HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331) - Construction

Construction

The Halifax-class frigates of which Vancouver belongs, was ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1977 as a replacement for the aging Saint Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie and Annapolis classes of Destroyer Escorts (DDEs), which were all tasked with anti-submarine warfare. In 1983, the federal government approved the budget for the design and construction of the first batch of six new frigates of which Vancouver was a part, out of twelve that were eventually built. To reflect the changing long term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the Halifax-class frigates was designed as a general purpose warship with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.

The design of the Halifax-class frigates reflected many advances in ship construction, such as a move to a prefabricated unit construction method, where the ship, is assembled from prefabricated units in a drydock, instead of the traditional keel-laying. Furthermore, the design of Halifax class frigate incorporated many new technical improvements. For example, the Halifax class is the first to be equipped with the Integrated Machinery Control System(IMCS), which allows for a very high degree of computer control for the machinery plant.

Vancouver was 'laid down' on 19 May 1988 at Saint John Shipbuilding in New Brunswick, the second ship of her class. She was launched on 8 July 1989. After trials, she was commissioned on 23 August 1993 in her namesake city of Vancouver alongside Canada Place, third ship of the class, as sister ship HMCS Toronto commissioned almost a month before her. After commissioning, she was assigned CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia on Vancouver Island as the first Halifax-class frigate to be based out of CFB Esquimalt.