OVERVIEW: The Mackenzie class Destroyer Escort DELEX (Destroyer Life Extension) is a  2-shaft, steam powered escort destroyer intended primarily for ASW.  
 
DETAILS: Originally to be a class of 6 improved, more capable and larger ships than the St. Laurents budget issues cut the order from six to four ships.  The Mackenzie class is similar to the earlier Restigouche class.  The most noticeable changes were the replacement of the forward 3"/50 gun with a 3"/70(except Qu'Appelle), the presence of a fire-control director atop the bridge superstructure which was raised one full deck higher than on previous classes in order to see over the new gun mount. 

The DELEX added LINK 11 and a Nixie anti-torpedo decoy, as well as upgraded hull sonar, and removed the Limbo mortar.

The short range ASW sensors and weapons and lack of a helo or VDS gave it the class a limited ASW capability.  For ASUW and AAW, the class was limited by being equipped only with gun armament.  Its SPS-12 air search radar gave it a good air surveillance capability.  


Specifications:

Displacement: 2,380 t (3,000 full load)
Length: 113.1m
Beam: 12.8m
Draught: 4.1m
Propulsion: 2 shafts, 2 × English-Electric geared steam turbines @611 lb/in2 (43kg/cm2)
Complement: 228
Speed: 28kn
Range: 4,750km @ 14kn

NOTES: IOC 1962.  Units in class: MACKENZIE (DDE 261), SASKATCHEWAN (DDE 262), YUKON (DDE 263), QU'APPELLE (DDE 264). DELEX completed in 1-84 (DDE 264), 1-85 (DDE 263), 2-86 (DDE 262) 1987 (DDE 261).  These ships spent most of their service in the Pacific Ocean, used primarily in a training role. Originally intended to be a six-ship class, the last two hulls became the Annapolis class.

SOURCES: Couhat, Jean L., and A. D. Baker. Combat Fleets of the World 1982/83: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Armament. US Naval Institute Press, 1982. ; "HMCS MACKENZIE." ReadyAyeReady.com. Accessed February 10, 2022. https://readyayeready.com/ships/shipview.php?id=1237. ;"Mackenzie Class Destroyer Escort DDE Royal Canadian Navy." Seaforces Online - Naval Information. Accessed February 10, 2022. https://www.seaforces.org/marint/Canadian-Navy/Destroyer/Mackenzie-class.htm. ; "Mackenzie-class Destroyer." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Last modified October 6, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackenzie-class_destroyer. ; McClearn, Sandy. "MACKENZIE Class." Haze Gray & Underway - Naval History and Photography. Accessed February 10, 2022. https://www.hazegray.org/navhist/canada/postwar/mackenzi/.; Prezelin, Bernard. The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World, 1990-1991. US Naval Institute Press, 1990., pg. 55-6
