captain could command the ship while in combat, 12 separate internal telephone systems, air conditioning, and the latest advances in radar and sonar technology. The St. Laurent class originally called for 14 vessels to be commissioned no later than 1955; however, changing design specifications due to the rapidly changing Cold War naval environment, as well as Canada's wartime priorities during the Korean War, saw only the first 7 completed by 1957. The remaining 7 vessels were built as the follow-on to incorporate advancements in naval warship design in the preceding years. There were also two essentially similar follow-on classes, the (4 ships completed 1962–63) and the (2 ships, completed 1964), the latter completed as helicopter carrying destroyer escorts from the onset, and not converted later as were the seven St. Laurent-class ships. As built, the ships were long overall with a beam of and a draught of . The destroyer escorts displaced standard and at deep load. The destroyer escorts had a crew of 12 officers and 237 enlisted. Armament The St. Laurent class was fitted with twin /L50 calibre guns in two mounts for engaging both surface and air targets. The guns were capable of 85° elevation and could fire 50 rounds per minute up to . The ships were also fitted with two single-mounted Bofors 40 mm gun| guns. The class's anti-submarine armament consisted of a pair of triple-barreled Mk. NC 10 Limbo ASW mortars in a stern well. The stern well had a roller top to close it off from following seas. 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. However, they were never fitted. As built, the twin 3-inch anti-aircraft mounts were installed without shields. These were added in 1963. The gun housings are fibreglass. Machinery The vessels of the St. Laurent class had two Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers installed providing , 42 (kgf/cm²) at . The steam produced by these boilers was directed at two geared steam turbines which powered two shafts, providing to drive the ship at a maximum speed of . By the early 1990s, the quoted maximum speed was only . The ships had an endurance of at . The propelling machinery was of British design. Yarrow & Co Ltd, Scotstoun, Glasgow, received an order from Canadian Vickers for the supply of