CCGS Labrador

The builder used modified plans from the just-completed s of the United States Coast Guard. The ship was modified to include then state-of-the-art technology, becoming the first Royal Canadian Navy vessel to have central heating and ventilation, air conditioning and bunks instead of hammocks. The ship's hull was plated in rolled, high tensile steel thick. The ship had a displacement of and a tonnage of . The vessel measured long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of and a draught of . Labrador was equipped with Denny Brown gyro stabilizers, and full bridge control of the vessel's diesel engines. Labrador was the RCN's first fully diesel-electric vessel, with six engine/generators driving a motor on each shaft. The vessel had a maximum speed of Labrador was equipped with starboard and port heeling tanks with 40,000 gallons per minute transfer capability, which facilitated icebreaking operations. The ship was equipped with a hangar and flight deck capable of operating two Bell HTL 4 light helicopters or a Piasecki HUP II transport helicopter. The icebreaker had a complement of 228. ==Service history==

Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the Canadian government made limited exploration within the vast Arctic coast it laid claim to, largely because it lacked the capacity to make forays into much of this remote terrain. Labrador was conceived as Canada's first modern, powerful icebreaking vessel, which could help meet national defence needs in the high Arctic but also explore the vast area and its rich resources. Ordered in February 1949, Labrador was built in the Marine Industries LTD yards at Sorel, Quebec with the yard number 187. ==Citations==