Timeline

1941

Aug. 30, Construction of Haida begins in Newcastle, England.

1943

Aug. 30, Haida is commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy.
Oct.–Dec., Haida escorts supply convoys during the Murmansk Run to Russia.

1944

Feb. 15, Haida joins the 10th Destroyer Flotilla in Plymouth, England, and is charged with the task of clearing enemy vessels off the coast of France for D-Day landings in the province of Normandy, France.
Apr. 26, Haida sinks Elbing Class Destroyer T-29 (German).
Apr. 29, Sister ship HMCS Athabaskan torpedoed by German destroyer and sinks. Haida forces the enemy away and rescues 48 Athabaskan survivors.
Jun. 6, (D-Day) Haida protects allied convoy lanes to the Normandy beachheads in Operation Neptune.
Jun. 24, Haida and HMS Eskimo sink German submarine U-971 in the Bay of Biscay and rescued fifty-three Germans.
Aug. 6, Haida, along with other destroyers, sink nine enemy vessels in the English Channel. Two of Haida's gunners are killed by a gun explosion in the Y-turret (the only casualties in her sixty-year history).
Sep. 29, Haida arrives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for a rest and refit.

1945

May 8, War in Europe ends, and Haida assists with the liberation of Norway.

1949

Nov. 19, Haida rescues crew from a downed American B-29 bomber off the coast of Bermuda. Haida begins a major refit to become a Destroyer Escort (i.e., anti-submarine vessel).

1952

Haida's refit is completed.
Nov., Haida's first tour of duty in Korea with United Nations forces.

1953

Dec., Haida's second tour of duty in Korea.

1954

Oct., Haida's duty in Korea is finished.

1955

Aug., Haida becomes part of the First Canadian Destroyer Squadron and participates in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) training exercises for the next five years.

1960–1962

Sep., Haida joins the Canadian Fleet Atlantic and participates in NATO missions in Canada and Bermuda.

1963

Oct. 11, Haida is decommissioned and a brief ceremony is held as the crew leave the ship for the last time.

1964–1970

Haida is spared from the scrapyard by Haida, Inc. and is moved to Toronto, Ontario. Later opened as a floating museum and is purchased from Haida, Inc. by the Ontario government.

1971–2002

Haida is towed to Ontario Place in Toronto and remains a museum.

1984

Haida is declared a National Historic Site of Canada.

2002

Haida is purchased by Parks Canada and undergoes major hull and structural restoration in Port Weller, Ontario.

2003

Haida is moved to her new home in Hamilton, Ontario, and opens as a museum once again.

Source: "HMCS Haida." Department of Parks Canada. 2009. Ottawa: Ministry of Public Works and Government Services Canada.