HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509)

HMCS ''Protecteur'' (AOR 509) was the lead ship of the s in service with the Royal Canadian Navy. She was part of Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC), homeported at CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia. Built by Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Docks in Saint John, New Brunswick, she was commissioned on 30 August 1969. She was the first Canadian naval unit to carry the name ''Protecteur''; however, there have been several units, including a base, named .

Mostly known for her humanitarian efforts, ''Protecteur'' had also served in times of war including Operation Friction and Operation Apollo in the Persian Gulf region, multi-national naval exercises, and as part of the INTERFET in East Timor. Operation Apollo was the largest deployment of the Royal Canadian Navy since the Korean War. In six months ''Protecteur'' logged over , delivering over of fuel and 390 pallets of dry goods to deployed coalition ships. ''Protecteur'', as well as her sister ship ''Preserver'', were scheduled to be paid off in 2017, however, damage due to an engine fire aboard the ship in 2014 forced ''Protecteur'' to be paid off prematurely. ''Protecteur'' was decommissioned at a farewell ceremony on 14 May 2015.

Building ''Protecteur''

''Protecteur'' was the first Canadian naval unit to carry the name ''Protecteur'', French for "Protector"; however, there have been two Australian and seven British naval units named ''Protector''. The name was also used for a Canadian base, named .

Construction

First authorized in 1959, ''Protecteur'' was constructed by Saint John Shipbuilding and Dry Docks in Saint John, New Brunswick, starting on 17 October 1967, was launched on 18 July 1968, and was commissioned by the Canadian Forces on 30 August 1969.

General characteristics

''Protecteur'' was one of two ships in the ''Protecteur'' class of replenishment oilers in service with the Royal Canadian Navy. The ship was long and wide, with a displacement between depending on her load. ''Protecteur''s draught was , and she had been given an ice rating of three.

Two Babcock & Wilcox boilers fed a single General Electric steam turbine rated at that drove a single propeller, allowing the ship to reach a maximum speed of . At , the range of ''Protecteur'' was limited to , but her range could be extended to when only travelling at .

''Protecteur''s primary role was to deliver supplies to deployed ships. Fully loaded, ''Protecteur'' could store up to of fuel, of aviation fuel, of dry cargo, and of ammunition. Fuel could be transferred at a rate of per hour and of dry cargo per hour could be transferred all while travelling at her top speed.

Armament

Four BAE Systems Mark 36 SRBOC chaff launchers and an AN/SLQ-25 Nixie towed decoy were the ship's primary defences. When ''Protecteur'' was originally launched, she was fitted with a twin 3-inch/50-calibre gun mounted on her bow; however, the 3-inch guns were replaced with two 20 mm Phalanx CIWS mounts, one at the bow and one astern in August 1990. The CIWS emplacements were part of the upgrades that ''Protecteur'' received before deploying to the Persian Gulf region. The CIWS was found above the bridge.

Her former 3-inch guns were temporarily fitted, together with two Bofors 40 mm guns, six machine guns, as well as Blowpipe and Javelin MANPADs during the Gulf War. The CIWS mounts were retained after the war, but the Bofors and 76 mm gun were removed from ''Protecteur'' after returning from war.

Originally ''Protecteur'' was to be fitted with Mark 29 NATO Sea Sparrow. However, due to delays in procurement, the Sea Sparrow system was never installed. The Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King helicopters on board ''Protecteur'' also provided weapons support, carrying Mark 46 torpedoes and a 7.62 mm machine gun.

Crew

Three hundred sixty-five men and women served on ''Protecteur''. There were 27 officers aboard ship and a total of 45 crew members who were part of the air detachment that flew three CH-124 Sea King helicopters off the back of the ship. In 1988 the crew of ''Protecteur'' was officially desegregated, allowing both men and women to serve on board her. ''Protecteur'' was equipped with a small dental clinic, which provided dental care for the Canadian Forces when deployed.

Service

In 1974 the Polish sailboat ''Gedania'' embarked on an attempt to traverse the Northwest Passage, as part of a journey to circumnavigate the North and South American continents. Although the Canadian authorities refused to grant the necessary visa, the captain of the yacht persisted, and ''Protecteur'' was sent to intercept the yacht on 30 August 1975. The captain eventually turned back of his own accord, but the operation was estimated to have cost $400,000 (equivalent to $ in ).

In 1980, while ''Protecteur'' was operating off the coast of Portugal, Commanding Officer Captain Larry Dzioba hoisted an Esso flag on the ship's mast, joking that they were the "biggest floating gas station in the neighbourhood". In 1981, ''Protecteur'' served in CARIBOPS 81 off the coast of Puerto Rico, along with at least two Canadian destroyers. ''Protecteur'' and her CH-124 helicopters performed a nighttime rescue of the crew of a disabled Norwegian chemical tanker in June 1982. The Norwegian crew was forced to abandon their ship after a fire had broken out. For the 75th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy, ''Protecteur'' hosted a dinner with the captains of 35 ships, including ships from Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States, as well as then Governor General Jeanne Sauvé and Prince Andrew.

In 1991, ''Protecteur'' was part of the Canadian contingent sent to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield and later Operation Friction (the Canadian name for its operations during the Gulf War). The ship, part of a three-vessel force, the other two being the and the , saw extensive service in the Central Gulf. The ship was honoured with the Gulf and Kuwait Medal and the Arabian Sea award for her service in the war. In 1992, ''Protecteur'' was sent to help after Hurricane Andrew in Florida, with tasks including repairing schools, community centres, and hospitals in the region. A small pool was built on the helipad of ''Protecteur'' providing some relief to hurricane ravaged Floridians. Homes, churches, and a senior centre were also repaired in the Bahamas. The homeport of ''Protecteur'' was changed from CFB Halifax to CFB Esquimalt after the hurricane relief efforts. The frigate and ''Protecteur'' participated in the multi-national RIMPAC 98 off the coast of Hawaii in June 1998.

''Protecteur'' was deployed to East Timor as part of the Australian-led INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce from 23 October 1999 to 23 January 2000. Crew from ''Protecteur'' helped reconstruct a police academy in Dili during their deployment in support of INTERFET. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police then used the newly reconstructed academy to set up a training school for the National Police of East Timor. ''Protecteur'' participated in Operation Apollo for six months, logging over and delivering over of fuel and 390 pallets of dry goods, returning to CFB Esquimalt in November 2002. Operation Apollo was the largest Canadian deployment since the Korean War. ''Protecteur'' participated in RIMPAC again in 2004, along with the and .

On 19 September 2011, ''Protecteur'' departed from CFB Esquimalt for a two-month deployment off southern California as part of the carrier strike group. ''Protecteur'' joined the destroyer ''Algonquin'' and the frigate in Fleet Week activities in San Diego, California, between 26 and 30 September 2011. On 30 August 2013, the ship was involved in a collision with ''Algonquin'' during towing exercises. There were no injuries to personnel, although ''Protecteur'' sustained damage to her bow. The damage was repaired in time for ''Protecteur'' to participate in a Task Group Exercise with the United States Navy in mid-October 2013.

On 27 February 2014, ''Protecteur'' suffered an engine room fire and breakdown northeast of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. She was moving at limited speeds and the United States Navy , , and the Military Sealift Command-operated were dispatched to assist. ''Chosin'' attempted to tow ''Protecteur'', but the towing line broke. About 20 members of the ship's crew were injured as a result of the fire, and her engines were badly damaged. After a preliminary assessment, it was decided that the vessel could not be repaired in Pearl Harbor. On 16 May, ''Protecteur'' left Pearl Harbor under tow from the United States Military Sealift Command-operated rescue and salvage ship for an expected three week journey to her home port of CFB Esquimalt. ''Protecteur'' was delivered to Esquimalt on 31 May 2014.

Retirement and interim replacement

''Protecteur'' was decommissioned at a farewell ceremony on 14 May 2015. Plans for replacing ''Protecteur'' and her sister ship, ''Preserver'', were first brought up in 2004. Lack of spare parts for the ship's boiler and the fact that she is a single-skinned tanker were the main driving points to replacing ''Protecteur'' and ''Preserver''.

It had been planned that the ship would have continued to operate until 2015; however, the Joint Support Ship Project would not have been completed until two years later, leaving a gap in the ability of the RCN to refuel and resupply her own ships while deployed. Following extensive damage as a result of a fire in February 2014, ''Protecteur''s decommissioning was brought forward as repairs would have been "...too expensive for the navy to consider" given that she was due to be retired in 2017.

On 19 September 2014, Vice-Admiral Mark Norman announced the retirement of ''Protecteur'', along with her sister ship and the ''Iroquois''-class destroyers and ''Algonquin''. ''Protecteur'', along with ''Algonquin'', was sold for scrapping on 27 November 2015 to R.J. MacIsaac Ltd. of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. They were towed to Nova Scotia where the work was done at Liverpool.

In October 2015, , a container ship, was acquired by Davie Shipyards to be converted into an auxiliary vessel, to be leased to the RCN as a temporary bridge between the ''Protecteur'' class until the new AOR class becomes available. That ship was converted and was delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy as MV ''Asterix'' on 6 December 2017. On 10 March 2017, ex-''Protecteur'' caught fire while being dismantled in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. Residual fuel caught fire during demolition of the vessel.

New class and future service

On 12 September 2017 Vice Admiral Ron Lloyd, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, announced that the new Joint Support Ships would no longer be named for battles of the War of 1812. Originally to be named ''Queenston'' and ''Chateauguay'', the Joint Support Ships will instead be named ''Protecteur'' and ''Preserver'', perpetuating the names of the former ''Protecteur'' class.

See also

* the predecessor to ''Protecteur''

Notes

References

External links

*

''Protecteur''-class homepage

{{DEFAULTSORT:Protecteur (AOR 509)
1968 ships
Protecteur-class replenishment oilers
Ships built in Saint John, New Brunswick
Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy
Maritime incidents in 2014