Canadian Ships Returning Home After Four Months

CHENNAI: Two Canadian warships, which had docked at the Chennai Port on Wednesday morning as part of a three-day stopover here, would be engaged in a one-day naval exercise with the Indian Navy.

The two ships – Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship Calgary and HMCS Protecteur – would conduct a passage exercise off Chennai coast in the Bay of Bengal involving communication, manoeuvring, station keeping, search and seize operations and exchange of personnel.

At a media briefing on board the Calgary, Commander Kelly Larkin said the ships Canadian patrol frigate and logistics support ships are on their return journey around the globe after a four-month counter terrorism deployment to the Arabian Sea as a part of a multinational coalition known as Combined Task Force (CTF) 150.

The last Canadian warship visit to India was in 2006 when Calgary’s sister ship HMCS Ottawa stopped in Goa while returning home from the same mission. Calgary, Iroquois and Protecteur are 22nd, 23rd and 24th Canadian ships to serve in the Arabian Sea region since September 2001.

A multipurpose platform, the Calgary carries Harpoon missiles, Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile, 57 mm Bofors gun and suitable anti-submarine warfare capabilities, along with a Sea King helicopter.

The combination of its varied and proven weapon and sensors system coupled with a state of the art damage control and machinery control systems makes Calgary one of the most advanced warship designs in the world.

The peacetime role of HMCS Calgary will include a variety of important missions, including search and rescue, training deployments, sovereignty patrols and combined operations with our allies.

Protecteur is the Canadian Navy’s only supply ship stationed on the Pacific Coast. Her role is to provide Canadian and Allied warships with fuel, food and supplies. Mobility and time on station are essential factors in the conduct of effective operations at sea.

Supply ships substantially increase the warfare capability of Canada’s Maritime Forces by enabling warships to remain at sea for longer periods without returning to port for fuel, supplies and maintenance. She is a large vessel displacing nearly five times the tonnage of one frigate. This allows her to carry enough provisions to supply a task force of six destroyers for six weeks without having to return to port for re-supply.