HMCS Okanagan

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HMCS Okanagan (S74) was a Canadian Oberon-class submarine that served with the Royal Canadian Navy and later with Canadian Forces Maritime Command. She spent most of her career on the Atlantic coast and was retired in 1998, then scrapped in 2011.

Design in plain terms
- Class and type: Oberon-class submarine
- Displacement: about 2,030 tons surfaced; about 2,410 tons submerged
- Size: roughly 89.9 meters long (295 ft), about 8.1 meters wide
- Propulsion: two diesel-electric engines with two shafts
- Speed: about 12 knots on the surface; about 17.5 knots submerged
- Armament: eight 21-inch torpedo tubes (six bow, two stern) with around 30 torpedoes total
- Sensors: multiple sonar systems for anti-submarine work
- Notable Canadian changes: modified to use US torpedoes in some tubes and later upgraded with new fire control and sensors during refits

Construction and career highlights
- Built at Chatham Dockyard in England
- Keel laid: 25 March 1965
- Launched: 17 September 1966
- Commissioned: 22 June 1968
- Based mainly with Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) on Canada’s east coast
- Early years included exchange programs with the Royal Navy to share training and tactics

Key events and upgrades
- 1973: Collided with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker Grey Rover off Scotland, causing damage to Okanagan’s fin and mast but no injuries
- Late 1970s–1980s: Underwent the Submarine Operational Update Program (SOUP) refit to modernize its systems
- Upgrades included new sonar and periscopes, improved communications and fire-control gear
- Torpedo tubes were updated to allow Mark 48 torpedoes (together with other supporting changes)
- 1980s–1990s: Retained in frontline service after SOUP and continued to operate with MARCOM as a capable fleet unit
- 1990: Became the first Canadian submarine to cruise the Great Lakes
- 1991–1994: Retasked for patrols and duties for federal agencies (e.g., Fisheries and Oceans, Solicitor General)

Decommissioning and fate
- Decommissioned: 12 September 1998
- Fate: Sold for scrap in 2011
- Tow: Taken to a scrapyard in Port Maitland, Ontario, for dismantling

Summary
HMCS Okanagan served for three decades as part of Canada’s Oberon-class submarines, mainly on the Atlantic coast. After upgrades in the 1980s, she remained a part of Canada’s naval force into the late 1990s, before being retired and scrapped in 2011.