NAC News – Edition 652 HMCS Queen Charlotte
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of January 16, 2026
Edition 652 HMCS Queen Charlotte Quote: “ Threats have come to Canada through its maritime domain before. While the Second World War is often conceptualized as a war that happened over there in Europe and in the Pacific,? Admiral Topshee noted that war had also found its way into Canadian waters. Submarines ventured as far up the St. Lawrence as Rimouski, landing spies, bombarding Canada’s shores, and attacking 28 vessels in the St. Lawrence River and Gulf of St. Lawrence. More Canadians were killed in the St. Lawrence than on Juno Beach in 1944. Not only do Canada’s oceans thus serve as a prospective vector of attack but the proliferation of long-range weapons means that there are also threats capable of passing over the oceans and bringing war to our shores.” With Canada’s geography no longer guaranteeing its safety, it is thus imperative that Canada is able to protect itself.” The Navy Canada Needs, VAdm Angus Topshee, Starshell, Fall Edition 2025
Rod Hughes: Editor NAC News rhughes@shaw.ca (Comments welcome to help improve this service.) The content of this bulletin includes articles from entities not subject to the Official Languages Act. Consequently, these articles may be provided by the institution in only one official language, including the links, and we do not have the copyright to modify or translate them. Links to keep in touch with the NAC and RCN can be found at the bottom of this email.
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NOTICES
24 February 2026 ShipTech Forum 2026, The National Arts Centre. 1 Elgin Street, Ottawa. Not able to attend in person – all speaker sessions will be live streamed, to facilitate virtual attendance. (Editor – NAC helps sponsor this event. Early Bird Registration is Open! Discount code for NAC members to use for their tickets is STF26_NAC)
UPDATED 4/5 March 2026 CDAI 2026 Ottawa Conference on Security and Defence, Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel, Ottawa
30 April 2026 Maritime Defence and Security Symposium and Battle of the Atlantic (BOA) Gala, the Halifax Hotel, Halifax. The symposium will be co-hosted by NAC and the Canadian Maritime Security Network. The symposium theme “Canada in Alliance & Conflict: The Will of a Nation.” A reception will be held the evening of 29 April ahead of the symposium. The evening of 30 April NS NAC will host the National BOA Gala at the same venue. Details to follow in due course but mark your calendars and hold that date!
13-15 May 2026 NIBC 2026 Conference – Maritime Arctic Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour hotel, Victoria BC. (Editor – NAC-VI helps financially sponsor this event)
15 May 2026 The CNMT has indicated that to mark the 85th anniversary of the launch of HMCS Sackville (English) & (Française) that she will be ceremonially re-commissioning back into the RCN. Details to follow)
25-27 June 2026 RCN Historical Conference – CFB Esquimalt, venue possibly HMCS Venture. Details TBP.
THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLE
A U.S. takeover of Greenland could be ‘shattering of NATO,’ warns Canada’s former military commander
CANADA
Canadian Coast Guard advances planning for the future polar icebreakers maintenance port in Sydney, Nova Scotia & Avancement de la planification du futur port de maintenance des brise-glaces polaires de la Garde côtière canadienne à Sydney, en Nouvelle-Écosse and coverage Here’s where a new coast guard facility will be built (Editor CBC News 2:33 min video)
What politicians get wrong about the B.C. oil tanker ban (Editor – useful CBC News 10:37 min video) while Alberta weighs multiple routes for proposed oil pipeline to Pacific Coast
CDR: Defence Insider Budget 2025
Resilience and Pride: A Submariner Story – Petty Officer 1st class Dale Armstrong & Résilience et fierté : l’histoire d’un sous-marinier – Maître de 1re classe Dale Armstrong
C8A4: Canada’s Next-Generation Service Rifle (Editor – 21:36 min video)
Russia and China co-operating more often and more closely in the Arctic, says NORAD commander
Canadian Shipbuilder Expands with New U.S. Facility
Winter Storms Continue to Batter Grounded MSC Baltic III, Coast Guard Warns
Plans to upgrade Port of Argentia could be nullified with hydrogen collapse, tax dispute (Editor – CBD News 3:32 min video)
Ted Barris on WW II’s Operation Fish
The Canadian Royal Crown is a heraldic emblem and not a physical object. (Editor – given that it looks like a succession of Kings for three generations, it will likely gradually replace the St. Edward’s crown on uniforms and other heraldic symbols, etc.)
Floating museum and waterfront maritime museum edge closer to reality (Editor – hopefully a long-awaited future for the Maritime Museum of B.C.)
Lookout: 1 January 2026, Volume 71, Issue 1 (English) & (Française)
Trident: Monday 12 January 2026 Volume 60, Issue 01 (Bilingue)
NAC Naval Affairs: Bibliography Naval Strategy (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
USA & AMERICA
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 12, 2026
General:
CNO cautions against extending carrier’s deployment for Iran ops (Editor – see Middle East section) while Battleships and Auxiliaries, An Interview with the Top US Naval Admiral
I ‘did not expect to be told to build a battleship,’ Navy’s surface warfare director says while First Trump-Class Battleship May Become Costliest U.S. Warship Ever
Trump’s Golden Dome excuse for Greenland grab is ‘detached from reality,’ experts say while Denmark, U.S. ‘agreed to disagree’ on Greenland after White House meeting (Editor – CBC The National clip in a short video) yet U.S., NATO have long history of not being serious about Greenland. That’s about to change but Nordics Reject Trump’s Claim Of Chinese And Russian Ships Around Greenland and for perspective Why the U.S. Abandoned Dozens of Military Bases in Greenland | WSJ (Editor – 8:26 min video)
US Navy Accepts 350th MH-60R Helicopter From Lockheed Martin
Arleigh Burke-Class Destroyers: The US Navy’s Evergreen Warship
U.S. Coast Guard Expands Arctic Operations With USCGC Kimball Patrol Mission
Clogged Heads Make Headlines Aboard $13B Carrier USS Ford
US Navy taps Northrop Grumman for next-gen lightweight torpedo
Navy Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Program: Background and Issues for Congress
Navy christens future USNS Lansing, the final Flight II Expeditionary Fast Transport ship
The Trump Class Battleship: Strategic Masterstroke or Naval Folly? (Editor – quirky 12:25 min video)
SECNAV: Shipbuilders Need to Hire 250,000 Workers Over the Next Decade for ‘Golden Fleet’
HII’s Unmanned Vessel Will Be Fitted to Launch Unmanned Submersible
CIMSEC: RDML T.J. Zerr on Strengthening Surface Force Lethality
Sailor to Serve 16-Year Prison Sentence for Selling Secrets to China
Suicide Drones Closed Within a Mile of U.S. Destroyer Defending Israel in June with the future Why The US Navy No Longer Fears Suicide Drone Swarms
U.S. Coast Guard Awards its Biggest Shoreside Construction Contract Ever
Caribbean Sea:
Lawfulness of US tanker boardings
Why US Navy Chose USS Iwo Jima For The Venezuela Raid (Editor – worth watching this intriguing 18:52 min video)
Big Oil Offers Reality Check to Trump’s Venezuela Dream
Court Filings Reveal U.S. Plan to Seize Dozens More Tankers in Venezuela Oil Crackdown with U.S. seizes Olina tanker in Caribbean, 5th vessel taken in Venezuela blockade and another US seizes sixth Venezuelan oil tanker Veronica in Caribbean to expand shadow fleet blockade
Four Tankers That Left Venezuela In ‘Dark Mode’ Are Back In Its Waters
What is the Dark Fleet? | Shipping 101 | How Russia, Venezuela and Iran are Shipping Sanctioned Oil (Editor – worthwhile explanation in a 9:53 min video)
U.S. plane used in boat strike was disguised as civilian aircraft, contrary to Pentagon regulation
China-Flagged Supertankers Abort Venezuela Run as U.S. Oil Embargo Tightens
How Venezuela’s Ghost Fleet Is Surfacing Post-Maduro
INDO-PACIFIC
Pacific Ocean and adjoining seas:
Japanese Defense Minister Urges Indo-Pacific Nations to Link Defense Efforts During Hawaii Visit
China Reveals New J-20 Fifth-gen Fighter Variant Can Strike Maritime Targets
China Develops Type 096 Ballistic Missile Submarine to Challenge U.S. Undersea Nuclear Deterrence
Mariners first: rebuilding Australia’s navy for war at sea
Why China’s Diesel-Electric Submarines Are a Problem for the US Navy (Editor – 10:08 min video)
USS Abraham Lincoln holds live-fire drills in South China Sea amid ‘routine operations’
Inside China’s shadow fleet – Sanctions evasion, surveillance, sabotage, and illegal fishing: Clare McKendry, Adam MacDonald, and Kurtis H. Simpson for Inside Policy (Editor – follow on from the explanation in the Caribbean Sea section above)
South Korea Formulates Plans for Trial Arctic Voyage with Containership
China’s Coal Imports Plunge 10% as Renewable Energy Expansion Reshapes Dry Bulk Shipping
Piracy Surged in 2025 Around Singapore, but ReCAAP Sees Positive Indicators
Taiwan Fines and Deports Fishing Boat Captain Who Damaged Subsea Cables
Indian Ocean and adjoining seas:
India’s Naval Surge: Crushing China-Pakistan Maritime Dreams
India’s sea-based nuclear deterrence
Starmer’s Chagos treaty claim “no longer credible” as US signs long-term Diego Garcia contract
India Fast-Tracks $8B AIP Submarine Deal to Counter Pakistan’s Chinese Yuan Fleet
Pakistan Navy Successfully Fires Chinese LY-80N Air Defense Missile From Type 054A/P Frigate
Indian And Japanese Coast Guards Discuss Ways To Enhance Maritime Cooperation
Indian Navy to Wet-Lease 4 Amphibious Aircraft to Bolster Coastal Defences
Henriksen to Supply HEMLIS Minesweeping System to Indonesian Navy
Mega $12.5 billion gas project makes inroads as FPU ends its miles-long journey in Australia
EUROPE
Black and Caspian Seas:
SSU and Ukrainian Navy strike russian drone manufacturing plant in Taganrog
Kyiv Says Russia Hit 2 Cargo Vessels in Black Sea, Syrian Crew Member Killed and Drone Attacks Hit Tankers Heading to CPC Terminal, Driving War-Risk Insurance Higher with Greece Warns Shipping Fleet of Risks after Black Sea Drone Attacks
Iranian Freighter Sinks in the Caspian Sea
Ukraine has some 2 million draft-dodgers, new defence minister says
Seafarer Injured in Russian Strike on Port of Chernomorsk
Baltic Sea:
Finland Releases Ship Suspected of Last Month’s Cable Damage
RMC cuts steel for fourth Pohjanmaa-class corvette, lays keel for third
Saab launches second Polish SIGINT ship
General:
Russia claims first-ever North Pole aerial refuelling
UK warns it will act lawfully against Russia shadow fleet and UK armed forces helped US seizure of tanker, says MoD and How the US took a shadow-fleet oil tanker
Portuguese Navy Monitored 69 Russian Ships in 2025
Report warns Royal Navy eroding its strategic thinking
Royal Navy takes step towards hybrid air wing with first flight of Proteus RWUAS
Italy marks change of command for Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group Two in Taranto
New tugboats for Faslane will not be built in China
US shipyard HII expands in UK to service growing Europe UUV business
Croatia moving closer to new corvettes procurement
French DGA orders new VTOL drones for French Navy (Editor – perhaps to the one Canada is looking at?)
HMS Duncan Confronts Russian Jets | Royal Navy Destroyer | Warship: Life At Sea | S1 EP2 (Editor – 44:45 min video)
HMS Duncan Tracks Russia’s Chemical Weapons | Warship: Life At Sea | S1 EP3 (Editor – 45:10 min video)
HMS Duncan Faces Dangerous Waters Near Syria | Warship: Life At Sea | S1 EP4 (Editor – 44:48 min video)
Stratus Stealth Cruise Missile: Europe’s New Long-Range Strike Weapon (Editor – impressive weapon in a 7:31 min video)
Germany orders eight MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones for the German Navy
TKMS offers bid for German Naval Yards Kiel takeover
Hellenic Navy’s first FDI HN frigate HS Kimon (F-601) reaches Greece (Editor – I know it’s not, but it looks like they are bringing back the naval ram!)
Russia’s Arctic LNG ‘Shadow Fleet’ Gains Steam With Rare Winter Double Ship-to-Ship Transfer
Russian-Flagged Tanker Seized By U.S. Arrives in UK Waters
Sweden Urges EU Ban on Support to Russian oil, Gas-Shipping Fleet
Captain Did ‘Absolutely Nothing’ to Stop Fatal UK Tanker Collision, Prosecutors Say and Moment cargo ship crashes into oil tanker in North Sea (Editor – spectacular 1:26 min video)
MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden:
Suez Shows Signs of Life as Major Ocean Carriers Cautiously Return After Two-Year Red Sea Exodus and US-Flagged Maersk Denver Transits Red Sea as Carrier Tests Suez Comeback
General:
Why Iran is so hard to defeat (Editor – this not a maritime article but given the unrest going on in Iran this 19:33 min video is germane)
US may launch Tomahawk strikes on Iran from destroyers in region — WSJ
US aircraft carrier steams from South China Sea to Mideast after Trump threat against Iran
US and UK pulling some personnel from Qatar military base
Ships Drop Anchor Beyond Iran’s Ports in Precautionary Move
Iranian Navy Frigates Leave Bandar Abbas as Protests in Iran Intensify
UAE Joins in an Exercise with the Iranian Navy for the First Time
Iran Releases Greek-Owned Tanker St. Nikolas After Two-Year Detention
GLOBAL INTERESTS
Senegalese Navy Conducted Historic First Anti-Ship Missile Launch
Chinese-Led South African Naval Exercise Slides into Diplomatic Disaster preamble
Iran and Russia Join Naval Drills Off South African Coast however at the last minute Iran pulls out of False Bay naval drills with Confusion surrounds Iran’s possible exit of Will for Peace naval exercise
Pirates abduct nine crew members from fishing vessel in Gulf of Guinea
Coast Guard Icebreaker Polar Star in McMurdo Sound in Antarctica
SCUTTLEBUTT
Naval Infrastructure – What stops you building a Fleet’O’Doom? (Editor – so many lessons (great pics too) in a 31:37 min video)
This Giant Shaft Moves the Entire Global Economy. (Editor – 90 sec video)
The British Submarines That Sank ‘1 Million Tons’ From A Besieged Island (Editor – HMCS Upholder in a 18:01 min video)
The Mariner’s Mirror – For Glory, Not Gold: Expeditions Through Arctic Lands 1818-1876 (Editor – 36 min podcast)
USS Kidd – An Original Condition Fletcher (Editor – 43:39 min video) and Running a Museum Ship – Reality vs Armchair ‘Experts” (Editor – 20:53 min video)
10th Destroyer Flotilla – Buzzsaw of the Seas (Editor – famous Canadian ships mentioned in this 43:01 min video)
Frigate – The Hunter of the High Seas (Editor – 22:16 min video)
German Spies Were Stunned: Canada Launched A Warship Every Week (Editor – 21:44 min video)
THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
17 January 1957 HMCS Bonaventure is commissioned at Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is the first aircraft carrier to be owned outright by Canada and incorporates several post-war technical developments: an angled deck, mirror landing aid, and steam catapults.
19 January 1911 The Royal Naval College of Canada opens in Halifax.
19 January 1942 The unescorted RMS Lady Hawkins about 150 miles east of Cape Hatteras was hit by two stern torpedoes from U-66 and sank after 30 minutes. The master, 86 crew members, one gunner and 163 passengers (including four DBS) were lost. The chief officer, 20 crew members and 50 passengers were picked up after five days by the Coamo and landed at San Juan, Puerto Rico on 28 January.
19 January 1943 HMCS Port Arthur commanded by Lt Edward T. Simmons, RCNVR sank the Italian Submarine Tritone in the Mediterranean Sea.
21 January 1975 HMCS Assiniboine rescues eight crew members from a merchant ship foundering off Nova Scotia in a daring Sea King helicopter rescue.
22 January 1942 The Canadian Naval Board is established.
Significant RCN Dates – If you notice any omissions or errors please inform me. Pointing out any more modern significant dates is encouraged. 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. Recently “Guardians of the North” written by NAC members Rich Gimblett & Karl Gagnon. 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) Last and far from least Gary Weir’s For Prosperity’s Sake RCN historical project site.
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