Iroquois Class Destroyers
Built in Quebec, and put into service by the Canadian Armed Forces during the early 1970's, the four Iroquois Class Destroyers were there primarily for the detection and destruction of Enemy Submarines in the Arctic Ocean.
In the mid 1990's, they underwent massive overhauls, being fitted with a variety of anti-aircraft weaponry, while still keeping the torpedo tubes and the pair of Sea King helicopters that served as anti-submarine weaponry.
Since the Cold War ended, we're not nearly as worried about Submarines infiltrating our waters, so the Iroquois Class ships are now used mainly as "command and control ships," thanks to their increased communications and sensor equipment, which works in combination with their anti-aircraft systems.
Currently they're split evenly between Canada's Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. Oh yes, and they're all named for one of Canada's First Nations.
Stats:
Weaponry:
- Martin Marietta Mk 41 Vertical Launch System, which fires surface to air SM-2MR missiles.
- OTO Melara 76mm gun, capable of firing up to 120 rounds per minute.
- A six-barrelled Phalanx MK15 Gatling gun, which can fire 3k rounds/minute. Impressive. That's what, 50 bullets a second?
- Two Mark 32 anti-submarine torpedo tubes, each with three tubes a piece. They fire Honeywell MK 46 MOD5 homing torpedos.
- Shield II missile decoy system, a fully automatic system capable of launching chaff and infrared munitions to fool incoming missiles.
- A pair of 12.7mm Machine Guns.
- Two CH-124 Sea King Helicopters, each of which has their own MK 46 torpedoes.
Sensors:
- AN/SQS-510 Sonar, both hull mounted and variable depth.
- AN/SPG-501 Radar Tracking System, capable of automatically tracking targets, and firing at them with both the surface to air missiles, and the 76mm gun.
- AN/SPQ-502 Long Range Air Radar.
- AN/SPQ-501 Long Range Radar for detecting Surface Ships.
The Iroquois Class Destroyers are roughly equivalent to the American Navy's Spruance Class Destroyer. Of course, the Americans have a fair bit more of theirs.
1: The Huron is slightly smaller than the rest of the ships in its class. In addition, the Huron is currently sitting in dock. Due to lack of personel / funding, the Navy is unable to fully man all of their ships. So, instead of spreading the lack of trained people across the fleet, they decided it would be better to not float this particular boat. It's currently slated to be decommissioned in the near future.
Sources:
www.navy.forces.gc.ca/mspa_fleet/irq_moreinfo_e.asp
webhome.idirect.com/~jproc/cta/