NAC News – Edition 611 (Stadacona/Halifax)
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of April 4th, 2025
Edition: 611 HMCS Stadacona/RCN Barracks Halifax Quotes: “The painful, long-standing problem in Canada is that southern Canadians do not care much about the Far North or Arctic defence. In general, and like climate change, the protection of Canada’s Northern flank is primarily of theoretical concern but not worthy of large and sustained investment. When the U.S. gets frisky, or when Russia gets more aggressive or China more assertive, Canadians are temporarily intrigued and even mildly concerned. They demand attention be paid to the Arctic, but are usually satiated by the release of a defence strategy and a few photo opportunities. Canada has coasted on America’s military coattails in the postwar era. Under Mr. Trump, Canadian free-riding will no longer be tolerated. Like our circumpolar partners – Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark and the U.S. – Canada must now develop a sustainable Arctic defence establishment that is co-ordinated with the efforts of regional governments to bring infrastructure and services up to standard.” Arctic security must be a top priority for Canada – not an afterthought, Ken Coates and Ranj Pillai, Globe and Mail, 24 February 2025
Rod Hughes: Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (Comments welcome to help improve this service.) Links to keep in touch with the NAC and RCN can be found at the bottom of this email. Contact Kevin Goheen executivedirector@navalassoc.ca if you wish someone to be added to the NAC News email distribution. (Influencer, or good candidates to become a NAC member – note, the first year’s NAC/Branch membership dues are waived)
NOTICES
15-16 April ABCMI & COAST Innovation Forum, Vancouver Convention Centre – NAC members (individuals) can attend the Innovation Forum using the ABCMI Member rate – Registration can be done at ABCMI & COAST Innovation Forum
3 May 2025 Battle of the Atlantic 80th Anniversary Gala, London ON. The Gala will be hosted at the beautiful Hellenic Centre (133 Southdale Rd, London, ON) on Sat 03 May and the unveiling of the Wall of Honour at the Battle of the Atlantic Memorial will be held the next afternoon (Sun 04 May) at HMCS Prevost, during their annual Battle of the Atlantic Parade. Gala Tickets are sold online through “Ticket Tailor” and can only be purchased through that site by clicking the link below (you cannot “search” for the event on Ticket Tailor, or “Google it”, you can only get to the purchase point through these two links.) https://buytickets.at/boagala2025 The BOAM Website under the “event page”
15-18 May 2025 CNMT has graciously extended the invitation to all NAC members who may not be CNMT trustees to join them for the 80th Anniversary of VE Day & Battle of the Atlantic Commemoration at Londonderry. There are events and activities planned for each day. If you plan to attend, please reach out to Gary Reddy at co@cnmt.ca. He will point you in the right direction for further details. The City Hotel Derry is offering special rates for attendees: Double/Twin B&B: £159 per night or Single B&B: £149 per night. To book your room, please call the hotel.
NEW 19-22 June 2025 Halifax Fleet Week. Naval vessels from Canada and Allied nations will gather for public tours and demonstrations. The event features educational programmes, community activities, and a showcase of modern naval technologies, celebrating maritime heritage and international cooperation in Halifax Harbour.
26-27 September 2025 The Canadian Maritime Security Network (CMSN) will host a conference on the future Canadian Seapower 2025. Venue – University of Calgary. Today, Canada faces a more complex and dangerous security landscape than at any time since the Second World War. The country is at an inflection point, facing two great power competitors, a complicated ecosystem of malign non-state actors, persistent pressures eroding the rules based international order, and an uncertain partnership with the U.S. Registration opens 1 May 2025.
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THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLES
A repeat as the link to the petition was dropped last week – CDAI: We’re calling on 10,000 Canadians to sign a petition urging the five major political parties to commit to a dedicated leaders’ debate on national security, defence, and foreign policy. (Editor –please sign the petition, it’s easy and quick)
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CANADA
Our Navy Today Volume 8 Issue 2
Seaspan Cuts Steel on Advanced Polar Icebreaker for Canadian Coast Guard
Canada to spend up to $100M on new drones for navy warships
Ontario making GO Transit free for veterans, members of Canadian Armed Forces
Canadian company seeks U.S. permission to start deep-sea mining as outcry ensues and B.C. mining firm seeking U.S. approval to dig in international waters
St. Lawrence Seaway Launches 67th Navigation Season
Carney promet d’investir dans le futur de la Marine
LNG Canada nears completion with incoming LNG tanker
Does the US have a ‘kill switch’ to limit UK’s F-35 Lightning jets? (Editor – useful perspective on US weapon systems in a 2:47 min video) and Canada SLAPS Trump – Wants to DUMP F-35 Deal for European Jets! (Editor – cautionary points for the River Class programme in a 19:25 min video) and inflammatory ones too CANADIAN ARMED FORCES: Trump’s Tariffs & Cancelling the F-35 (Editor – Esprit de Corps 6:44 min video)
Editor – the NAC member King Charles III Coronation Medal count is at 23, as two more NAC member have been identified with Stuart Evans and David Madeira so recognized! Please keep the names coming in!
Four new major ships green-lit for B.C. Ferries; fifth turned down
40 milliards en jeu : le sous-marin Barracuda, bientôt le contrat du siècle ?
Blumetric – The cycle of water – Industry Profile
NAC Naval Affairs The Canadian Coast Guard and the RCN: Roles and Responsibilities (Editor – NAC Naval Affairs Papers, Briefing Notes, Niobe Papers, and much more. Please share with anyone you think may benefit from the knowledge, after all, that’s what our naval affairs programme is all about – enlightening Canadians)
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USA & AMERICA
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: March 31, 2025
SECNAV Phelan’s First Message to the Fleet
White House fires National Security Agency chief (Editor – not a Maritime story but yet again another significant firing for the US)
Aircraft Carrier Suppliers Warn of Production Going Cold
U.S. Coast Guard Triples Forces Along Southwest Maritime Border, Seizes $785M in Drugs
Navy Warship Getting Ready for Role in Artemis NASA Moon Mission
China Halts Panama Port Sale to BlackRock (Editor – the elephants are dancing)
BREAKING: USS Prebles fires LASER WEAPON at Drone! (Editor – useful background 11:27 min video)
Update on Aegis Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) Program
US Navy’s destroyer tests Aegis combat system to track hypersonic target
Navy Shipbuilding: Enduring Challenges Call for Systemic Change
UK sign agreement for transfer of all Albion-class landing platform dock vessels to Brazil
Icebreaker Diplomacy: Finnish President Stubb Makes Surprise Visit To Meet With Trump
USCG Heavy Icebreaker Polar Star Returns Home After 128-day Deployment
Panama Deregisters Over 100 Sanctioned Vessels in Major Compliance Crackdown
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INDO-PACIFIC
Myanmar Earthquake: Indian Navy mobilises two more warships with relief material
PLA’s drills in Taiwan Straits show key trends in deterrence, flexibility and diverse operations: expert that was viewed as China Deploys Aircraft Carrier for Military Drills to Intimidate Taiwan eventually Chinese Military Wraps Intimidation Drills Off Taiwan
Understanding China’s military: A Q&A with new Brookings expert John Culver
New North Korean Atomic Submarine Escalates Nuclear Arms Race
Navy, Marines Deploy Amphibious Warship USS Comstock, 11th MEU to Pacific
Crew of New Zealand navy ship that sank off Samoa lacked training and experience, inquiry finds
Australia commences first Operation Argos deployment for 2025
L’Australie aura-t-elle les sous-marins nucléaires tant attendus ?
Aussie spy planes worked overtime during nearby Chinese naval drills
USS Carl Vinson Departs Guam for Middle East Tasking
Unleashing the power of Varunastra: Navy’s new torpedo
Common Sense dictates India buy 2 Albion class LPDs from UK Navy
Mitsubishi Delivers Third Miyako Large Patrol Ship to Japan
China Discovers 100 Mln Ton Oilfield In South China Sea
Indian Port Bars Tanker Hauling Russian Crude
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EUROPE
Ukraine:
Putin begins biggest Russian military call-up in years
General:
NATO finds no proof of Russia’s involvement in destruction of cables in Baltic Sea — media
British carrier shortly to begin ‘Operation Highmast’ (Editor – I can’t make out which Canadian Frigate the in the picture escort is) and Our Top Gun carrier pilots don’t work for the Navy. We should fix that, as we did in the 1930s
Could the UK and France stop a nuclear attack on Europe without the US?
Denmark Strengthens Naval Capabilities With Over 20 New Ships
Leonardo to support UK Royal Navy’s 54 Merlin helicopters
Russia’s first icebreaking patrol vessel for the Arctic arrives north
ThyssenKrupp and Ulstein Team Up to Deliver Norway’s Next-Generation Frigates
Fincantieri starts production of first FREMM EVO for Italian Navy
Denmark unveils new Fleet Plan for Royal Danish Navy
A Saint-Nazaire et à Paimboeuf, la Marine nationale est bien ancrée
Russia Conducts Rare Double Ship-to-Ship LNG Transfer to Circumvent Latest EU Sanctions
À Cannes, la Marine nationale annonce la création d’un groupe de réservistes d’ici 2030
Une mine de la Seconde Guerre mondiale sera détruite au large de la Côte de Nacre, lundi 31 mars
Compiègne sera la capitale de la Marine nationale samedi 29 mars
Owner of Ship That Hit U.S. Tanker Seeks to Limit Liability while Ships had no lookouts before crash, says report
Norway Uncovers Russian Scheme for Marine Insurance Fraud
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MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea:
Suspected US strikes pummel Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and Trump Escalates Houthi Strikes, Warns Iran as Red Sea Crisis Continues
General:
Indian Navy seizes 2.5 tons of drugs in the western Indian Ocean
Shipload of Rocket Fuel Arrives in Iran
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GLOBAL INTERESTS
The rise of the drone carriers
A Quarter Century of Containerships and Container Lines | 2000 to 2025 (Editor – worthwhile for perspective in a 17:30 min video) while China Ship Sales Collapse as Industry Sweats Over US Ports Plan
Shipping Industry Unveils New Maritime Security Playbook as Global Threats Escalate with threat summaries at the “Geography” dropdown
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SCUTTLEBUTT
Admiral Leahy: Second Most Powerful Man in the World (Blue and Gold) (Editor – 6:39 min video)
Type XIV ‘Milchkuh’ – Guide 433 (Editor – continued with U-boat development in a 6:50 min video)
The Real Size Of Countries (Editor – as a non-navigator, something I found amusing 10:02 min video) and for the navigators Amazing Old Maps (Editor – 12:00 min video) and More Amazing Old Maps (Part 2) (Editor – 11:31 min video)
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THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
5 April 1958 Ripple Rock blown up with 1.2 tons of Nitramex, one of the world’s largest non-nuclear explosions to date, removed a shipping hazard just below the surface of Seymour Narrows near Campbell River that had sunk or damaged 119 vessels and caused the death of over 100 people. Captain George Vancouver called the narrows “one of the vilest stretches of water in the world.” Campbell River, BC
7 April 1941 The Canadian registered SS Portadoc (Paterson Steamships Ltd., Fort William, Ontario), was a coal-fired Great Lakes freighter. The ship was pressed into wartime service in May 1940. However, she would become a collier and she required modifications by a Sydney NS shipyard for safely storing and transporting coal. It was planned that the ship would then sail to and provide services to the coal “Bunker Depot” in Freetown, Sierra Leone, West Africa. The SS Portadoc’s first (and only) wartime crossing was steaming independently on 25 February 1941 from St John NB (with a cargo of lumber) destined for Freetown Sierra Leone, via Halifax, and St. Lucia. The attack was about 225 nautical miles west of the destination Freetown. The submerged U-boat, at a range of only 270 meters, fired a single torpedo which slammed into the engine room. Even though the torpedo failed to detonate, the resulting flooding caused the ship’s bow to quickly rise vertically. The ship would not sink because of the buoyant cargo. U-124 surfaced and shelled her with 5 rounds incendiary and 16 rounds explosive from the deck gun, followed by several shots close range with the anti-aircraft 2 cm MG C/30 gun. The master and 19 crew members had abandoned ship in two lifeboats and the U-boat provided them with water, after being questioned. The survivors made landfall six days later at Benty, French Guinea and were interned by the Vichy French authorities. One of the crew later died in captivity.
7 April 1948 RCN’s aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent commissioned to replace HMCS Warrior. Halifax, Nova Scotia
7 April 1991 HMCS Athabaskan, Terra Nova, and Protecteur arrive home from Gulf War; ships left in early August; Huron leaves for the Gulf to help enforce the embargo against Iraq. Halifax, Nova Scotia
7 April 1995 HMCS Nipigon, HMCS Gatineau, and HMCS Onondaga supported Fisheries and Oceans and Coast Guard ships during a dispute with Spain over illegal overfishing of Greenland turbot on the Grand Banks.
8 April 1945 cruiser HMCS Uganda joins British Pacific Fleet. Hong Kong, China
9 April 1929 – Canadian Ambassador Vincent Massey protests against sinking of Canadian schooner I’m Alone; crew released; case of rum-runner to go to arbitration. Washington, DC
10 April 1836 Hudson’s Bay Company steamship Beaver arrives at Fort Vancouver and has her boilers and paddles connected; left London August 29, 1835 under the command of Captain David Home under sail alone; rounded Cape Horn and called at Juan Fernandez and Honolulu on route; SS Beaver will be used to service trading posts between the Columbia River and Russian America (Alaska); 1862 chartered by the Royal Navy to survey and chart the coast of the Colony of British Columbia.
11 April 1940 Burrard shipyards in Vancouver began building corvettes and minesweepers for action in the Battle of the Atlantic. Together with the neighbouring North Van Ship Repair yard, and the Yarrows Ltd. yard in Esquimalt, which were eventually absorbed, Burrard built over 450 ships, including many warships built and refitted for the RN and RCN in the First and Second World Wars.
11 April 1962 The Government of Canada announces plans to build eight frigates and buy three submarines. The General-Purpose Frigate (GPF) was intended as a replacement for the Second World War-era destroyers in service at the time, the frigate design was developed for the Progressive Conservative Diefenbaker government in the late 1950s as part of the general fleet renewal programme. The GPF programme was cancelled under the Liberal Pearson government as part of their plan to reshape the Canadian Armed Forces. Following the cancellation, a modified version of the design was used for the future Iroquois-class destroyers.
SIGNIFICANT RCN DATES – If you see any omissions or errors please inform me, and any more modern significant dates are also welcomed. The list draws primarily from the Directory of History and Heritage’s comprehensive “Significant Dates in Canadian Military History”, the now defunct “Canada Channel”, “Legion Magazine”, The Naval Service of Canada, Its Official History Vol 1-3, NAC member Roger Litwiller’s excellent web site, encyclopedic guidance from NAC member Fraser McKee, the Uboat.net site, and anywhere else I can find credible information. For the merchant ship history, a special thanks to NAC member Bill Dziadyk for his able assistance and detailed work. The RCN lost 1,965 men and 24 ships during the War, most of them in the Atlantic. A comprehensive list of the staggering merchant losses – sunk, damaged, or lost – Canadian Merchant Ship Losses of the Second World War, 1939-1945 by Rob Fisher {Revised June 2001}, and for the loss of individual personnel RCN Ship Histories, Convoy Escort Movements, Casualty Lists 1939-1947)
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