The Canadian Defence Department has been put on alert and for the first time a Canadian frigate will patrol waters in the Arctic. According to Defence officials, the HMCS Fredericton will set sail on August 18, 2005 and will patrol the Arctic waters until the second week of September.
Lt.-Cmdr. Ken MacKillop says they will be heading up there to verify that our territorial waters are secure, to make their presence felt and to assert its sovereignty in the northern area. Apparently, they will clamp down on illegal fishing too, as fishery officials will be accompanying them on their journey.
MacKillop denies that the trip is related to an ongoing dispute with Denmark over Hans Island.
I guess we shouldn't read too much into that denial, since the Danes have called Canada's presence on the island an occupation and are preparing to boost their own presence in the area. I guess it's in Canadian's best interest to have the defence department to downplay the situation with the Dane's since the federal government seems to think that Canadians can't handle the truth.
Of more importance than the situation with the Dane's is the growing concern over illegal fishing in Canada's waters. While the Department of Fisheries doesn't have any specifics on which countries may be fishing illegally in the area, they are prepared to board boats they suspect of illegal fishing.
In a related matter, the Canadian government is also sending HMCS Glace Bay and HMCS Shawinigan to the north to visit remote parts of Labrador, Nunavut, Quebec and Manitoba. Their main objective is to increase the navy's presence in the north, and has nothing to do with the Dane's threat to increase its presence on Hans Island as Lt.-Cmdr. Ken MacKillop would have us believe. As far as MacKillop and Defence Minister Bill Graham are concerned, it's mostly about illegal fishing. Yea right!
I bet Canadian navy sailors are excited about their latest adventure. I wish them all the best, and should they come face to face with those damn Danes, give em hell! All of Canada is behind them, whether Paul Martin and his Liberal government think we can handle a war with the Danes or not.
Go get them damn Danes, Canada!
Article comments
1 - RJ
Wow. The Canadians are sending a frigate to defend their territorial rights.
A frigate!
I guess all four of Canada's Destroyers are busy, you know, doin' stuff...
2 - Victor Plenty
It's a good time of year in the Arctic Islands. Long, sunny days. A pleasant escape from the humidity and heat of summers down here in the South. (In the Arctic, "the South" means everything below about 60 degrees latitude or so.) Wish I could afford a trip up there myself around now.
3 - Ian
I don't think Canada has any destroyers any more. A frigate is a class of ship developed during WWII - essentially it is a destroyer specialized for anti-sub work. "Frigate" is a class of ship dating back to the age of sail, and the term was revived for the new WWII anti-sub vessels.
Since the original task of a destroyer was to torpedo large capital ships (a dicey prospect at best even in WWI and virtually never attmepted in WWII) I am not sure that name still means much, although I believe that the US still uses the term. I think the WWII frigate name was more of a Royal Navy term (I think it was Churchill's idea to revive the name) so it may be that the US stuck with the name "destroyer" despite the change in the role of such vessels.
In any case, sending a frigate instead of a destroyer does not in any way imply a lesser vessel. The Canadian navy's frigates (although few in number) are very modrn and are actually powered by jet turbines... I don't think any other navy has a substantially superior vessel of similar size.
4 - RJ
From here:
- Four subs
- Twelve Frigates
- Four Destroyers
5 - Canadian Gypsy
Wait! There's more. Canada is going to be using a satellite to [watch over] the North as well. It's some sort of eye attached to a satellite that is being launched in the not so distant future. Apparently this satellite or whatever it is will make 14 passes daily and send photographs, or video back to Canada.
Canada is just showing it's sovereignty by the way. The whole affair is rather silly. Our Canadian government is all talk and no walk.
6 - Hugh Brown
"Lt.-Cmdr. Ken MacKillop says they will be heading up there to verify that our territorial waters are secure, to make their presence felt and to assert its sovereignty in the northern area."
Wow -- pronoun frenzy. What do 'they', 'our', 'their', and 'its' refer to?
7 - insider
Independent Sources has written about this quickly evolving story in Battle for Hans Island Moves to the Skies.
Folks this is just getting scary!
8 - Canadian Gypsy
Scary? I hope you mean that in a sarcastic kind of way. Nothing dire will come out of this. Diplomatic channels, co-operation, negotiation, compromise, blah, blah, blah will order of the day. I find it kind of humorous in a way. Just think a territorial dispute that pits Canada against Denmark. It sounds like a fair fight to me. Go get em Canada.
9 - Victor Plenty
Canada's destroyers may not be well suited to this mission, being designed mainly for an air defense role. Their frigates are their main workhorse vessels, designed to do well in multiple roles.
Canada's Navy is nothing to sneeze at. Sure, it's not very impressive compared to the massive tonnage displacement and hull count found in the United States Navy, but nobody on the planet has anything like the United States Navy right now.
Now I'm curious and feel a burning need to go look up how many destroyers Denmark has... must resist... need to sleep sometime tonight.
10 - Victor Plenty
I looked it up. Denmark has no destroyers. Comparing the ships they've sent, the Danish crew in particular will certainly hope no shooting starts while they are way up there in the Arctic.
The Royal Danish Navy sent the patrol cutter Tulugaq, which is about 32 meters long. The crew complement is somewhere between 15 and 21 people, the top speed just under 12 knots, and the heaviest weaponry aboard is either two 20 mm machine guns or two 12.7 mm (.50 caliber) machine guns. The data sheet isn't entirely clear about the armaments. At most there are four machine guns.
The Royal Canadian Navy's frigate Fredericton is about 134 meters long and has a crew of over 230, a top speed over 30 knots, and armaments which include torpedoes, surface-to-surface missiles, a 57-mm Bofors gun, and six .50 caliber machine guns.
All this is quite academic, however. It's virtually certain neither side plans to do any shooting. Sending ships to the area is just a way to demonstrate they have a leg to stand on. It strengthens their bargaining position when the negotiations start.
I'm not an international lawyer, but here's the understanding I've picked up. If one side or the other were unable to get a ship anywhere near the island, they would lose a great deal of their basis for being able to claim it as part of their territory.
It doesn't really matter how big the ship they send. Denmark's little patrol cutter will get someone up there to plant a flag on the island, just as easily as Canada's frigate can, and that's what counts in this game.
11 - Canadian Gypsy
I agree, neither Denmark or Canada is interested in war.
They'll work it out. I see it more as an opportunity to become allies of the North, sitting together on top of the world. I really don't see it as [all that big of a deal].
12 - Dory
Canada's navy consistently beats US ships in war gaming when done on a ship by ship basis -- the Canadian antisub ability is tops in the world with the Brits and the US.
When they get their new naval helicopter mess sorted out and finish the early life upgrades on the Halifax class frigates, there's no other comparably-sized ship or sub on the planet that would want to go up against one.
I know. I have proudly served on three different US ships that have conducted manoeuvres with the Canadians (one tour in the Persian Gulf with them too) and the Canucks are the utmost professionals. Small forces, yes, and often the Canadians I meet are embarrassed about that fact, but their armed forces are full of extremely well trained men and women (especially their non-coms) -- in all branches. I wonder if its more because of their forces being full of "lifers" rather than young pups who sign up for one enlistment for college etc....
I have also heard from several sources that their snipers are the absolute best in the world. My cousin served with with Canadians in Afghanistan apparently they were instrumental in the mountains, saving numerous Americans who were ambushed during the Tora Bora campaign.
13 - Andy
The Danes have to watch it! IF a battle ensued, it would drag into winter...then lookout.
We Canadians have the most lethal weapon imaginable, hockey players.
They would be protecting a crappy rock surrounded by ice, then all hell would break loose.
First the heavy armor "Zambonis" would clear the snow and lay down a nice surface. Behind them, waves of killer hockey players would pummel anything in sight (including oneanother).
When done, there would be no Danes, and most likely no island either. There would probably be one hockey player left. Once they ran out of Danes, they would simply beat the shit out of oneanother until only one was left.
He would take out the Zambonis.
Nothing scarier than a squadron of hockey players descending on an enemy, nothing...
14 - Mr Denmark
Argentina learned it the hard way...
Iraq learned it the hard way...
Hitler's Germany learned it the hard way...
You see a pattern here Canucks, eh?
Don't invade other country's islands! You will only get burned!!
And by the way: Denmark could take Canada in both War and Hockey any day!
The Vikings will return to Vinland!!!
15 - John Bil
Canadian Navy = 2 hoser's in a row boat.
16 - thomas
You may see our entire crappy navy here
a couple of more ships are planned, but i have no info on those yet