HMCS Yukon was a Mackenzie-class destroyer that served in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) and later the Canadian Forces. She was the first Canadian naval unit to carry the name. She was named for the Yukon River that runs from British Columbia through Yukon and into Alaska in the United States.

Crew portrait in July 1964
History
Canada
Name	Yukon
Namesake	Yukon River
Ordered	1957
Builder	Burrard Dry Dock Ltd., North Vancouver
Laid down	25 October 1959
Launched	27 July 1961
Commissioned	25 May 1963
Decommissioned	3 December 1993
Refit	1984–85 (DELEX)
Identification	DDE 263
Motto	“Only the fit survive”[1]
Fate	Sold to the San Diego Oceans Foundation. Sank at Sunken Harbor off San Diego in July 2000.
Notes	Gules, a bend wavy or charged with a like bendlet azure, and over all a Malamute sled dog, proper[1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Mackenzie-classdestroyer
Displacement	2,880 t (2,830 long tons) full load
Length	366 ft (111.6 m)
Beam	42 ft (12.8 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.1 m)
Installed power	2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 30,000 shp (22,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 shafts 2 × English-Electric geared steam turbines
Speed	28 kn (51.9 km/h; 32.2 mph)
Complement	228 regular, 170–210 training
Sensors and processing systems	1 × SPS-12 air search radar 1 × SPS-10B surface search radar 1 × Sperry Mk.2 navigation radar 1 × SQS-501 high frequency bottom profiler sonar 1 × SQS-502 high frequency mortar control sonar 1 × SQS-503 hull mounted active search sonar 1 × SQS-11 hull mounted active search sonar
Electronic warfare & decoys	1 × DAU (replaced by SRD 501) high frequency direction finder 1 × WLR 1C radar analyzer 1 × UPD 501 radar detector
Armament	1 × 3-inch/70 Mk.6 Vickers twin mount forward 1 × 3-inch/50 Mk.33 FMC twin mount aft 2 × Mk NC 10 Limbo ASW mortars 2 × single Mk.2 “K-gun” launchers with homing torpedoes 1 × 103 mm Bofors illumination rocket launcher

Entering service in 1963, she was primarily used as a training ship on the west coast. She was decommissioned in 1993 and sold for use as an artificial reef and sunk as such at Sunken Harbor off San Diego, California in 2000.

. . . HMCS Yukon (DDE 263) . . .

The Mackenzie class was an offshoot of the St. Laurent-class design. Initially planned to be an improved version of the design, budget difficulties led to the Canadian government ordering a repeat of the previous Restigouche class,[2] with improved habitability and better pre-wetting, bridge and weatherdeck fittings to better deal with extreme cold.[3] The original intention was to give the Mackenzie class variable depth sonar during construction, but would have led to delays of up to a year in construction time, which the navy could not accept.[4]

The Mackenzie-class vessels measured 366 feet (112 m) in length, with a beam of 42 feet (13 m) and a draught of 13 feet 6 inches (4.11 m).[5][6] The Mackenzies displaced2,880 tonnes (2,830 long tons) fully loaded and had a complement of 290.[5][note 1]

The class was powered by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers connected to the two-shaft English-Electric geared steam turbines creating 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW).[5] This gave the ships a maximum speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph).[6]

The most noticeable change for the Mackenzies was the replacement of the forward 3-inch (76 mm)/50 calibre Mk 22 guns of the St. Laurent design[note 2] with a dual Vickers 3-inch/70 calibre Mk 6 gun mount and the presence of a fire-control director atop the bridge superstructure. The bridge was raised one full deck higher than on previous classes in order to see over the new gun mount. The class did retain the rear dual 3-inch/50 calibre gun mount and for anti-submarine warfare, the class was provided with two Mk 10 Limbo mortars.[3] The ships were initially fitted with Mark 43 torpedoes to supplement their anti-submarine capability, but were quickly upgraded to the Mark 44 launched from a modified depth charge thrower. This was to give the destroyers the ability to combat submarines from a distance.[7]

. . . HMCS Yukon (DDE 263) . . .

. . . HMCS Yukon (DDE 263) . . .