HMCS Cataraqui

Badge

Description

Azure a "patte de griffon" Or.

Significance

The device is taken from the Arms of Count Louis de Buade of Pallau and Frontenac, which bore three such griffin's feet upon a blue field. It was at Cataraqui in 1673 that Frontenac met the Iroquois on friendly terms and later established the first fort and stores.

Subsequently four sailing vessels were built there for use by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in the fur trade on Lake Ontario. One of these ships was named Cataraqui which was completed in 1678. This was the beginning of shipbuilding at Kingston.

The Iroquois village Cataraqui became Fort Frontenac under French tenure, and later when taken by the British its present name Kingston was given. Kingston is rich in naval history, as it was the operational base for the Fleet in the war of 1812 when much activity centred around His Majesty’s Dockyard there.

Motto

PORTA LACUUM, PORTUS CLASSIS (Gate of the lakes, port of the fleet)

Colours

Azure Blue and Gold

Battle Honours

None

Lineage

First of Name

• Shore establishment.
• Naval Reserve Division, Kingston, Ontario.
• Commissioned as a tender to HMCS Stadacona 1 November 1941.^{Footnote 1}
• Recommissioned as an independent shore establishment 1 September 1942.^{Footnote 2}

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