Canada’s Atlantic Fleet

I was in the Halifax area recently and had a chance to see some of Canada’s Atlantic Fleet (from afar). The Canadian navy is divided into two fleets, Atlantic and Pacific, to match the oceans they patrol. Perhaps we’ll have a third fleet soon, for the Arctic Ocean?

The larger of the two – Atlantic – is based in Halifax, while the Pacific fleet is based in Esquimalt outside Victoria, BC. The Naval Reserve is headquartered in Quebec City but the reserve divisions are distributed across the country. Today the Atlantic fleet is the core of Maritime Forces Atlantic aka MARLANT.

The fleet is never all in one place, as ships can be off on operational or training missions. For example, MARLANT has sent frigates for Operation ARTEMIS to combat piracy in the West Indian Ocean, and HMCS Montréal joined Operation NEON off North Korea this past summer.

Canada’s largest naval deployments have traditionally been to support our NATO commitments. NATO has several Standing Naval Forces, ready to conduct NATO missions and perform exercises. In the past one had the catchy name STANAVFORLANT (Standing Naval Force Atlantic) but is now SNMG1 (Standing NATO Maritime Group One). There’s also a SNMG2 and two mine countermeasures groups. Currently HMCS Charlottetown is the flagship of SNMG2.

Here are my photos from early October 2024.

The Frigates

HMCS Ville de Quebec (#332) was shining in the late afternoon light. I like how the light picks out the sharp edges of this Halifax-class frigate.

HMCS Fredericton (#337) was in shadows. The Phalanx close-in weapons system (CIWS) is clearly visible atop the helicopter hangar.

Note the sailing ship behind Fredericton. I believe this is HMCS Oriole, the sail training vessel of the navy, built in 1921 and commissioned into the navy in 1952.

The flight deck of HMCS St John’s (#340) was covered – I had no idea they could do that.

Offshore Patrol Ships

I was excited to see two of Canada’s newest warships, the Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS). Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax is building eight of these ships, six for the Navy and two for the Coast Guard.

Two were moored nose to nose. Above is HMCS William Hall (#433), commissioned into the Navy on May 16, 2024.

The other AOPV present was HMCS Frédérick Rolette (#434). This ship was delivered to the Navy on August 29, 2024 and will undergo testing before being commissioned.

The Maritime Costal Defence Vessels

Canada has twelve small Kingston-class coastal defence vessels. These perform a variety of missions, including minesweeping, counter narcotics, and coastal patrols.

Here we see the sterns of HMCS Goose Bay (#707) and Summerside (#711). Note that Goose Bay is painted in a World War 2 “dazzle” camouflage pattern.

MV Asterix

The Navy’s sole auxiliary replenishment vessel, MV Asterix, was present on one day I was in Halifax but absent the next day. It was converted from a commercial container ship by Davie Shipbuilding in Quebec to provide supplies to Canada’s Navy on the ocean. It carries diesel and aviation fuel and can refuel ships at sea. This function used to be provided by HMCS Protecteur and Preserver, but they were retired in the mid 2010s, so Asterix was leased on an interim basis to fill the gap.

Two new Joint Support ships, also to be called Protecteur and Preserver, are to be built by Seaspan Marine Corporation in Vancouver. Protecteur is scheduled to be launched later in 2024.

Asterix is a busy vessel and is often deployed with the Navy’s frigates.

Submarines

I didn’t see any submarines when I was in Halifax, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention them. Canada has four Victoria-class long range patrol submarines, and two are based in Halifax.

The nature of submarines is that they are secretive, so we don’t hear much about what they do for Canada, unfortunately.

Sackville

I can’t talk about the navy in Halifax without showing the last corvette, Sackville. During World War II, hundreds of these plucky little antisubmarine warships were built to combat the German submarine threat. Sackville is the sole remaining corvette in the world, and is docked on the Halifax waterfront and is available for touring (more information).

More on the Navy

• HMCS Iroqouis
• HMCS Athabaskan