Tag Archives: Esquimalt
HMCS Protecteur returns to fleet after collision, HMCS Algonquin under repair
HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509) is an auxiliary oiler commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy in 1969 (due to be replaced… eventually… under the Joint Support Ship Project). HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283) is an Iroquois-class destroyer commissioned in 1973 (due to be replaced… eventually… under the Single Class Surface Combatant Project).
Following collision, RCN oiler under way but destroyer repairs continue
HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283), HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509), and HMCS St Johns (FFGHM 340) sail in formation during a replenishment at sea. Source: Royal Canadian Navy
Key Points
- Repairs to destroyer HMCS Algonquin’s (DDG 283) hangar have commenced
- Oiler HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509) is currently under way conducting a task group exercise
A Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) destroyer that collided with an RCN auxiliary ship in the Pacific in late August 2013 is still receiving repairs, while the oiler has returned to the fleet, an official told IHS Jane’s on 2 October.
Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283) remains at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and is undergoing a “thorough and rigorous damage assessment with the goal of getting her back to sea as soon as possible”, Lieutenant Greg Menzies, a spokesman for the RCN’s Marine Forces Pacific, told IHS Jane’s . “Early stages of repair work have commenced to her port side hangar,” he added.
HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509) returned to fleet operations on 10 September 2013 and is currently at sea conducting a Task Group Exercise, Lt Menzies said.
Algonquin and Protecteur collided on 30 August 2013 while conducting manoeuvres en route to Hawaii. The two ships had departed Canada’s western coast on a four-month deployment to the Asia-Pacific region when the incident occurred at approximately 1100 hours local time during a towing exercise that required close-quarters manoeuvring.
No one was injured on board either ship, each carrying a crew of more than 300 personnel.
Both ships returned home to Esquimalt near Victoria, British Columbia, on 31 August 2013. Assessment teams surveyed the ships and determined that Algonquin had sustained significant damage to its hangar on the port side while Protecteur suffered only cosmetic damage to its bow.
The two ships had been expected to complete a routine deployment in Southeast Asia, to include participation in the Royal Australian Navy’s International Fleet Review in Sydney in October. Algonquin ‘s deployment was scrapped and an official inquiry was opened to investigate the collision’s cause.
“A board of inquiry [BOI] is currently ongoing to further investigate the incident and circumstances surrounding it. The BOI will make recommendations as to how to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future,” said Lt Menzies.
OTDIH 31 July 1943
70-years ago today…
The bloody U-boat war dragged on:
U-572 (Oblt. Heinz Kummetat), a Type VIIC U-boat on its ninth war patrol, repelled an Allied air attack east of Trinidad.
U-199 (Kptlt. Hans-Werner Kraus), a Type IXD U-boat on its first war patrol, was sunk by a US Navy Martin PBM Mariner aircraft from VP-74 in the South Atlantic east of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. There are 12 survivors from the crew of 61 and these are picked up by USS Barnegat (AVP-10).
HMAS Nizam (Cdr. C. H. Brooks, RAN commanding) picked up 6 survivors from the British merchant ‘Cornish City’ that had been torpedoed and sunk on 29th July.
In the Pacific:
USS Pogy (Lt. Cdr. George Herrick Wales, USN commanding), a Gato-class submarine on her second war patrol, torpedoed and sank the Japanese aircraft transport Mogamigawa Maru (7469 GRT) northwest of Truk.
USS Saury (Lt. Cdr. A. H. Dropp, USN commanding), a Sargo-class submarine on her seventh war patrol, was rammed by a Japanese escort in the Philippine Sea and, sustaining damage, was forced to return to Pearl Harbor.
HMCS St. Catherines (K 325), a River-class frigate built at Yarrows Ltd in Esquimalt, British Columbia was commissioned into the Royal Canadian Navy, Lt. Cdr. Herbert Coates Reynard Davis, RCNR commanding.
USS Aspro (SS-309), a Balao-class submarine built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine was commissioned into the United States Navy, Lt. Cdr. Harry Clinton Stevenson, USN commanding.
USS Young (DD 580), a Fletcher-class destroyer built at Consolidated Steel in Orange, Texas was commissioned into the United States Navy, Lt. Cdr. George Bernard Madden, USN commanding.
USS Young (DD 580) off Charleston, South Carolina, 18 October 1943.
$531m contract to upgrade Canadian submarine force
The Royal Canadian Navy’s long-troubled Victoria class submarines require more work, more funds, and no doubt more grumbling in Ottawa’s corridors of power. While protecting jobs at the Esquimalt dockyard is a “good thing” these Victoria class boats are not going to be remembered with the same level of affection that the old Oberon class were.
New $531-million submarine contract protects 200 jobs at Esquimalt
The Harper government is set to announce a five-year, $531-million contract extension to repair and upgrade Canada’s fleet of four diesel-electric submarines. Photograph by: Handout , DND
OTTAWA — B.C.’s shipbuilding and repair industry will get a shot of good news Thursday when the Harper government announces a five-year, $531-million contract extension to repair and upgrade Canada’s fleet of four diesel-electric submarines, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
The contract, following a similar agreement struck in 2008, will protect roughly 200 jobs at the department of national defence’s Fleet Maintenance Facility in Esquimalt, according to a federal official.
Another 200 jobs will be protected at locations elsewhere in Canada, he said.
“This significant federal investment will support more than 400 high-quality jobs, improve the long-term sustainability of B.C.’s shipbuilding industry and provide the best tools for Canada’s sailors,” he said in a prepared statement.
The contract was won in a competitive bid by Babcock Canada Inc., a subsidiary of the British multinational firm Babcock International Group PLC.
Babcock International won the original contract in 2008 after it teamed up with Weir Canada Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., to create a consortium called the Canadian Submarine Management Group.
However, Babcock announced in 2011 that CSMG would be renamed Babcock Canada Inc. after Weir’s share of the joint venture was transferred to Babcock.
The original contract award caused a political flap because Babcock beat out Irving Shipbuilding, which wanted to keep the repair work in Halifax.
One of the critics was Green party leader Elizabeth May, who at the time was planning her run against Defence Minister Peter MacKay in his Nova Scotia riding.
May, who accused the government of an “anti-Atlantic bias,” is now the MP for the Vancouver Island riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands.
The original five-year contract in 2008 was worth $370 million over five years, but if CSMG met performance targets the contract was to be extended over 15 years, for a total value of up to $1.5 billion.
Thursday’s announcement gives a clear indication that Babcock has met those targets.
The fleet of four Victoria-class diesel-electric submarines has had a rocky history after the Liberal government made what appeared to be the bargain-basement purchase of the mothballed subs from the Royal Navy for $750 million in 1998.
It took far longer and was costlier than expected to make the vessels seaworthy, and in 2004 the HMCS suffered a fire that left one officer dead. In 2011, HMCS Corner Brook ran aground near Vancouver Island during manoeuvres.
There are now two subs, HMCS Victoria and HMCS Windsor, that are fully operational.
HMCS Chicoutimi is currently being serviced at Esquimalt but is expected to be ready for sea trials later this year.
The HMCS Corner Brook is also in Esquimalt for both repairs and a refit.
The fleet is “at the highest state of readiness that they’ve ever been,” the source said.
Naval Matters 