Toronto harbour: HMCS Haida Tribal Class Destroyer 1957
During World War 2, the Tribals saw considerable action in every theatre of war from the Arctic to Okinawa and their exploits are legend in naval history. In the fall of 1943, HAIDA operated out of Scapa Flow with the Royal Navy to assist with convoy escorting duties to North Russia on the Murmansk run. On Dec 26, 1943 she was present at the Battle of North Cape when the German battle cruiser SCHARNHORST was sunk by the British Home Fleet. Early in 1944, HAIDA joined the Tenth Destroyer Flotilla operating out of Plymouth England. The objective of this mixed force of British, Canadian and Polish warships was to clear enemy shipping off the coast of France in anticipation of the D-Day landings. During this period, HAIDA achieved great fame by destroying more enemy vessels than any other ship in the R.C.N. It was also during this period that her sister ship H.M.C.S. ATHABASKAN was sunk with the loss of 128 lives.
Following a refit in Halifax in late 1944, HAIDA rejoined the Fleet in Scapa Flow in early 1945 and spent the rest of the war operating in the Arctic and on the coast of Norway. After the surrender of Germany, the ship was overhauled to operate in the Pacific but the war ended before her conversion was completed. In 1947, HAIDA was recommissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy and worked on the East Coast and in the Arctic. In November 1949, HAIDA was doing maneuovers off the coast of Bermuda when an American B-29 bomber went down. She was first on the scene and lowered her seaboat once again to rescue the downed airmen. As a result, the ship's company received many letters of congratulations. The co-pilot of the aircraft was originally from Texas and for this reason, HAIDA's crew were bestowed with certificates naming them 'Honourary Texans'.