HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701)

HMCS Glace Bay is a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel that has served in the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Navy since 1996. Glace Bay is the second ship of her class which is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the second vessel to use the designation HMCS Glace Bay. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax.

For other ships with the same name, see HMCS Glace Bay.
Glace Bay in the Atlantic Ocean on 9 June 2010
History
Canada
Name: Glace Bay
Namesake: Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Builder: Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia
Laid down: 28 April 1995
Launched: 22 January 1996
Commissioned: 26 October 1996
Homeport: CFB Halifax
Identification:
Motto: Ex Fundo Maris[1]
Honours and
awards:		 Atlantic, 1944–45[1]
Status: Active
Notes: Colours: Black and white[1]
Badge: Sable on a pile Argent a thistle proper.[1]
General characteristics
Class and type: Kingston-class coastal defence vessel
Displacement: 990 t (970 long tons)
Length: 55.3 m (181 ft 5 in)
Beam: 11.3 m (37 ft 1 in)
Draught: 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in)
Propulsion:
  • 4 × Jeumont ANR-53-50 alternators, 4 × 600VAC Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines, 7.2 MW (9,700 hp)
  • 2 × Jeumont CI 560L motors, 2,200 kW (3,000 hp)
  • 2 × LIPS Z drive azimuth thrusters
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Range: 5,000 nmi (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph)
Complement: 37
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Kelvin Hughes navigation radar (I-band)
  • Kelvin Hughes 6000 surface search radar (E-F band)
  • Global Positioning System
  • AN/SQS-511 towed side scan sonar
  • Remote-control Mine Hunting System (RMHS)
Armament:

Design and description

The Kingston class was designed to fill the minesweeper, coastal patrol and reserve training needs of the Canadian Forces, replacing the Bay-class minesweepers, Porte-class gate vessels and Royal Canadian Mounted Police coastal launches in those roles.[2] In order to perform these varied duties the Kingston-class vessels are designed to carry up to three 6.1-metre (20 ft) ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads.[3] The seven module types available for embarkation include four route survey, two mechanical minesweeping and one bottom inspection modules.[2]

The Kingston class displace 990 tonnes (970 long tons) and are 55.3 metres (181 ft 5 in) long overall with a beam 11.3 metres (37 ft 1 in) and a draught of 3.4 metres (11 ft 2 in).[2] The coastal defence vessels are powered by four Jeumont ANR-53-50 alternators coupled to four Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines creating 7.2 megawatts (9,700 hp). Two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters are driven by two Jeumont CI 560L motors creating 2,200 kilowatts (3,000 hp) and the Z drives can be rotated 360°. This gives the ships a maximum speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).[4]

The Kingston class is equipped with a Kelvin Hughes navigational radar using the I band and a Kelvin Hughes 6000 surface search radar scanning the E and F bands. The vessels carry an AN/SQS-511 towed side scan sonar for minesweeping and a Remote-control Mine Hunting System (RMHS). The vessels are equipped with one Bofors 40 mm/60 calibre Mk 5C gun and two M2 machine guns.[4][lower-alpha 1] The 40 mm gun was declared obsolete and removed from the vessels in 2014. Some of them ended up as museum pieces and on display at naval reserve installations across Canada.[5] The Kingston-class coastal defence vessels have a complement of 37.[2]

Service history

The ship's keel was laid down on 28 April 1995 by Halifax Shipyards Ltd. at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was launched on 22 January 1996. Glace Bay was commissioned into the Canadian Forces at Sydney, Nova Scotia, on 26 October 1996 and carries the hull number MM 701.[6] In 1997, the coastal defence vessel deployed to the Great Lakes. Following the crash of Swissair Flight 111, Glace Bay was among the vessels sent to search for the downed aircraft in September 1998. The following year, she was sent to the Baltic Sea to participate in minesweeping exercises with NATO.[6]

In November 2009, the Canadian trials for the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system were performed aboard Glace Bay.[7]

In June 2013, Glace Bay and sister ship Kingston were sent on a seven-week tour of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes, making several port calls along the way. In 2014, she was deployed to serve in Operation Caribbe.[8] During the ship's deployment, in collaboration with the United States Coast Guard, the vessel seized a large shipment of cocaine valued at $84 million.[9] In October 2018, Glace Bay was among the Canadian ships deployed to the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea as part of the large NATO exercise, Trident Juncture.[10] On 17 December 2018 Summerside and Glace Bay were sailing home to Halifax from their deployment in European waters when they were called to the aid of the sailing vessel Makena which had been disabled 440 kilometres (270 mi) southeast of Halifax. Summerside and Glace Bay took part in the rescue of the four crew members of Makena by a Royal Canadian Air Force Cormorant helicopter, with additional support by a United States C-130 Hercules aircraft.[11]

On 26 January 2020, Glace Bay and Shawinigan departed Halifax as part of Operation Projection off West Africa. Once there, the two vessels will take part in two naval exercises Obangame Express and Phoenix Express.[12] They were recalled in March during the COVID-19 pandemic after their exercises were cancelled.[13]

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References

Notes
  1. The 60 calibre denotes the length of the gun. This means that the length of the gun barrel is 60 times the bore diameter.

Citations
  1. Official Lineages.
  2. Macpherson & Barrie 2002, p. 299.
  3. Saunders 2008, p. 95.
  4. Saunders 2004, p. 92.
  5. Mallett, Peter (17 October 2018). "Big guns find new life". CFB Esquimalt Lookout. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  6. Macpherson & Barrie 2002, p. 301.
  7. "ScanEagle Takes Flight off Canadian Vessel". naval-technology.com. 26 November 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  8. "Her Majesty's Canadian Ships Kingston and Glace Bay Have Joined HMC Ships Nanaimo and Whitehorse On Op CARIBBE". Ottawa Citizen. 10 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  9. Pugliese, David (24 March 2014). "HMCS Glace Bay Recovers 97 Bales of Cocaine During Caribbean Sea Patrol". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  10. Pugliese, David (25 October 2018). "Approximately 2,000 Canadian military personnel in Europe for major NATO exercise". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  11. Fraiman, Michael (20 December 2018). "The Royal Canadian Navy to the rescue! (Yes, really.)". Maclean's. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  12. Quon, Alexander & Maclean, Alexa (26 January 2020). "Crews of HMCS Shawinigan and HMCS Glace Bay bid farewell, deploy to Africa". Gloval News. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  13. Burke, David (6 April 2020). "Canadian Forces calls back ships, cuts missions short due to COVID-19". CBC News. Retrieved 6 April 2020.

Sources
  • Macpherson, Ken & Barrie, Ron (2002). The Ships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910–2002 (Third ed.). St. Catharines, Ontario: Vanwell Publishing. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "Official Lineages, Volume 2: Extant Commissioned Ships – HMCS Glace Bay". National Defence and the Canadian Forces. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  • Saunders, Stephen, ed. (2004). Jane's Fighting Ships 2004–2005 (107 ed.). Alexandria, Virginia: Jane's Information Group Inc. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Saunders, Stephen, ed. (2008). Jane's Fighting Ships 2008–2009. Jane's Fighting Ships (111th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group Inc. ISBN 978-0-7106-2845-9. OCLC 225431774.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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