Protecteur

HMCS Protecteur in Pearl Harbor after a port visit in 2009
History
Canada
Name:	Protecteur
Ordered:	16 December 1966
Builder:	Saint John Shipbuilding
Laid down:	17 October 1967
Launched:	18 July 1968
Commissioned:	30 August 1969
Decommissioned:	14 May 2015
Homeport:	CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia
Motto:	Soutien avec Courage ("Support with Courage")
Honours and awards:	Gulf and Kuwait Arabian Sea
Fate:	Sold for scrapping 27 November 2015 at Liverpool, Nova Scotia
Badge:	Azure, a silver helmet with the five grills or, garnished of the last, and bearing a coronet "fleur-de-lis" also or.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Protecteur-class replenishment oiler
Displacement:	8,380 t (8,248 long tons) standard 24,700 t (24,310 long tons) full load
Length:	171.9 m (564 ft 0 in)
Beam:	23.2 m (76 ft 1 in)
Draught:	10.1 m (33 ft 2 in)
Ice class:	3
Propulsion:	2 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 1 × General Electric steam turbine 21,000 shp (16,000 kW)
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range:	7,500 nmi (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Complement:	365 officers and crew (men and women) including 45 in air detachment
Electronic warfare & decoys:	4 × BAE Systems Mark 36 SRBOC chaff launchers AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed decoy
Armament:	2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 6 × .50 calibre machine guns
Aircraft carried:	3 × CH-124 Sea King helicopters

Her Majesty's Canadian Ship (HMCS) Protecteur (AOR 509) was the lead ship of the Protecteur-class replenishment oilers in service with the Royal Canadian Navy. She was part of the Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC), homeported at CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia. Built by Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Docks in Saint John, New Brunswick, she was commissioned on 30 August 1969. She was the first Canadian naval unit to carry the name Protecteur; however, there have been several units, including a base, named HMCS Protector.

Mostly known for her humanitarian efforts, Protecteur had also served in times of war including Operation Friction and Operation Apollo in the Persian Gulf region, multi-national naval exercises and as part of the INTERFET in East Timor. Operation Apollo was the largest deployment of the Royal Canadian Navy since the Korean War. In six months Protecteur logged over 50,000 nautical miles (93,000 km; 58,000 mi), delivering over 150,000 barrels (~20,000 t) of fuel and 390 pallets of dry goods to deployed coalition ships. Protecteur, as well as her sister ship Preserver, were scheduled to be paid off in 2017, however damage due to an engine fire aboard the ship in 2014 forced Protecteur to be prematurely paid off. Protecteur was decommissioned at a farewell ceremony on 14 May 2015.

Protecteur was the first Canadian naval unit to carry the name Protecteur; however, there have been two Australian and seven British naval units named Protector. The name was also used for a Canadian base, named HMCS Protector.