I went aboard her in June 1980.
She was my first ship as a Sonar Tech.
I was on board for a 6-month NATO, spending Christmas in Portsmouth. I left her in Jan 1981 for one year of French Language Training. It was always easy to identify her with the lattice TACAN mast.
At the time, she was the only French ship in our Navy. Her crew was around 93% francophone and it was a great posting. I enjoyed every minute of my 30 months on board her. She was the first of our old ships to receive the DELEX upgrades. (DEstroyer Life EXtension) I loved working the bugs out of the new equipment.
I worked as Navy Quality Assurance representative from 1990-1993.
This was very interesting work, ranging from weld or paint inspections to systems flash-up and final acceptance trials.
<-These white trailers are the Navy offices where I worked with the other Navy Reps.
After 5 years in ship construction and trials I finally got posted to a CPF. These ships are hotrods that ride flat through almost any weather.
Ashore for four more years in trials and one year in our Engineering School I was glad to be back aboard ship. We joined the Standing Naval Force Atlantic in July 2001 and on Oct 9, 2001 we were sent to the Persian Gulf as Canada's Vanguard Unit on Op Apollo. A month later the Canadian Task Force joined us. We returned home on Feb 11, 2002. In May '02 I was posted back ashore, coordinating equipment readiness trials for these ships.
This was my fourth inland posting and the first one unaccompanied. I lived in Cartier Suites, an apartment hotel just a few blocks from the C&PO's Mess.
If anyone wonders why a Navy CPO1 is so hard nosed and loud, it's because they are just reminding our officers of just who has balls.
It had been a fun 33 years. I will fondly look back on the great fellowship amongst shipmates. I will always be thankful for the hundreds of places I'd never have otherwise visited. I'll always remember how great it felt inside to have helped another sailor or his family through a difficult problem. Some sailors will never know that I was even envolved... And that's just fine.
I'm lucky to retire with few regrets and I'm happy that I was so quickly replaced by an excellent new Chief.
Now, lets see how many pension cheques I can live to spend!