[5][6] Designated a national historic site of Canada in 1984, she now serves as a museum ship berthed next to HMCS Star, an active Royal Canadian Naval Reserve Division, in Hamilton, Ontario.

[9] Canada chose the design based on its armament, with the size and power of the Tribal class allowing them to act more like small cruisers than as fleet destroyers.

[11] The destroyer was propelled by two shafts driven by two Parsons geared turbines powered by steam created by three Admiralty-type three-drum boilers.

[9] As built, Haida was fitted with six quick-firing 4.7-inch (119 mm) Mk XII guns placed in three twin turrets, designated 'A', 'B' and 'Y' from bow to stern.

On 28 November Haida was among the destroyer escort for the Russian convoy RA 54B, protecting it until it reached Loch Ewe on 9 December without loss.

Haida joined the escort of RA 55B on the return journey to the UK which sailed from Kola Inlet on 31 December and arrived on 8 January 1944.

Despite the German designation as 'torpedo boat', the Elbings were essentially on a par with mid-sized Allied destroyers, having just slightly smaller armament.

[19] On the night of 28/29 April T24 and T27 attempted to move from St. Malo to Brest and encountered the destroyers Athabaskan and Haida off St. Brieux, which were performing a covering sweep as part of Operation Hostile.

The 10th Destroyer Flotilla were part of the covering force for surface attacks at the western entrance of the English Channel during the invasion of Normandy.

On 8–9 June, Haida was part of Task Force 26 which engaged the German 8th Destroyer Flotilla, comprising Z32, Z24, ZH1 and T24 northwest of the Île de Bas.

[22] On 24 June, while on patrol in the English Channel off Land's End, investigated a 311 Squadron's Liberator bomber dropping depth charges on a target.

[23][24] On 14/15 July 1944, Haida and ORP Błyskawica intercepted a group of German ships in the Île de Groix area near Lorient.

The force attacked a German convoy north of the Île de Yeu and sank the minesweepers M 263 and M 486, the patrol boat V 414 and the coastal launch Otto.

Staying in the line of battle, the destroyers were engaged by shore batteries when they attempted to take on a second convoy and were forced to withdraw without doing much damage to the German merchant vessels.

[28] On 7 April, Haida escorted seven anti-submarine warfare vessels from Greenock, Scotland destined for Soviet use at Vaenga, on the Kola Inlet.

[32] Haida, Huron and Iroquois, left for Halifax on 4 June to refit as part of Canada's contribution to Operation Downfall.

[12] Haida was in inactive reserve for approximately one year but was prepared for reactivation in 1947 and underwent a refit for updated armament and sensors.

[34] Haida was involved in assisting during the grounding of the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent off Port Mouton, Nova Scotia on 4 June 1949.

In November 1949, Haida rescued the 18 members of the crew of a United States Air Force B-29 bomber that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean.

She patrolled off the east coast of Korea beginning on 4 December and took part with the destroyer escort USS Moore in shelling of a railway yard in Songjin, a coastal battery, and North Korean troops.

On 18–19 December, Haida failed to join the exclusive "Trainbusters Club" when an enemy train she attacked managed to hide in a nearby tunnel.

[36] Haida departed Halifax for a second Korean tour on 14 December 1953, passing through the Panama Canal and arriving in theatre on 5 February 1954.

[36] Following the Korean operations, Haida embarked on Cold War anti-submarine warfare duties with other NATO units in the North Atlantic and West Indies.

After preparing the ship, the RCN towed the vessel to Marine Industries Limited shipyard at Sorel, Quebec where she became civilian property.

[40] The Naval Reserve Division HMCS York provided a skeleton crew for Haida as she was towed to Toronto by two tugboats.

Initially the city of Toronto had planned to build a "Serviceman's Memorial Park" near the Princes' Gates at nearby Exhibition Place to link with the Haida preservation efforts.

[43] The guns on the vessel were fired whenever the Toronto Symphony played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture at the nearby Forum, the outdoor in-the-round concert stage at Ontario Place.

She was taken to a new home on the Hamilton waterfront and arrived to an 11-gun salute from 31 Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Lion and her 12-pounder naval field gun on 30 August 2003, the 60th anniversary of her commissioning into the RCN.