Editing HMCS Okanagan (section)

==Construction and career==
[[File:HMCS Okanagan crest IMG 9328.jpg|thumb|The badge of ''Okanagan'']]
The submarine, built at [[Chatham Dockyard]] in England, was [[Keel laying|laid down]] on 25 March 1965, and [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 17 September 1966 by Monique Cadieux, the wife of the Associate Minister of Canadian National Defence.<ref name=Moore63>Moore, p. 63</ref><ref name= Boniface >{{Citation |last= Boniface |first= Patrick |title= A Century of Submarines at Chatham Dockyard |journal= Ships Monthly |volume= |pages= 48–52 |date= April 2021}}</ref> She was [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] on 22 June 1968 at Chatham.<ref name=Moore63/><ref name=mac1/> She was also the final submarine constructed at Chatham Dockyard.<ref>Perkins, p. 143</ref> The submarine was named after the [[Okanagan people|Okanagan]] First Nations people, and was assigned the [[pennant number]] S 74.<ref name=Moore63/>

''Okanagan'' was assigned to the First Canadian Submarine Squadron, joined by her [[Sister ship|sister boats]] and served her entire career with [[Maritime Forces Atlantic]] (MARLANT) in the [[North Atlantic]].<ref name=ferguson265>Ferguson, pp. 265</ref> ''Okanagan'' spent time training with the Royal Navy after an exchange program was instituted in the 1960s that would see submarines from both the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy spend time with each other's forces. This allowed Canadian submarines on intelligence-gathering missions. Beginning in the 1970s, Canada began underwater surveillance patrols in the western Atlantic, tracking Soviet sub and surface fleet vessels, especially the [[ballistic missile submarine]]s, usually in concert with an [[Canadair CP-107 Argus|Argus]] or [[Lockheed CP-140 Aurora|Aurora]] patrol aircraft.<ref name=craven>{{cite journal |url=http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vo7/no4/craven-eng.asp |title=A Rational Choice Revisited – Submarine Capability in a Transformational Era |journal=Canada Military Journal |last=Craven |first=Michael |volume=7 |number=4 |date=Winter 2006 |issn=1492-0786}}</ref>

In July 1973, ''Okanagan'' collided with the [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] vessel {{ship|RFA|Grey Rover||2}} while exercising in British waters off the coast of [[Scotland]]. The submarine was running submerged off the mouth of the [[River Clyde]] when the tanker hit ''Okanagan''. There were no injuries to the submarine's complement. However, the submarine suffered damaged to her fin and mast. The submarine returned to [[Faslane]] to effect repairs.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1696&dat=19730729&id=d9EdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=pkYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4042,3225040&hl=en |title=Tanker, submarine collide |work=Daily News |agency=Associated Press |date=29 July 1973 |accessdate=17 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1243&dat=19730728&id=GTpYAAAAIBAJ&sjid=WvcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5015,2546882&hl=en |title=Tanker Rams Canadian Submarine |agency=Associated Press |work=The Bulletin |date=28 July 1973 |accessdate=17 April 2016}}</ref>

On 30 June 1983, ''Okanagan'' was deployed on a 19-day anti-Soviet submarine patrol.<ref>Tracy, p. 175</ref> ''Okanagan'' underwent her SOUP refit beginning in 1984, being handed over to [[HMC Dockyard]] at [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] on 2 April. The refit began on 12 June 1985 and lasted until 7 April 1986.<ref>Macpherson and Barrie, p. 269</ref> Following the SOUP refit and the introduction of the Mark 48 torpedoes, the ''Oberon''s were considered fully operational and counted the same as other offensive fleet units in [[Canadian Forces Maritime Command|Maritime Command]] (MARCOM).<ref name=craven/>

In October–November 1990, ''Okanagan'' cruised the [[Great Lakes]], the first Canadian submarine to do so.<ref name=mac1/> Following the end of the [[Cold War]], the ''Oberon''s were retasked, performing patrols on behalf of federal institutions such as the [[Department of Fisheries and Oceans]] and the [[Solicitor General of Canada]] between 1991 and 1994. The delay of the introduction of the ''Victoria''-class submarines led to the ''Oberon''s working past their life expectancy.<ref name=craven/> During the [[Turbot War]], the ''Oberon''s were tasked with monitoring European fishing fleets off the [[Grand Banks of Newfoundland]]. Their presence served as a deterrent in the escalating crisis.<ref>Tracy, p. 249</ref>

In early September 1998, ''Okanagan'' was used for a successful search of the ocean floor off the coast of [[Nova Scotia]] for the [[flight recorder]]s of the crashed [[Swissair Flight 111]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1957&dat=19980906&id=bjpHAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZukMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3647,1040181&hl=en |title=Search continues for flight recorders |last=Crary |first=David |agency=Associated Press |work=The Daily Gazette |date=6 September 1998 |page=A9 |accessdate=17 April 2016}}</ref> She was [[Ship decommissioning|paid off]] from MARCOM on 12 September 1998.<ref name=mac1/>

In May 2005, the ''[[Halifax Chronicle-Herald]]'' announced that MARCOM was looking to sell ''Okanagan'' for scrap metal, along with three other Canadian ''Oberon''s laid up at [[CFB Halifax]]. MARCOM stated that the submarines were not in suitable condition to be used as [[museum ship]]s and predicted that each submarine would sell for between C$50,000 and C$60,000.<ref>{{cite news |title=For sale: 4 submarines, not shipshape |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/for-sale-4-submarines-not-shipshape-1.519481 |work=[[CBC News]] |date=25 May 2005 |accessdate=15 April 2016}}</ref> ''Okanagan'' was towed to a scrapyard in [[Port Maitland, Ontario]] in August 2011.<ref name=Jeffrey>{{cite news|last=Jeffrey |first=Davene |url=http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1253978.html |title=Former HMS Olympus en route to scrapyard |work=The Chronicle Herald |access-date=20 July 2011 |date=19 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721064115/http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1253978.html |archive-date=21 July 2011 }}</ref>