class and the second vessel to carry the designation .

Kootenay was laid down on 21 August 1952 at Burrard Dry Dock

Burrard Dry Dock

Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia . Together with the neighboring North Van Ship Repair yard and the Yarrows Ltd...

, North Vancouver

North Vancouver, British Columbia

There are two municipalities in the Greater Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada, that use the name North Vancouver. These are:*The City of North Vancouver...

 and launched on 15 June 1954. She was officially commissioned into the RCN on 7 March 1959 and carried the pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 258 as a destroyer escort

Destroyer escort

A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...

.

On 23 October 1969 Kootenay suffered the worst peacetime accident in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

 when one of her gearboxes exploded. The explosion and the ensuing fire killed 9 crew members and injured at least 53 others.

Kootenay was selected by the RCN for the Improved Restigouche (IRE) project and completed this refit on 7 January 1972. She was also selected as one of 10 destroyers in the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) project and completed this refit on 21 October 1983.

In 1989 Kootenay collided with a merchant ship and suffered damage to her bow which was repaired using the bow from her sister ship .

She was paid off from active service in the RCN on 18 November 1995.

She was reportedly sunk as an artificial reef

Artificial reef

An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing....

 off Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in 2001.

Ship's Bell

The Christening Bells Project at CFB Esquimalt

CFB Esquimalt

Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters....

's Naval and Military Museum includes information from the ship's bell of HMCS Kootenay (2nd) 1959 - 1995, which was used for baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

of babies onboard ship 1959 - 1988. The bell is currently held by the CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum, Esquimalt, BC.

Commanding officers

Dates		Name
7 March 1959	11 July 1960	Cdr R.J. Pickford
11 July 1960	19 September 1962	Cdr H. Shorten
19 September 1962	15 January 1965	Cdr D.H. Ryan
15 January 1965	1 June 1966	Cdr R.G. Pratt
1 June 1966	1 July 1967	Cdr W.P. Rikely
1 July 1967	15 November 1968	Cdr C.G. McMorris
15 November 1968	21 March 1969	LCdr M. Tremblay
21 March 1969	14 January 1970	Cdr N St.C.Norton
No commanding officer during IRE refit
12 January 1972	17 February 1973	Cdr J.L. Creech
17 February 1973	15 June 1974	Cdr R.H. Kirby
15 June 1974	16 July 1976	Cdr J. Spalding
16 July 1976	26 June 1978	Cdr B.P. Moore
26 June 1978	11 August 1980	Cdr B. Johnston
11 August 1980	28 June 1982	Cdr B.H. Beckett
28 June 1982	9 January 1983	Cdr S.K. Jessen
No commanding officer during DELEX refit
24 January 1984	5 July 1985	Cdr P.C. Young
5 July 1985	30 July 1987	Cdr B.R. Melville
30 July 1987	21 July 1989	Cdr J. Dickson
No commanding officer whilst bow was repaired
21 July 1991	25 May 1992	Cdr J.D. Fraser
25 May 1992	31 July 1992	LCdr M.R. Bellows
31 July 1992	21 June 1994	Cdr D.J. Kyle
21 June 1994	18 December 1996	Cdr R.H. Dawe