HMCS Oriole

HMCS Oriole in July 2011
History
Canada
Name:	Oriole
Namesake:	Oriole, Oriolus aurum
Operator:	Royal Canadian Navy
Builder:	George Lawley & Son
Laid down:	Early 1921
Launched:	4 June 1921
Commissioned:	19 June 1952
Homeport:	CFB Esquimalt.
Identification:	YAC 3
Honours and awards:	Dunkirk, 1940
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Type:	Sail training ketch
Displacement:	92 tonnes
Length:	102 ft (31 m)
Beam:	19 ft (5.8 m)
Height:	94 ft (29 m)
Draught:	9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power:	Auxiliary engine 165 hp (123 kW) Cummins diesel, 1 shaft
Propulsion:	15,700 sq ft (1,460 m2) of sail
Sail plan:	Marconi rig
Speed:	8 knots (15 km/h)
Complement:	1 senior officer, 2 senior petty officers (POs), 2 junior POs. 16 supernumary junior officers and POs.
Notes:	Current Commanding Officer: LCdr Mike Wills

HMCS Oriole is the sail training vessel of the Royal Canadian Navy based at CFB Esquimalt in Victoria, British Columbia. She is a 31 metres (101 ft 8 in) sailing ketch, currently the oldest commissioned vessel in the Royal Canadian Navy, and also the longest serving commissioned ship.

Oriole was originally laid down as Oriole IV, the successor in a line of vessels named Oriole that were in service as the personal yachts of prominent families at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of Toronto, Ontario. She was sometimes referred to as the club's unofficial flagship. Work was stopped on her construction due to a strike, but the vessel was taken to Neponset, Massachusetts where she was completed. The ship was launched in June 1921.

During the Second World War she was chartered by the Royal Canadian Navy as a training vessel. Following the war the ship was returned to the Navy League, she was again chartered by the Navy as a new recruit training vessel in 1950.Oriole IV subsequently moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1951. She was officially commissioned HMCS Oriole 19 June 1952, and two years later the navy moved her to CFB Esquimalt to become a training vessel to the Naval Officer Training Centre. In 1956 she was purchased outright and attached to HMCS Venture at Esquimalt.

Oriole provides sail training to junior officers and non-commissioned officers as part of their introduction to life at sea. She also provides a venue for teamwork exercises and adventure training available to all of the Canadian Forces. She participates in many events, races and public relation day sails in support of local charities.