HMCS Harry DeWolf circumnavigates North America

Canada’s Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel is at home in both the Arctic AND the tropics

For newly commissioned warships, the maiden deployment is a big deal. When your maiden deployment involved a circumnavigation of North America, then that’ s a really big deal. For the Royal Canadian Navy ’ s newest warship,Her Majesty ’ s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430), her recently completed fourand-a-half-month deployment included a transit of the Northwest Passage and Panama Canal, and involved operations in the Arctic, Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. She returned to her homeport of Halifax on December 16,2021.Commissioned in June 2021, Harry DeWolf is the Royal Canadian Navy ’ s (RCN) first new warship in 25 years and first ice-capable vessel since HMCS Labrador in 1958. Labrador was transferred to the Canadian Department of Transportation Coast Guard in 1957, and later to the new Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) in 1962, where it served until 1987. Labrador was the first ship to circumnavigate North America in a single voyage, a feat just equalled by Harry DeWolf. While the ship is designated an AOPV, the programme is known as the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS), which is building eight ships at Irving Shipyard in Halifax as part of Canada ’ s National Shipbuilding Strategy. The 103 metre (340 feet),6,600-tonnes ship has the RCN’ s biggest helicopter deck. In addition to her crew of 65, she can embark additional personnel and equipment, such as science teams and containerised payloads. The ship ’ s 6,800 nautical mile range and endurance are especially important for sailing in the remote north without support. Commanding Officer Cmdr Corey Gleason said his ship is suited to Canada ’ s unique needs, designed for both ice and extreme cold as well as the tropics, and anywhere that Canada needs to send it.While deployed,Harry DeWolf participated in Canada ’ s annual Op NANOOK exercise in the high north, and Op CARIBBE, which is Canada ' s contribution to US Enhanced Counter-narcotics operations under US Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATFS), in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean.The 2021 Op Nanook was focused on preparing for a crisis response or any security issue that may arise. Harry DeWolf conducted surveillance patrols

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Copyright Royal Canadian Navy Main photo previous page: HMCS Harry DeWolf departs on its inaugural deployment through Canada ’ s Arctic and North American waters.Their transit saw the ship circumnavigating North America and participating in Op Nanook and Op Caribbe. Photo 1: The future HMCS Margaret Brook is underway for sea trials. Photo 2: The future HMCS Max Bernays is under construction at Irving Shipyards in Halifax. Photo 3: HMCS Harry DeWolf is designed to conducted extended patrols and scientific support in the Arctic. Crews working out on the ice must be protected from polar bears. Photo 4: HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430). Photo 5: HMCS Harry DeWolf operates in the Arctic during her historic 2021 maiden voyage. Photo 6: HMCS Harry DeWolf leaves Norfolk for the final leg of her maiden deployment. Photo above: The ship’ s company from HMCS Harry DeWolf and members of the USCG stand on the ship’ s flight deck with seized illegal drugs during Op Caribbe in the East Pacific Ocean on November 11.

USCG Kimball and HMCS Harry DeWolf transit alongside one another off the coast of Dutch Harbor,Alaska, on September 23, 2021.

and other activities alongside RCN coastal defence ship HMCS Goose Bay as well as US Coast Guard partners, including the icebreaker UCSCG Healy (WAGB 20). In Alaska, the ship participated in a mass casualty drill with the US Coast Guard.The RCN’ s body of knowledge about operating in the ice had atrophied. Gleason spent a lot of time preparing for working in the high north, understanding the environment, and learning how to safely and effectively navigate in ice. He then trained his crew, and then prepared a training programme for other officers and crew who will be serving on the other AOPVs. Mariners in the Arctic have to deal with different kinds of ice, from first-year ice to multi-year ice floes that have been blown by the wind and driven by currents into ice jams between the islands of the archipelago.The conditions can vary greatly from one year to the next. Gleason said his crew was also able to develop a relationship with the remote communities in Nunuvut, NorthwestTerritories andYukon Territory. Each of the six AOPS have linked up with one of the six districts of the Inuit Nunangat people. For Harry DeWolf, that affiliation is with the Qikiqtani region, which includes Nunavut’ s capital city of Iqaluit. The ship called at communities along the route, which included Pond Inlet,Grise Fjord,Arctic Bay, Cambridge Bay, and Kugluktuk, Nunavut.

Gleason said that the navigational charts and depth soundings in the far north lack a lot of detail and need to be updated. But, he said, the locals know their waters very well, and can provide much needed advice. “Our Inuit partners know those bodies of water and they can help us operate much more safely, ” he added. “Honing our skills as mariners during Op NANOOK, and also being exposed to history and the beauty and culture of the Arctic, it has been a great experience for all on board, ” Gleason said.

Far from the icy Arctic, the crew took part in Op CARIBBE which saw an embarked US Coast Guard law enforcement detachment come aboard in San Diego augmenting the ship ’ s crew. Together they contributed to the seizure and offload of approximately 26,250 pounds of cocaine and 3,700 pounds of marijuana worth about $504 million from the USCGC Hamilton (WMSL 753) in Port Everglades, Florida, on November 22. “I always knew that this ship had an incredible capability anywhere in the world, ” Gleason said. “And we demonstrated that tenfold in the four and a half months that were deployed. ”