HMCS Calgary (FFH 335)

For other ships of the same name, see HMCS Calgary.
HMCS Calgary in 2014
Career (Canada)
Name: Calgary
Namesake: Calgary, Alberta
Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
Builder: MIL Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon
Laid down: 15 June 1991
Launched: 28 August 1992
Commissioned: 12 May 1995
Refit: HCM/FELEX June 2011-June 2012
Homeport: CFB Esquimalt
Identification: pennant number: 335
Motto: "Onward"
Honours and
awards:
  • Atlantic, 1942–45
  • Biscay, 1943
  • Normandy, 1944
  • English Channel, 1944–45
  • North Sea, 1945[1]
  • Arabian Sea[2]
Fate: Active in service
Badge: Or, a bend wavy azure charged with a like bendlet argent. In front across the centre of a bow stringed fess-wise, and arrow point upwards in pale, both sable.
General characteristics
Class and type:Halifax-class frigate
Displacement:3,995 tonnes (light)
4,795 tonnes (operational)
5,032 tonnes (deep load)
Length:134.2 m (440 ft)
Beam:16.5 m (54 ft)
Draught:7.1 m (23 ft)
Propulsion:2 × LM2500 Gas turbines
1 × SEMT Pielstick Diesel engine
Speed:30 knots (56 km/h)
Range:9,500 nautical miles (17,600 km)
Complement:225 (including air detachment)
Armament:24 × Honeywell Mk 46 torpedoes
16 × Evolved Sea-Sparrow SAM
8 × RGM-84 Harpoon SSM
1 × 57 mm Bofors Mk2 gun
1 × 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS
6 × .50 Caliber machine guns
Aircraft carried:1 × CH-124 Sea King

HMCS Calgary is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Navy since 1995.

Calgary is the sixth vessel in her class and the second vessel to carry the designation HMCS Calgary. She was built as part of the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project.

Calgary was laid down on 15 June 1991 by MIL Davie Shipbuilding at Lauzon and launched on 28 August 1992. She was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 12 May 1995 and carries the hull classification symbol 335.[3] On 6 June 2011 Calgary was turned over to Seaspan Marine Corporation's Victoria Shipyards, to start an 18 month mid-life upgrading and modernization. Calgary was returned to the Royal Canadian Navy from Victoria Shipyards on 1 June 2012 and as of fall 2013 conducted sea acceptance trials.

She is assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) and is homeported at CFB Esquimalt.[4]

Operational history

HMCS Calgary (FFH 335) pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to support Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2010 exercises.

Calgary serves on MARPAC missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Pacific Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone.

On 10 July 1995, Calgary was sent to the Persian Gulf as part of the force used to enforce sanctions on Iraq, her mission lasting until December of that year. While en route home, she assisted the sinking bulk carrier Mount Olympus. She rescued all 30 members of her crew, taking them to the freighter Rodopi.[3]

HMCS Calgary deployed on Exercise "Tandem Thrust" in 1999.

In 1999, while participating in the exercise "Tandem Thrust", Calgary suffered the breakdown of one of her diesel generators. The following year she redeployed to the Persian Gulf, once again as part of the group enforcing sanctions against Iraq.[3]

Calgary participated in RIMPAC 2014 in June 2014, the first time that China will participate in the operation.[5] Calgary, accompanied by Winnipeg, Yellowknife and Brandon, departed in October 2014 to take part in San Francisco Fleet Week and the Task Group Exercise with the US Navy in American coastal waters.[6]

Command team

Lineage - Calgary

This is the current ship with the name Calgary. The first HMCS Calgary was a Flower-class corvette commissioned 16 December 1941, and paid off 15 June 1945.

References

  1. ↑ "Battle Honours". Britain's Navy. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "South-West Asia Theatre Honours". Prime Minister of Canada. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). Warships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910-2002 (3 ed.). St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Ltd. p. 291. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
  4. ↑ Canadian Navy, HMCS Calgary - The Ship
  5. ↑ Pugliese, David (26 June 2014). "Full list of participating forces and military assets for RIMPAC 2014". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  6. ↑ "HMCS Calgary, Winnipeg, Brandon and Yellowknife set sail for U.S. exercise". Defence Watch. Ottawa Citizen. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Command Teams". Royal Canadian Navy. Department of National Defence. Retrieved 2 January 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to HMCS Calgary FFH-335.