HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | December 1994 |
| Launched: | September 1996 |
| Commissioned: | 1997 |
| Status: | in active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 4,750 tonnes |
| Length: | 442 ft 10 in (134.2 m) overall |
| Beam: | 54 ft 6 in (16.5 m) |
| Draught: | 15 ft 4 in (4.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x GE LM 2500 gas turbines 50,000 shp (37 MW) Pielstick Cruise Diesel 10,000 shp (7.5 MW) |
| Speed: | 30+ knots (54+ km/h) |
| Complement: | 234 officers and crew |
| Armament: | 24 x Honeywell Mk 46 Mod 5 torpedoes 16x Raytheon RIM-7 Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missiles 8 x Boeing RGM-84 Harpoon surface-to-surface missiles 57 mm Bofors Mk2 gun 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx Mk15 CIWS 6 x .50 calibre (12.7 mm) heavy machine guns |
| Aircraft: | 1x CH-124 Sea King |
| Motto: | "Regae Revaeb" (Eager Beaver) |
| Badge: | Blazon Gules, a bend wavy argent charged with two cotises wavy azure, over all a beaver or, the sinister forepaw resting on a log of silver birch proper. |
Contents |
[edit] HMCS Ottawa (FFH-341)
The current HMCS Ottawa is the twelfth and final ship of the Halifax-class line of frigates. Based in CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia on Vancouver island, HMCS Ottawa was completed in July 1996, and is the fourth Canadian Naval ship to carry the name.
[edit] Ship's badge
The ship's badge is derived from the unofficial wartime badge of the first HMCS Ottawa (H60): a beaver on a log of wood. The white and blue wavy "bend" represents the Ottawa River upon which the city of Ottawa grew. The red field is intended to refer to the Native peoples - the Outaouasis or Ottawas - who travelled this river and region and from whom its name was derived.
The ship's colours are white and red. This follows the convention that the two colours in the name portion of the badge are the official ship's colours. Given that the ship's namesake is the capital of Canada, the official colours of Canada are appropriately used by this ship.
[edit] History
Since her arrival in Esquimalt following her commissioning, she has been involved in countless operations and exercises throughout the Pacific and beyond, including several notable deployments to the Persian Gulf.
The current HMCS Ottawa carries the following Official Battle Honours earned by her predecessors:
- Atlantic 1939-1945
- Normandy 1944
- English Channel 1944
- Biscay 1944
[edit] HMCS Ottawa I (H60)
The first HMCS Ottawa (H60) had a short but action-filled career. She began life in 1931 as HMS Crusader before her commissioning into the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) on the 15th of June 1938 in Chatham, England. Originally stationed on the west coast, Ottawa was transferred to Halifax, Nova Scotia following the outbreak of the Second World War, where she escorted convoys between Great Britain and Canada.
In the first year of the war, Ottawa conducted convoy escort duties in the western Atlantic. In the fall of 1940, Ottawa deployed to Scotland to assist in local escort operations until her return to Canada in the spring of 1941. Ottawa then joined the Newfoundland Escort Force, where she continued her service off the coast of Newfoundland until her loss 15 months later.
On September 13, 1942, 500 nautical miles east of St. John's, Newfoundland, Ottawa was torpedoed. Less than 30 minutes later, unable to maneuver, she was hit a second time. This time the torpedo broke her in half, sinking her. With her went the lives of five officers, including the Commanding Officer, and 109 men. Only 65 survivors were rescued from the freezing Atlantic waters.
[edit] HMCS Ottawa II (H31)
The second HMCS Ottawa was launched as HMS Griffin and commissioned into the RCN as HMCS Griffin. The name "Griffin" was kept for only three weeks, until her name was changed to HMCS Ottawa and she was re-commissioned on 7 April 1943.
Ottawa joined the Mid-Ocean escort force in April 1943 as an escort between St. John's, Newfoundland, and Londonderry, Northern Ireland. On April 25, 1944, Ottawa was transferred to a "Hunter Killer" group of Canadian destroyers. As senior ship in EG-11 she led HMC ships Kootenay, Chaudiere, Gatineau, and St. Laurent. On D-Day, the EG-11 participated in "Operation Neptune" as anti-submarine pickets, 25 miles east of Plymouth, England.
On 6 July 1944, Ottawa and Kootenay were detached from a convoy to assist the Statice with a submarine contact off Beachy Head, Sussex. As Ottawa swept the area, she gained sonar contact and attacked with depth charges. Shortly afterwards, large amounts of debris appeared on the surface, including caps marked U-678. Post war investigations credited Ottawa with two additional submarine kills, U-621 and U-984. In total Ottawa and her group were credited with the sinking of five U-Boats.
In September 1944, Ottawa returned to Canada for refit. In May 1945, she was declared surplus and turned over to the War Assets Corporation for disposal.
[edit] HMCS Ottawa III (DDE-229)
The third HMCS Ottawa was launched at Canadian Vickers in Montreal, Quebec, on 29 April 1953 and commissioned on 10 November 1956. She was the third of a new generation of ships to join the Canadian Fleet.
All Canadian in design and construction, she and her sisters were the result of revolutionary thinking in the field of naval warfare. They carried the most advance equipment available for the detection and destruction of submarines, and had a distinctive rounded hull to aid with the water washing of nuclear fallout or chemical agents. Ottawa belonged to the first class of Canadian ship to have air conditioning and a pressurized "citadel" which prevented chemical agents or nuclear fallout from entering the ship. Ottawa was altered throughout her life to keep pace with the rapid changes in maritime warfare.
HMCS Ottawa III steamed 834,634 nautical miles over her lifetime, visiting over 350 ports in more than 40 countries throughout the world. In 1968, she became the first bilingual ship of the Canadian Navy. Her final sail past came on 31 July 1993.
[edit] HMCS Ottawa IV (FFH-341)
The fourth HMCS Ottawa was launched on 31 May 1996 and accepted by the Navy on 31 July 1996. Commissioned in Cornwall, Ontario on 28 September 1996, she is manned with a mixed gender crew of 225 personnel, and is the fifth and last Halifax-class frigate to join Canada's Pacific Fleet. Ottawa is based in Esquimalt, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada.
The Canadian Patrol Frigate (CPF) employs a steel superstructure, ballistic protection, redundant propulsion and electrical systems, a redundant distributed combat system, a survivable integrated communications system, a survivable propulsion control system, excellent automated damage control feature, a uniquely comprehensive NBC citadel, and is rigorously shock protected and designed to withstand nuclear air blast loads.
HMCS Ottawa IV, which is equipped with a medium-frequency, hull mounted sonar and a low frequency, passive towed-array sonar, hull-launched torpedoes, and one large CH-124 Sea King helicopter, as delivered is the highest-rated frigate with regard to anti-submarine warfare capability.
The CPF is the only frigate that has an advance, state-of-the-art, fully distributed combat system, with a distributed command and control system linked by redundant data buses. Ottawa's command and control system is also fully automated for all modes of operations. This is assessed to be very important since it minimizes the probability of human error.
Ottawa IV has a state-of-the-art fully automated and integrated external communications system using computerized circuit set-up monitoring, and reconfiguration. Ottawa's advanced state-of the-art broadband high frequency communications system is assessed to provide good performance while requiring relatively limited frequency management.
Ottawa IV has an advanced state-of-the-art machinery control system that is assessed to be unique in that it is completely digital and based on six multi-function electronic displays in four redundant locations. The machinery control system also interfaces with the computerized damage control system. Running off of 2 LM2500 gas turbines for main propulsion, and a GE turbo diesel for auxiallery propulsion, she is capable of 30+ knots max.
Ottawa IV has had an eventful commission to date. In 1998 she deployed to the Persian Gulf with the USS Constellation Battle Group and in February 2002 she joined other Canadian Naval Units deployed on Operation APOLLO again in the Persian Gulf area. Most recently, in September 2006 she deployed with the USS Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group to the CENTCOM Area of Responsibility in the northern Arabian Sea.
