HMCS Algonquin Being Towed to East Coast for Recycling

By David Pugliese, Defence Watch 

The former HCMS Algonquin left Esquimalt on Monday. It is being towed to the east coast where it will be broken up. The ship is expected to arrive in Nova Scotia in mid-June, Royal Canadian Navy officers told Defence Watch.

The former HMCS Protecteur arrived on the east coast a few weeks ago after a 56-day journey. It will also be broken up.

Photo courtesy of MARPAC.

HMCS Protecteur Leaving CFB Esquimalt Wednesday to be Dismantled

It is almost the end of the line for HMCS Protecteur. The Royal Canadian Navy's AOR that has was in service between August of 1969 to May of 2015 is getting ready for its final voyage.

David Pugliese of the Ottawa Citizen reported this morning that HMCS Protecteur is on its way to be dismantled. 

Here is the rest of his article:

Crews worked over the weekend at CFB Esquimalt to ensure HMCS Protecteur is ready to be towed to the east coast where it will be dismantled.

HMCS Protecteur is now expected to be towed starting Wednesday after a few delays meant that the ship could not leave on its originally planned date of Monday, February 22, 2016, Royal Canadian Navy officials toldDefence Watch.

In January Defence Watch reported that R.J. MacIsaac Construction of Antigonish, NS. had won a $39 million contract to dispose of HMCS Algonquin and HMCS Protecteur. Both ships are now paid off/decommissioned and at CFB Esquimalt, BC.

The plan is to tow the vessels to the east coast where they will be dismantled. The operation will involve towing the ships through the Panama Canal, according to officials. No details were available on the cost to tow the ships from the west coast to the east coast.

Christopher Clarke, mayor of Queens Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia where much of the work is expected to be done, had earlier told Halifax’s Chronicle Herald that HMCS Protecteur would arrive on the east coast around April 1. HMCS Algonquin will arrive in early July to be dismantled, according to government officials.

HMCS Algonquin and Protecteur to be Dismantled in Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia media outlets are reporting that R.J. MacIsaac Construction of Antigonish, NS. has won a $39 million contract to dispose of HMCS Algonquin and HMCS Protecteur. Both ships are now paid off/decommissioned and at CFB Esquimalt, BC.

The plan is to tow the vessels to the east coast where they will be dismantled. The operation will involve towing the ships through the Panama Canal, according to officials. No details were available through Defence Watch on the exact cost to tow the ships from the west coast to the east coast.

Christopher Clarke, mayor of Queens Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia where much of the work is expected to be done, told Halifax’s Chronicle Herald that HMCS Protecteur will arrive on the east coast around April 1. HMCS Algonquin will arrive in early July to be dismantled, according to government officials.

Project Resolve: Asterix to Salvage Parts from HMCS Protecteur

This is a follow-up to my previous post on Project Resolve.
below is an article written by David Pugliese for Defence Watch.

The Following Article was written by DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN

The Asterix, the commercial ship purchased by Davie for Project Resolve is on its way to Canada. Resolve will provide an interim AOR capability to the Royal Canadian Navy because of the delay in acquiring the Joint Support Ships (estimated time of arrival for the navy on the first JSS is 2020, 2021 for the second).

Davie and its team will refurbish Asterix into a refueling/resupply vessel and then provide this service to the RCN under a lease agreement.

Work is still being done on the final proposal and that still needs Treasury Board approval.

When will that approval happen?

It is unclear at this point.

Davie has received some initial money from the government but that runs out later this year.

The Canadian government will have to decide on a five or seven-year lease for the provision of such services.

The ship will arrive at Aecon’s Pictou, Nova Scotia shipyard where Project Resolve engineers will do some initial work, sources have told Defence Watch.

From there it will be sent to Davie yards in Quebec– the plan is to make sure the ship reaches there before winter sets in.

The ship will be later transferred to the West Coast so the replenishment at sea (RAS) system from HMCS Protecteur can be installed, sources told Defence Watch. The RAS system was not damaged in the 2014 fire that led to the decommissioning of Protecteur. Sea trials on the refurbished Asterix will be done on the West Coast.

Davie hopes the whole process will take about 15 months from the date a contract is signed.

Navy used eBay to keep HMCS Preserver operational

The Ottawa Citizen's Defence Watch learned recently that Royal Canadian Navy personnel went to extreme lengths to keep HMCS Preserver operational over the last few years. 

The Canadian Press, who supplied the information to Navy Commander Vice-Admiral Mark Norman showed that technicians were fighting a loosing battle to keep Preserver on duty. 

Despite the fact that the Canadian Armed Forces announced in 2014 that Preserver  and her sister ship Protecteur would be retired in 2015, personnel fought to keep them operational as long as possible, in several cases even using eBay to purchased used parts to repair the ship. 

This extreme step was taken as the original manufacturers long ago stopped making spare parts - which led to a disproportionate amount of time being used to find replacements. In many cases when the military requires a part that is no longer produced, they upgrade the equipment in question, or find a manufacturer to produce a specified amount of the required part for the remaining lifespan of the equipment. In the Navy's case - for Preserver that was not an option because of its impending retirement. 

An exact date for Preserver`s "Paying Off" (retirement) has not been set. 

Many critics are calling for an interim solution to be found for the Royal Canadian Navy's supply gap - construction on the new supply vessels are not set to begin until 2017 - and will not be ready before 2019/2020. 

HMCS Algonquin, Preserver, and Protecteur all Retiring from Service

The state of the Royal Canadian Navy has been deteriorating over the past number of decades, and its future is looking more and more uncertain. 2015 will leave its mark on the already shrunken Naval Force, with four of its flag ships being 'paid off' or otherwise known as retiring from service.

Last week I posted about HMCS Iroquois' retirement after 43 years of service on May 1, 2015. The Royal Canadian Navy has since confirmed the dates of its other destroyer and two supply ships.

The HMCS Algonguin  will be retired on Thursday June 11, 2015, at CFB Esquimalt, the ships home since 1994. It was commissioned November 3 1973, and began her career in Halifax. The Algonquin has served the Royal Canadian Navy for 41 spectacular years. It saw deployments to the Standing Naval Forces Atlantic Task Group, to the Gulf of Oman for OP APOLLO, the Eastern Pacific, and numerous deployments to OP CARIBBE.

HMCS Algonquin. File Image (2004) 

The HMCS Protecteur will be retired May 14, 2015 at CFB Esquimalt after 46 years of Service to the Royal Canadian Navy. It was one of the RCN's auxiliary oiler replenishment ships. Protecteur was commission August 30, 1969 and began her career in the Atlantic before being transferred to the Pacific Coast. Her deployment honours include participation in Operation Desert Shield in 1991, Hurricane Andrew Relief in 1992, and part of the multinational task force to assist East Timor from 1999 to 2000, as well as OP APOLLO.  She will be largely remembered for her humanitarian efforts around the world. 

HMCS Protecteur. File Image (2009)

HMCS Preserver, the sister ship of Protecteur  was scheduled to be retired at around the same time as her sister, but DND and the RCN has delayed announcing her retirement date. Preserver  has served the RCN for more than 40 years, and while no longer serving as an active at-sea replenishment vessel, she continues to act as a fueling service for the Atlantic Fleet in Halifax. She was commissioned on the 7 August 1970. She served on Operation DELIVERANCE, off the coast of the former Yugoslavia, search for Swiss Air flight 111, and OP APOLLO. Corrosion was found on her hull in 2014, and she has been off active duty since. She will be retired either later in 2015 or early 2016. 

HMCS Preserver. File Image (2009)

   

The RCN's replacement supply ships (Queenston-Class auxiliary vessels) based on the German Berlin-Class are currently planned for service in 2019/2020. The RCN would like to acquire 3 of these vessels, but the final number has yet to be decided. The minimum would be two. 

The Canadian Surface Combatant fleet (a planned 15 vessels) will eventually replace all of Canada's frigates as well as its destroyers. None have yet even begun construction, and the first is not planned to be ready well into 2018 (a generous estimate) with the likelihood being more like 2020. The entire fleet was supposed to be ready by 2020, and that is looking more and more like the late 2020s.