The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) was assigned responsibility for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and controlling sea space in the western North Atlantic.

The St Laurent class were built to an operational requirement much like that which produced the British Type 12, and were powered by the same machinery plant.

They were built to counter nuclear, biological and chemical attack conditions, which led to a design with a rounded hull, a continuous main deck, and the addition of a pre-wetting system to wash away contaminants.

[8] The St. Laurent class was fitted with twin 3-inch (76 mm)/L50 caliber guns in two mounts for engaging both surface and air targets.

As with the British Type 12 design, the provision for long-range homing torpedoes, in this case BIDDER [Mk 20E] or the US Mark 35 were included.

[8] Following successful trials aboard the frigate Buckingham and sister ship Ottawa, plans to convert the St. Laurent class took shape.

The vessel was launched on 19 August 1952 and commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy on 30 March 1957, initially carrying the hull number DDE 207, as a destroyer escort.

[16] After commissioning, Skeena was assigned to the Second Canadian Escort Squadron based out of Esquimalt, British Columbia.

[17][18] The Second Canadian Escort Squadron departed on a training cruise around the Pacific in January 1958, returning on 2 April.

[20] Skeena underwent conversion to a destroyer helicopter escort (DDH) beginning in 1964 by Davie Shipbuilding at Lauzon, Quebec.

[16] Skeena was selected by the Canadian Forces for the Destroyer Life Extension (DELEX) program and completed this refit on 20 November 1981 at Montreal.

On 24–26 May, Skeena and USS Richard E. Byrd tracked a Soviet task force off the coast of Portugal.