Historic
A Brief History Of TECUMSEH
 Calgary's Naval Reserve division was established on March 31, 1923. However it was not christened HMCS TECUMSEH until November 1, 1941. It is named after the Shawnee chief who served with the British and Canadian military force in the War of 1812. Two years after its christening, the division moved to its present location on 17th Avenue SW.
During the Second World War, over 4,500 personnel enlisted at TECUMSEH. Of those, 52 were killed in action. Among them was Lt(N) Robert Hampton Gray, the only person in the Canadian Navy to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
Unlike some Naval Reserve divisions in Canada, TECUMSEH survived post-war defence cuts. It has since survived other challenges including armed forces unification, and a major fire in 1981. Rebuilt since the fire, TECUMSEH is a fully modern training facility. In addition to the Naval Reserves, TECUMSEH houses 746 Communications Squadron (an Army Reserve Unit), Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps UNDAUNTED and Navy League Cadet Corps CAPTAIN JACKSON. TECUMSEH is also home to the Naval Museum of Alberta.
Subsequent to rebuilding, TECUMSEH became the headquarters of the only female flag officer in the history of the Canadian Navy, Commodore Laraine Orthleib. Then in 1992, TECUMSEH felt the pull of war again, this time in the Persian Gulf. At this juncture, several members of the unit volunteered for duty of which two were selected to serve onboard HMCS HURON.
TECUMSEH personnel were deployed to combat Manitoba's 1997 Flood of the Century, provided security at the 1998 APEC meeting in Vancouver, and assisted in the recovery mission following the Swiss Air crash off Halifax as members of the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel crews assigned to the operation. More recently, TECUMSEH personnel have provided support for the G8 Summit in 2002 and participated in OP APOLLO in the Gulf of Oman in 2003.
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