HMCS ''Ottawa'' is a

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

. ''Ottawa'' is the twelfth and final ship of the ''Halifax'' class that were built as part of the

Canadian Patrol Frigate Project The Canadian Patrol Frigate Project (CPFP) was a procurement project undertaken by the Department of National Defence of Canada beginning in 1975 to find a replacement for the 20 combined ships of the , , , and classes of destroyer escorts. The C ...

. She is the fourth vessel to carry the name . The first three were named for the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

. This ship is the first named for Canada's national capital, the

City of Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core of the Ottawa–Gatinea ...

. She is assigned to

Maritime Forces Pacific In the Canadian Armed Forces, Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC, ) is responsible for the fleet training and operational readiness of the Royal Canadian Navy in the Pacific Ocean. It was once referred to as Canadian Pacific Station. The commander ...

(MARPAC) and is homeported at HMC Dockyard,

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is the Royal Canadian Navy's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians ...

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

Exclusive Economic Zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

. ''Ottawa'' has also been deployed on missions throughout the Pacific and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

and

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

on anti-terrorism operations.

Description and design

The ''Halifax''-class frigate design, emerging from the

, was ordered by the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

in 1977 as a replacement for the aging , , , and es of

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by th ...

s, which were all tasked with

anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...

.Milner, p. 284 ''Ottawa'' was ordered in December 1987 as part of the second batch of frigates.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 291Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 47 To reflect the changing long term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the ''Halifax''-class frigates were designed as a general purpose warship with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities. As built, the ''Halifax''-class vessels displaced and were

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a draught of .Saunders, p. 90 That made them slightly larger than the ''Iroquois''-class destroyers. The vessels are propelled by two shafts with Escher Wyss controllable pitch

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s driven by a CODOG system of two

General Electric LM2500 The General Electric LM2500 is an industrial and marine gas turbine produced by GE Aviation. The LM2500 is a derivative of the General Electric CF6 aircraft engine. As of 2004, the U.S. Navy and at least 29 other navies had used a total of mor ...

gas turbines, generating and one

SEMT Pielstick SEMT Pielstick was a French company that designed and built large diesel engines. Its full name was (Company of Thermal Machines Studies). Founded in 1948, SEMT was bought by MAN Diesel in 2006 During its existence as an independent compan ...

20 PA6 V 280

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

, generating . This gives the frigates a maximum speed of and a range of at while using their diesel engines. Using their gas turbines, the ships have a range of at . The ''Halifax'' class have a complement of 198 naval personnel of which 17 are officers and 17 aircrew of which 8 are officers.

Armament and aircraft

As built the ''Halifax'' class vessels deployed the

CH-124 Sea King The Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King (formerly CHSS-2) is a twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed for shipboard use by Canadian naval forces, based on the US Navy's SH-3 Sea King. Most CH-124s were assembled in Quebec by Unite ...

helicopter, which acted in concert with shipboard sensors to seek out and destroy submarines at long distances from the ships. The ships have a helicopter deck fitted with a " bear trap" system allowing the launch and recovery of helicopters in up to sea state 6. The ''Halifax'' class also carries a close-in anti-submarine weapon in the form of the

Mark 46 torpedo The Mark 46 torpedo is the backbone of the United States Navy's lightweight anti-submarine warfare torpedo inventory and is the NATO standard. These aerial torpedoes are designed to attack high-performance submarines. In 1989, an improvement p ...

, launched from twin Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo tubes in launcher compartments either side of the forward end of the helicopter hangar. As built, the anti-shipping role is supported by the

RGM-84 Harpoon The Harpoon is an all-weather, Over-the-horizon radar, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The Standoff Land Attack Missile , AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) ...

Block 1C

surface-to-surface missile A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They ar ...

, mounted in two quadruple launch tubes at the main deck level between the funnel and the helicopter hangar. For

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

self-defence the ships are armed with the

Sea Sparrow The RIM-7 Sea Sparrow is a U.S. ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon system, primarily intended for defense against anti-ship missiles. The system was developed in the early 1960s from the AIM-7 Sparrow air-to-air missile ...

vertical launch

surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-ai ...

in two Mk 48 Mod 0 eight-cell launchers placed to port and starboard of the funnel. The vessels carry 16 missiles. A

Raytheon Raytheon is a business unit of RTX Corporation and is a major U.S. defense contractor and industrial corporation with manufacturing concentrations in weapons and military and commercial electronics. Founded in 1922, it merged in 2020 with Unite ...

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales and fifth largest in the Unit ...

Phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

Mark 15 Mod 21 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is mounted on top of the helicopter hangar for "last-ditch" defence against targets that evade the Sea Sparrow. As built, the main gun on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

is a /70 calibre Mark 2 gun from

Bofors AB Bofors ( , , ) is a former Swedish arms manufacturer which today is part of the British arms manufacturer BAE Systems. The name has been associated with the iron industry and artillery manufacturing for more than 350 years. History Locate ...

. The gun is capable of firing shells at a rate of 220 rounds per minute at a range of more than . The vessels also carry eight machine guns.

Countermeasures and sensors

As built, the decoy system comprises Two

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

Shield Mark 2 decoy launchers which fire

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

to and infrared rockets to in distraction, confusion and centroid seduction modes. The torpedo decoy is the AN/SLQ-25A Nixie towed acoustic decoy from Argon ST. The ship's radar warning receiver, the CANEWS (Canadian Electronic Warfare System), SLQ-501, and the radar jammer, SLQ-505, were developed by Thorn and Lockheed Martin Canada. Two

Thales Nederland Thales Nederland B.V. (formerly Hollandse Signaalapparaten B.V. or in short Signaal) is a subsidiary of the French multinational company Thales Group based in the Netherlands. The firm was founded as ''NV Hazemeyer's Fabriek van Signaalapparate ...

(formerly Signaal) SPG-503 (STIR 1.8) fire control radars are installed one on the bridge-top and one on a raised radar platform on the forward end of the helicopter hangar. The ship is also fitted with Raytheon

AN/SPS-49 The AN/SPS-49 is a United States Navy two-dimensional, long range air search radar built by Raytheon that can provide contact bearing and range. It is a primary air-search radar for numerous ships in the U.S. fleet and in Spanish Navy, Spain, Poli ...

(V)5 long-range active air search radar operating in C and D bands, Ericsson HC150 Sea Giraffe medium-range air and surface search radar operating in G and H bands, and Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band navigation radar. The sonar suite includes the CANTASS Canadian Towed Array and GD-C AN/SQS-510 hull mounted sonar and incorporates an acoustic range prediction system. The sonobuoy processing system is the GD-C AN/UYS-503.

Modernization

The ''Halifax'' class underwent a modernization program, known as the Halifax Class Modernization (HCM) program, in order to update the frigates' capabilities in combatting modern smaller, faster and more mobile threats. This involved upgrading the command and control, radar, communications, electronic warfare and armament systems. Further improvements, such as modifying the vessel to accommodate the new

Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone The Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is a twin-engine, multi-role shipborne helicopter developed by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation for the Canadian Armed Forces. A military variant of the Sikorsky S-92, the CH-148 is designed for shipboard operations ...

helicopter and satellite links will be done separately from the main Frigate Equipment Life Extension (FELEX) program. The FELEX program comprised upgrading the combat systems integration to CMS330. The SPS-49 2D long range air search radar was replaced by the

SMART-S Mk 2 E/F-band 3D surveillance radar, and the two STIR 1.8 fire control radars were replaced by a pair of Saab Ceros 200 re-control radars. A Telephonics IFF Mode 5/S interrogator was installed and the Elisra NS9003A-V2HC ESM system replaced the SLQ-501 CANEWS. An IBM multi-link (Link 11, Link 16 and Link 22 enabled) datalink processing system was installed along with two

Anschütz Pathfinder Mk II navigation radars. Furthermore,

Rheinmetall Rheinmetall AG () is a German automotive and arms manufacturer, headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was promoted to the DAX, Germany's leading stock market index, in March 2023. It is the largest German and fifth largest Europe ...

's Multi-Ammunition Soft kill System (MASS), known as MASS DUERAS was introduced to replace the Plessey Shield decoy system. The existing 57 mm Mk 2 guns were upgraded to the Mk 3 standard and the Harpoon missiles were improved to Block II levels, the Phalanx CIWS was upgraded to Block 1B and the obsolete Sea Sparrow system was replaced by the

Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile The RIM-162 Evolved SeaSparrow Missile (ESSM) is a development of the RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missile used to protect ships from attacking missiles and aircraft. ESSM is designed to counter supersonic maneuvering anti-ship missiles. ESSM also has the ab ...

Construction and career

''Ottawa'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 29 April 1995 by

Saint John Shipbuilding Saint John Shipbuilding was a Canadian shipbuilding company located in Saint John, New Brunswick, Saint John, New Brunswick. The shipyard was active from 1923 to 2003. History Numerous shipyards were located on the shores of Courtney Bay in th ...

Ltd. at

Saint John Saint John or St. John usually refers to either John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Saint John or St. John may also refer to: People Saints * John the Baptist ( – ), preacher, ascetic, and baptizer of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelis ...

and launched on 31 May 1996. The frigate was commissioned on 28 September 1996 at

Cornwall, Ontario Cornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, situated where the provinces of Central Canada, Ontario and Quebec and the U.S. state of New York (state), New York converge. It is Ontario's easternmost city. Although it is the seat of the United ...

and carries the

hull classification symbol The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by ind ...

FFH 341. At the time of her commissioning, the commanding officer was

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

Gilles Goulet.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 294 After commissioning, ''Ottawa'', accompanied by the , transferred to the West Coast, departing

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

on 16 November 1996. ''Ottawa'' deployed in June 1998 as part of the Carrier Battle Group in the Persian Gulf as part of the United Nations embargo on Iraq. This made the frigate the first Canadian vessel to completely integrate with an American battle group. In February 2002, the warship was assigned to

Operation Apollo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the Canadian contribution to the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

, returning 17 August. On 6 June 2011, ''Ottawa'' began a four-and-a-half-month training deployment and goodwill tour in the Pacific which included port visits to Australia, South Korea, Singapore, and Japan. ''Ottawa'' participated with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

and

United States Seventh Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of the ...

in the multi-lateral naval exercise ''Operation Talisman Saber 2011'' from 11 to 26 July 2011. ''Ottawa'' subsequently operated in the U.S. Navy's

Carrier Strike Group Nine Carrier Strike Group 9 (CSG-9 or CARSTRKGRU 9) is a U.S. Navy carrier strike group. Commander Carrier Strike Group 9 (COMCARSTRKGRU 9 or CCSG 9) is responsible for unit-level training, integrated training, and material readiness for the ships an ...

and participated in

Fleet Week Fleet Week is a United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard tradition in which active military ships recently deployed in overseas operations dock in a variety of major cities for one week. Once the ships dock, ...

activities in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, California, between 26 September and 30 September 2011. The warship returned to its home base of

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt () is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Jua ...

, British Columbia, on 13 October 2011. On 12 December 2011, Commander Scott Van Will became the commanding officer of ''Ottawa''. ''Ottawa'' began working up for the next year of activity in January 2012. This began with directed workups and various training activities leading up to the larger

RIMPAC The Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) is the world's largest international maritime warfare exercise. RIMPAC is held biennially during June and July of even-numbered years from Honolulu, Hawaii, with the exception of 2020 where it was held ...

sail in the summer. Training included new firefighting equipment use, Fleet Navigation Officer Training, and Air Detachment integration. There was also a stop in Port McNeill and Alert Bay to visit local schools. The ship was scheduled to join the , and the for the Rim of the Pacific (

) exercise. RIMPAC 2012 took place from 27 June to 3 August 2012. It is a biannual, multi-national maritime exercise held off the coast of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

and is designed to improve interoperability and understanding between military forces from nations with an interest in the Pacific Rim, increasing stability in the region. In June 2013, ''Ottawa'' received a new commanding officer, Commander Julian Barnard. In July 2015, Sylvain Belair took command of HMCS ''Ottawa''. On 25 August 2016, ''Ottawa'' rescued the crew from the burning fishing vessel ''Sherry C'' which had been trying to tow the disabled fishing vessel ''Tryon'' back to port off the

British Columbia Coast The British Columbia Coast, popularly referred to as the BC Coast or simply the Coast, is a geographic region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. As the entire western continental coastline of Canada ...

. No one was hurt in the event and the disabled fishing vessels were turned over to the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; ) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in Canadian waters, such as navigation aids and i ...

when they arrived on the scene. ''Ottawa'' and

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

sailed from Esquimalt on 6 March 2017 for six-month deployment visiting several nations around the Pacific, including Malaysia, India, China and Japan among others, returning on 8 August. In June and July 2018, ''Ottawa'', along with sister ship and the supply ship , took part in RIMPAC 2018 around the Hawaiian Islands. In February 2019, ''Ottawa'' left Esquimalt for a month-long deployment training with the US Navy. On 6 August, ''Ottawa'' sailed for a six-month deployment to Asian-Pacific waters which included enforcing United Nations sanctions against North Korea. On 12 September 2019, ''Ottawa'' sailed through the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

while en route to the sanctions enforcement area. On 19 December, the frigate returned to Esquimalt after four months in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, ''Ottawa'' was deployed to Japan to participate in military exercises with the American and Japanese navies. After departing Japan, ''Ottawa'' had three encounters with Chinese warships in the

East China Sea The East China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean, located directly offshore from East China. China names the body of water along its eastern coast as "East Sea" (, ) due to direction, the name of "East China Sea" is otherwise ...

, including a close encounter with the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

. ''Ottawa'' returned to Esquimalt in December. In October 2024, ''Ottawa'' departed CFB Esquimalt for a deployment of Asian waters as Canada's contribution to the multi-national Operation Horizon. On 26 December, ''Ottawa'' completed a mission to conduct anti-smuggling operations related to North Korea from late November to mid-December. While in the midst of the deployment, it was reported on 7 February 2025, the vessel's commanding officer was relieved of command as part of ensuring effective leadership.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * *

External links

Royal Canadian Navy (Halifax-class Canadian Patrol Frigates)HMCS ''Ottawa'' (FFH 341) – Archived
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ottawa, HMCS Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigates 1996 ships Ships built in Saint John, New Brunswick