HMCS Cabot was commissioned in 1949 to represent the navy in Canada’s new province. It was initially housed at Buckmaster’s Field as part of a tri-service headquarters. It experienced rapid growth, however, and moved first to Pleasantville, and finally to Pier 27 in St. John’s harbour.
Cabot has always been an integral part of the local community, hosting many social functions and participating in many sporting activities, including rowing in the annual Royal St. John’s Regatta; this service to the community has continued. Cabot and its sailors provided temporary lodgings to 483 people stranded in St. John’s after the events of 11 September 2001 grounded all commercial flights.
Beginning with the division’s first cruise with its tender, the Llewellyn-class minesweeper HMCS Revelstoke, to Bermuda in 1951, sailors from Cabot have always been prepared to serve Canada at sea and ashore. They have done so in both small and large vessels of the fleet and at port security units.