HMCS Kingston (MM 700)

HMCS ''Kingston'' is a that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1996. ''Kingston'' is the lead ship of her class, ordered under the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the first vessel to use the designation HMCS ''Kingston''. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax.

Design and description

The ''Kingston'' class was designed to fill the minesweeper, coastal patrol and reserve training needs of the Canadian Forces, replacing the s, s and Royal Canadian Mounted Police coastal launches in those roles.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 299 In order to perform these varied duties the ''Kingston''-class vessels are designed to carry up to three ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads.Saunders (2008), p. 95 The seven module types available for embarkation include four route survey, two mechanical minesweeping and one bottom inspection modules.

The ''Kingston'' class displace and are long overall with a beam and a draught of . The coastal defence vessels are powered by four Jeumont ANR-53-50 alternators coupled to four Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines creating . Two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters are driven by two Jeumont CI 560L motors creating and the Z drives can be rotated 360°. This gives the ships a maximum speed of and a range of at .Saunders (2004), p. 92

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. 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. The ''Kingston''-class coastal defence vessels have a complement of 37.

Service history

''Kingston'' was laid down on 12 December 1994 at Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia and was launched on 12 August 1995. The first ship to be constructed at Halifax in 32 years, ''Kingston'' was commissioned into the Canadian Forces at Kingston, Ontario on 21 September 1996 and carries the hull classification number MM 700.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 302

In March 1999, the coastal defence vessel sailed to the Baltic Sea to participate in the NATO naval exercise "Blue Game" with sister ship and .

In 2011, ''Kingston'' was among the Royal Canadian Navy vessels deployed to the Caribbean Sea as part of Operation Caribbe, Canada's contribution to Operation Martillo, the multinational effort to eliminate illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean. In total, 201 metric tons were interdicted that year, in which ''Kingston'' played a part. In 2012, ''Kingston'' was assigned again to Operation Caribe. That year, Operation Martillo seized 152 tons of cocaine and several million dollars in cash.

In June 2013, ''Kingston'' and ''Glace Bay'' 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 returned to serve in Operation Caribbe. In the summer of 2014, ''Kingston'', joined by the Canadian Coast Guard vessel and two private ships searched for and found one of the ships that disappeared during Franklin's lost expedition.

In the summer of 2016, ''Kingston'' was sent on a goodwill tour of the Great Lakes, making several port visits. On 7 October, ''Kingston'' left Halifax to participate in Operation Caribbe in the Caribbean Sea, returning on 9 December 2016. In August 2017, the and ''Kingston'' and sister ship departed Halifax to take part in the Operation Nanook in Canada's northern waters.

On 26 January 2018, ''Kingston'' and sister ship departed Halifax for West Africa to take part in the naval exercise Obangame Express 2018 with the United States Navy and several African navies. Their visit to Nigeria marked the first time Canadian warships have ever visited the country. The vessels returned to Halifax on 17 April. In August, ''Kingston'' and departed Halifax to take part in Operation Nanook, travelling to Iqaluit, Nunavut and Nuuk, Greenland. On 22 January 2019, ''Kingston'' and sister ship departed Halifax for operations off West Africa as part of Operation Projection, working with African nations as well as the United States, United Kingdom and France. The vessels returned to Halifax on 26 April.

In June 2022, ''Kingston'' and ''Summerside'' were deployed to Europe in support of NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During their deployment, they detected naval mines leftover from World War II and safely detonated them. They returned to Halifax in November.

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HMCS ''Kingston'' (MM 700)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingston, Hmcs
Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy
Kingston-class coastal defence vessels
1995 ships
Ships built in Nova Scotia