Sinking Ships and Saving Men
In a world of casual superlatives, HMCS Haida is indeed one-of-a-kind. The 3,000-ton steel-plated warship is the last Tribal class destroyer left in the world. Twenty-seven were built for the Canadian, British and Australian navies during World War II. More than that, the Haida was quite simply the best Canadian warship that ever drew water.

Named after the Haida people of British Columbia, the great ship was launched 1943. In 20 years of service, the Haida and her crew sank more enemy tonnage than any other ship in the Royal Canadian navy.
In an early skirmish, the Haida and sister ship Athabascan ran into two German destroyers. The Athabascan took a direct hit and sank. The Haida sank one of the enemy destroyers and ran the other one aground before turning back to pick up survivors.

The following year the Haida sank 11 enemy ships and one U-boat. After the end of the war, Haida still made the headlines. This time she rescued the 18 crew members of an American B-29 aircraft which crashed into the sea off Bermuda. The Haida crew were made honorary Texans for their timely intervention.

Between 1952 and 1954, Haida saw action in the Korean War and destroyed two communist supply trains with an off-shore bombardment. But a decade later, the Haida only escaped the scrapyard when a group of businessmen collected $20,000 and brought her to Toronto.
Previously moored in Toronto, the Haida has been in St. Catherines to be refitted and polished up for a Summer 2003 permanent exhibition as a National Historic Site in Hamilton.