HMCS Chaudière
Destroyer Escort · Canada · Lost 1992 · The British Columbia Coast
A retired Restigouche-class destroyer escort became the first Canadian warship sunk as an artificial reef, scuttled in Sechelt Inlet in 1992.
The Vessel and Her Loss
HMCS Chaudière, a Restigouche-class destroyer escort commissioned in 1959, served the Royal Canadian Navy on both coasts before decommissioning in 1974. In 1992 the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia purchased her for one dollar plus tax and, after stripping her of hazardous materials, scuttled her in Sechelt Inlet on December 5, 1992, as the society's first destroyer conversion to an artificial reef. Environment Canada conducted baseline and follow-up monitoring surveys of the site in 1993 and 1994.
Vessel
- 1959
- DDE 235
- Halifax Shipyards Ltd.
- Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Steel
- 366 ft
- 42 ft
- Not established
- Steam turbine, twin screw
- Royal Canadian Navy / Canadian Forces
Loss
- December 5, 1992
- Intentional sinking
- Sechelt Inlet, British Columbia
- Sechelt Inlet
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- Not established
- Intact, colonized by marine growth including plumose anemones and glass tunicates
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
Position
- Not established
- Position not established
- Sechelt Inlet, British Columbia
General location in Sechelt Inlet is documented; a precise coordinate was not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Documented (85/100)
A precise surveyed position within Sechelt Inlet was not confirmed in the sources reviewed.
Royal Canadian Navy, official ship histories
Build, service history, and decommissioning date.
Environment Canada / Government of Canada Publications
Scuttling date and location, and post-sinking monitoring surveys.
