Your Navy Today - Volume 5 Issue 4

Your Navy Today is a monthly newsletter highlighting your Royal Canadian Navy’s current operations, stories about our sailors and historic naval heroes, new equipment and technology and the top photos and videos. Click here to subscribe to the monthly email.

On April 19, Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Harry DeWolf, alongside members of the United States Coast Guard, seized 231 kg of illicit drugs in the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation (Op) Caribbe.

The ship departed Halifax in early April for the portion of the operation in the Caribbean Sea, while HMC Ships Saskatoon and Yellowknife continue the same counter-narcotics mission in the Eastern Pacific.

During HMCS Harry DeWolf’s deployment, it will also participate in Exercise Tradewinds 2022. The exercise will focus on strengthening security and safety in Caribbean region with an emphasis on humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

HMCS Saskatoon and Yellowknife are due to return home to Esquimalt, B.C., in late May.

After almost three months at sea, HMC Ships Goose Bay and Moncton returned home to Halifax from Op Projection West Africa. During the operation both ships enhanced the RCN’s presence in the region and strengthened its relationships with African and European allies and partners.

Throughout the operation both ships hosted diplomatic receptions in several West African countries, including Sierra Leone, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal.

Both ships arrived back in Halifax on April 15.

HMCS Halifax recently completed its sea readiness trials and has joined Standing NATO Maritime Group 1. For the next several months it will operate with allies in the North Atlantic and northern European waters.

Meanwhile, HMCS Montréal has continued routine operations in the Mediterranean Sea as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. On Op Reassurance both ships are supporting NATO assurance and deterrence measures by promoting security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe.

This May, HMCS Oriole will soon set sail for the Great Lakes Deployment to celebrate the ship’s 101st year in service. The ship and its crew are sailing to communities on the East Coast, as well as along the St. Lawrence River.

May’s ports of call include Summerside, P.E.I., Tadoussac, Que., Quebec City, Montreal, and Brockville and Kingston, Ont.

Do you have a story to tell or know a sailor who does? Send us your story idea.

An important milestone for the RCN’s new Joint Support Ships has been completed. The first of four modular, self-propelled barges designed to serve the needs of these future supply ships has been delivered to Esquimalt.

Called Sea-to-Shore Connectors, these barges can move large quantities of supplies or personnel to and from shore quickly, and can be stored or transported like standard shipping containers. The barges have multiple uses and configurations, are Canadian made, and engineered to be assembled from the platform of the upcoming Protecteur-class Joint Support Ships.

Over the course of fiscal year 2021-22, the RCN recruited 719 sailors – the highest number in a decade.

The Navy has reached nearly 69 per cent of its goals for Regular Force recruiting and 88 per cent of its goals for Reserve Force recruiting for the fiscal year. Additionally, 85 personnel have component transferred to the Navy from within the Canadian Armed Forces, surpassing transfers from the past three fiscal years. Attraction efforts this past year have focused on paid education programs and priority occupations.

The RCN is investing in attraction, recruiting and individual training to reconstitute and modernize the organization. At the same time, force development is being appropriately resourced to support the RCN’s forthcoming new ships, as well as the infrastructure, training, strategy and human resources necessary for the future.

Every year, the first Sunday of May marks the anniversary of the end of the Battle of the Atlantic, the longest battle of the Second World War. This year, the RCN celebrated the 77^th anniversary at events across the country, remembering those who fought and those who never returned home.

On the last weekend of April, the Royal Canadian Navy and Maritime Forces Pacific hosted a Fleet Weekend in Vancouver which saw several ships open to the public and a ceremony at the Sailors’ Point Memorial in North Vancouver.

On May 1 in Ottawa, the Commander of the RCN and the Command Chief Petty Officer laid a wreath at the RCN Monument.

Maritime Forces Atlantic hosted a commemorative ceremony at Point Pleasant Park’s Sailors’ Memorial in Halifax, and Reserve units marked the occasion with their own events nationwide.

They were wireless telegraph operators, code busters, clerks and stenographers. They drove vehicles, worked in kitchens, laundries and post offices, and prepared ciphers.

They played a key role during the Battle of the Atlantic doing just about every job supporting the RCN – short of participating in combat at sea.

July 2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS), or Wrens. These women worked diligently ashore to ensure as many men as possible could take on combat roles, playing an historic role in the Second World War and in changing Canadian society.

The RCN’s Innovation team – a small yet important group focused on matching the emerging technologies of today with the needs of tomorrow – is ensuring the Navy is finding and exploiting state-of-the-art technologies for its future capabilities.

Members of the RCN Innovation team joined a group from private industry to test hybrid electric small boats in Halifax Harbour last year.

“When they switched off the diesel engine, the boat went completely silent, and changing the battery after three hours felt as normal as swapping cans of gas. It’s exciting to get a first look at what could be the future of the Navy,” said Master Sailor David Murphy, who participated in the trial.

• RCN technician boosts education in the Democratic Republic of Congo: A Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton employee is establishing a digital library to boost education in his homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• Data Xplorer trials continue: Researchers conducted a second field trial of an unmanned surface vessel that could be used to mitigate harm to whales and other marine mammals.

A group of RCN officers are training at Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Sultan in Gosport, England, home of the Royal Navy’s Defence School of Marine Engineering and the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School. Twenty naval technical officers (NTO) from Canada are completing the Systems Engineering Management course at Sultan, which is designed specifically for NTOs and provides students with theoretical knowledge and practical exercises with marine systems engineering.

The course is managed on behalf of the RCN by the Naval Personnel and Training Group. The opportunity to work and train with their British counterparts not only supports NTO career development, but also helps strengthen ties between the two navies.

With the 80^th anniversary of the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service (WRCNS) approaching on July 31, Canadians are invited to share their stories about a friend or family member who served in the WRCNS. Submissions may be published on the RCN’s website and social media accounts. Please include high resolution, scanned photos if available, as well as your name and contact information.

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