Your Navy Today - Volume 5 Issue 5

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Harry DeWolf, Yellowknife and Saskatoon have had successful Op Caribbe deployments, seizing a combined total of 1,247 kg of cocaine.

Harry DeWolf returned to its home port of Halifax on May 29 from the operation, which is Canada’s participation in U.S.-led enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean. The ship’s crew conducted two successful seizures in which 375 kg of cocaine were seized and destroyed.

HMC Ships Saskatoon and Yellowknife returned to their home port of Esquimalt on May 19 after responding to 21 cases of potential illicit activity, which resulted in a total of approximately 872 kg of cocaine being seized and destroyed.

While deployed, Harry DeWolf also participated in Exercise Tradewinds 2022, a ground, air, sea and cyber exercise focused on strengthening safety and security in the Caribbean region, with a focus on humanitarian aid and disaster relief.

As part of Tradewinds 2022, Harry DeWolf joined a multinational naval group to share and improve tactics and procedures for detecting, tracking, intercepting and boarding suspect vessels. 

As part of the RCN’s commitment to Operation Reassurance, HMC Ships Halifax and Montréal continue to operate alongside NATO allies at sea. Halifax is currently operating in the North Atlantic and Northern European waters with Standing NATO Maritime Group 1, while Montréal continues to patrol the Mediterranean Sea with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2. 

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Lyne Edmondson knows not everyone has had the same positive experience she has had coming out as a transgender woman in the Canadian Armed Forces. She knows the Department of National Defence is not always a positive space. “But I know that we're also getting better,” she says. “We've got some ways to go, but we have also come a long way.”

RCN sailors – Regular and Reserve Force – at all ranks and civilian employees at all levels now have a mentorship program to call their own.

At this stage, the RCN Mentorship Program consists of group sessions led by a subject matter expert on topics of interest to RCN Team members. These sessions will be available to all on Microsoft Teams.

Over 300 people attended the first session at the end of May. Based on feedback from that session, the topic of the next event is networking and work-life balance.

These group sessions will be held monthly and everyone is encouraged to actively participate, share their insights and ask questions. For more information, visit the Mentorship Program’s intranet page.

You are invited to attend the next group session:

• Date: June 28
• Time: Noon to 1:30 p.m. EST
• Location: Microsoft Teams

The RCN’s Great Lakes Deployment 2022 is underway with planned visits to communities along the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes, with HMC Ships Oriole (May 14 to August 31) and Glace Bay (June 24 to July 29) being this year’s ambassadors.

The deployment provides Canadians with a unique opportunity to tour one of Canada’s naval ships and to learn about life in the RCN from our sailors. It also provides a learning opportunity about the different trades and occupations open in the RCN, and to hear stories directly from sailors who have chosen a career at sea.

You can follow along with the journey or check out the planned port visits.

The RCN celebrated the official naming of HMC Ships Margaret Brooke and the future HMCS Max Bernays, ships two and three of the Navy’s six Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships. The ceremony took place at Irving Shipbuilding’s Halifax shipyard on May 29.

HMCS Margaret Brooke was named by one of its co-sponsors, Ms. Allyson Brooke. Ms. Brooke is the niece of Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr) Margaret Brooke, after whom the ship is named. Her sister, Ms. Margaret Elizabeth Brooke, is co-sponsor. LCdr Brooke was a Nursing Sister and Canadian hero who was decorated for gallantry during the Second World War.

The future HMCS Max Bernays was named by Ms. Shannon Bernays. Ms. Bernays is the granddaughter of Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays, a Canadian naval hero who served as the Coxswain of HMCS Assiniboine during the Second World War’s Battle of the Atlantic.

The appointment of the ship’s sponsor is a long and storied naval tradition. As part of the naming ceremony for both ships, the sponsors each broke a bottle of Canadian traditional method sparkling wine over the bow of their ship.