AOPS #4, the future HMCS William Hall was moved onto the boa barge 37 today, and ready for its impending launch. the barge will be towed to the Basin, where it will be slowly submerged, until the William Hall floats off.
After launching, the ship will be moved along side Pier 7 at the ship yard for completion.
AOPS #3, HMCS Max Bernays was spotted tonight in the Graving dock at Halifax Shipyard. The ship was only delivered to the Navy in September, so it must be a recent issue.
HMCS Max Bernays is scheduled to be the first of the Pacific Based AOPS.
Lost in the excitement of Fridays Arrival of the USS Gerald R. Ford, was the commissioning ceremony for the second AOPS, HMCS Margaret Brooke, which took place at the dockyard.
The third AOPS, has been delivered to the navy, and is tied up along side the first. The 4th ship is due to be launched mid November from Halifax ship yard.
The Navys leased supply ship Asterix has been tied up facing the bridge since it returned to the dockyard last week. crews have been painting it.
its scheduled to turn tomorrow at 11am, to its more normal stern to the bridge orientation.
Danish Navy Frigate HDMS Triton arrived this afternoon, and tied up at the dockyard.
The ship is one of four Thetis Class frigates and is based on the StanFlex 3000 design. She was commissioned in 1991, making her slightly older then the Halifax Class. The ship normally carries a crew of 60, but has accommodation for 100.
HDMS Triton will also be participating in OP Nanook.
the USCGC Bear arrived this morning and tied up at the dockyard. Bear is a Medium Endurance cutter, and was commissioned in 1983. The ship is home-ported in Portsmouth Virginia. This class of vessel frequently visits Halifax, though typically New England based ships. Bear has not been here during the existence of this blog.
The Ship will be participating in Op Nanook. The Danish Navy Frigate HDMS Triton is also due this afternoon.
The French Navy support vessel Rhone put in to the dockyard for a port visit today. FS Rhone will be participating in OP Nanook, the Canadian Forces annual arctic exercises. The ship was first here in 2018, before she had been commissioned. Rhone is the second of a class of 4 vessels.
Bâtiment de soutien et d’assistance hauturiers (BSAH) vessels will be used by the French Navy for rescue missions, environmental protection, work in military ports and general support for other navy units.
She is tied up next to the casino for easy viewing.
AOPS #3, The Future HMCS Max Bernays began sea trials this morning in the basin. The ship should be heading out to sea later today.
While Checking out LCS-21 yesterday evening, a small detail caught my eye. One of the Kingston Class MCDV’s has the Nato Emblem attached to its bridge wing. Frigates get the emblem attached when they join one of the Standing Nato Maritime Groups – SNMG1 or SNMG2.
Nato also operated two Standing Nato Mine Counter Measures groups, or SNMCMG. Its likely that this ship will be joining them. This deployment has not yet been publicly announced to my knowledge.
With the War in Ukrane, Canada has two frigates deployed with NATO. The Ukranian Ports in the Black Sea have been heavily mined, and mines have drifted into open waters, potentially impacting commercial shipping. there is also a move to re-open Ukrainian ports to allow wheat exports. the ports would need to be de-mined first.
the Kingston class MCDV’s were built in the 90’s as Minesweepers. They have since been assigned other patrol duties, and are often used for survey and diving missions.
USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul, LCS-21 arrived Sunday for a port visit. The ship is Due to sail tomorrow morning. Like most LCS built at Fincantieri’s Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, the ship stopped in Halifax on her way to her home port.
Previous ships of the class to stop ave included:
USS Freedom – Nov 2008
USS Fort Worth – Aug 2012
USS Milwaukee – Dec 2015
USS Detroit – Nov 2016
USS Little Rock – April 2018
USS Billings – July 2019
USS Sioux City – Nov 2019 (missed this one)
USS Witchita – Nov 2019
USS Indianapolis – Nov 2019 (Missed this one too)
USS St Louis Bypassed Halifax during Covid in 2020. Early ships faced issues with the Combining Gear – the Gear box that transfers power to the shafts form either the diesel engines or the turbines. Because of these issues, Completed ships were not accepted by the navy untill alterations could be made, which led to 3 visits in November 2019.
Due to the location of the combining gear, it was determined to not be cost effective to repair early ships. USS Freedom was Decommissioned in Sept 2021, and Fort Worth, Detroit and Little Rock are set to be decommissioned this year. 5 Additional ships are currently under construction.
