page_title: History of the Royal Canadian Navy
section_title: Action post-1968
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Royal Canadian Navy / History / Action post-1968
caption_attribution_description: Departing for the Persian Gulf as part of the Coalition forces. A stirring and emotional sight, watching ships going to war. www.navy.forces.gc.ca/athabaskan/0/0-s_eng.asp Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada - August 1990.
context_page_description: The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces. Over the course of its history, the RCN has played a role in the First World War, contributed significantly to the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War, and was a part of NATO's force buildup during the Cold War. In 1968, the RCN was amalgamated with the Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force to form what is today the unified Canadian Armed Forces. The naval force was known as Maritime Command until 2011, when the environmental command was renamed as the Royal Canadian Navy.
context_section_description: On 23 October 1969 at 8:21 AM HMCS Kootenay suffered the worst peacetime accident in the history of the RCN during routine full-power trials when her starboard gearbox reached an estimated temperature of 650 degrees Celsius and exploded. The explosion and the ensuing fire killed 9 crew members and injured at least 53 others.
  MARCOM provides vessels for Standing Naval Force Atlantic and for exercises off Norway in support of Canada's defence obligations for northern Scandinavia under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), patrols the north Atlantic and Pacific oceans in support of Canadian sovereignty, and is tasked by NATO with anti-submarine patrols for the northwest Atlantic.
  In August–September 1990, MARCOM hurriedly modernized and deployed the Restigouche-class destroyer escort HMCS Terra Nova, the Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Athabaskan, and the replenishment ship HMCS Protecteur to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Shield and later Operation Desert Storm, where the Canadian Navy led the coalition maritime support operation. HMCS Huron relieved the task force and was the first coalition ship to visit Kuwait City at the end of the war.
  During the mid-to-late 1990s, MARCOM provided vessels for a NATO task force patrolling the Adriatic Sea off the former Yugoslavia.  As part of Operation Apollo, Canada's military contribution to the international campaign against terrorism, 20 MARCOM vessels have been patrolling in the Arabian Sea in recent years.
  In 1995, Canada was involved in a minor non-shooting skirmish with a few European countries in a conflict over fishing rights that was nicknamed the Turbot War.
  On 4 May 2010, Senators William Rompkey and Hugh Segal announced their intention to introduce a motion into the Senate asking the Canadian Government to rename Maritime Command as the Canadian Navy, in order to recognize the Canadian Naval Centennial.  As of May 2010, the executive curl on officers uniforms have been restored.
  USS Ronald Reagan and other U.S. Third Fleet ships participated in the International Fleet Review commemorating the 100th birthday of the Royal Canadian Navy in Victoria, British Columbia. The naval review took place 9–12 June 2010, and it involved 21 naval ships and more than 8,000 naval personnel from Canada, France, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Joining Ronald Reagan for the naval review were the cruiser Chosin, the destroyer Sampson, and the frigate Ford.
  On 29 June 2010, the Canadian Navy celebrated its 100th anniversary in Halifax, Nova Scotia. 18 vessels from several countries took part in the celebrations, including USS Wasp and HMS Ark Royal. The warships were reviewed by Queen Elizabeth II, the Duke of Edinburgh, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
  As part of the Canadian navy's centennial celebrations, SONAR, the naval mascot, which is based on a Newfoundland dog, was "recruited" into the navy in 2010.
  On 12 May 2011, HMCS Charlottetown came under fire by small craft off the coast of Libya. This was the first time that a Canadian naval vessel had been under hostile attack since the Korean War.
caption: HMCS Athabaskan departs Halifax for the Persian Gulf as a part of Coalition forces, August 1990. Canada deployed three ships in support of Operation Desert Shield, and later Operation Desert Storm.
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