NAC News – Edition 654 HMCS Scotian
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of January 30, 2026
Edition 654 HMCS Scotian Quote: “For too long, the U.S. Government neglected – even rejected – putting Americans and their concrete interests first. Previous administrations squandered our military advantages and lives, goodwill, and resources of our people in grandiose nation-building projects and self-congratulatory pledges to uphold cloud-castle abstractions like the rules-based international order. These past leaders neglected and often actively undermined our warfighters’ warrior ethos and our military’s core, irreplaceable role – fighting, winning, and thereby deterring the wars that really matter to our people. Consequently, President Trump entered office with the nation on the precipice of disastrous wars for which we were unprepared.” Covering Memorandum, U.S. Department of War, 2026 National Defence Strategy, 23 January 2026 (Editor – a lonely road they are proposing to walk on by casting aside their friends and neighbours)
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. Contact naccoordinator@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
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)
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)
UPDATED 15 May 2026 11:00 am at Sackville Landing. 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. For CNMT members you are invited to participate as members of the Re-Commissioning Crew with me J)
25-27 June 2026 RCN Historical Conference – CFB Esquimalt, venue possibly HMCS Venture. Details TBP.
THIS WEEK’S SIGNIFICANT ARTICLE
Op-Ed: Chinese Drills Near Taiwan Aren’t a Signal – They’re a Rehearsal
China places highest-ranking general under investigation in explanation Ex-CIA Official on What Xi Jinping’s Purge of Top Chinese General Reveals (Editor – 10:30 min video) and Purge of top Chinese general throws military into turmoil, raises questions about Taiwan and related Why Xi Jinping purged China’s military?(Editor – 2:46 min video)
Trump’s Move To Send US Ships To Mideast Renews Iran Threat and naturally As U.S. ships move toward Mideast, Iranian general warns his force has ‘finger on the trigger’ (Editor – more articles in Middle East section)
CANADA
Legion letter to Prime Minister: On sovereignty, freedom, and Afghanistan
Retired General Eyre Won’t Indulge Trump’s Trolling | TVO Today Live (Editor – 1:08 min video)
Comment: Dad’s hope for the future, and how it’s disappeared
His Majesty’s Canadian Ship Yellowknife commences Operation CARIBBE & Le Navire canadien de Sa Majesté Yellowknife commence l’opération CARIBBE
DMA/CDS Message Welcoming Deputy Minister Fox to Defence & Message de la SMD et de la CEMD pour accueillir la sous-ministre Fox à la Défense
DMA/CDS Message: Retirement of Mario Pelletier, Commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard & Message SMD/CEMD : Retraite de Mario Pelletier, commissaire de la Garde côtière canadienne
He just waved his hand up, he is ALIVE! (Editor – RCN/MRC 2:41 min video) &
« Il vient de faire un signe de la main, il est vivant! »
Type 212CD vs KSS-III: Germany and Korea Battle for Canada’s New Submarines!! (Editor – 8:00 min video)
South Korea’s Hanwha further expands its industrial bid for Canada’s Patrol Submarine Project and Building a Sovereign Submarine Enterprise: How the Hanwha–Babcock Partnership Is Positioning Canada for Decades of Jobs, Skills, and Industrial Growth while Ontario Minister Tours Hanwha Ocean Shipyard, Deepening Industrial Ties with South Korea
The top brass at Maritime Forces Pacific says a sea of change is coming to Canada’s naval fleet. (Editor – 2:20 min video)
The Arctic is a strategic distraction (Editor – If you missed this last week its republished from the earlier CIMSEC article)
Canada sending Coast Guard vessel to Greenland for opening of new consulate: Anand
Should the Canadian Coast Guard be armed? The jury is still out, but the navy says no
Canada’s icebreaker pact looked great until Trump started threatening the Arctic
NORAD pact would change if Canada pulls back from F-35 order, warns U.S. ambassador and a useful CBC interview What the F-35 jet fighter debate could mean for NORAD and Canada-U.S. relations (Editor – 5:05 min video)
EU Eyes Gas From Qatar, Canada to Reduce Reliance on US LNG
Army divers from Canada and around the world train in Metchosin: PHOTO GALLERY (Editor – one of CO FDU(P)’s duties is coordinating these type of training exercises) and an amusing happenstance Grizzlies call in the military ahead of facing Express
This new aircraft a ‘step forward’ for Canada’s air force (Editor – 2:27 min video)
South Korean submarine maker signs MOU with Algoma Steel
5 CAF members quit Women Veterans Council, citing lack of ‘real outcomes’
NEW NAC: Niobe Papers, No. 24 – Procuring the Canadian Patrol Frigates Lessons from History by Garison Ma
B.C. lawsuit accuses deep-sea miner of ‘unlawful intimidation’ in $23.6B mineral claim
As the Gulf of St. Lawrence warms, whales are switching up the menu and may be sharing lunch
Who knit ya? How the road to victory in Europe changed Newfoundland
NEW Canadian Military Journal [Vol. 25, No. 4, Fall 2025] & Revue militaire canadienne [Vol. 25, No. 4, Automne 2025]
NEW The Nautical Institute: The Navigator – Managing Workload
NEW Lookout: 26 January 2026, Volume 71, Issue 2 (English) & (Française) (Editor – The School of Diving Surges Training article is impressive as they build their numbers up)
NEW Trident: Monday 26 January 2026 Volume 60, Issue 02 (Bilingue)
NAC Naval Affairs: Bibliography RCN Peace Operations (Editor – NAC Naval Affairs Papers, Briefing Notes, Niobe Papers, and much more. Please share with people you think may benefit from the knowledge, after all, that’s what your naval affairs programme is all about; enlightening Canadians about maritime affairs and the need for the RCN.
USA & AMERICAS
USNI News Fleet and Marine Tracker: Jan. 26, 2026
General:
A message to the Fleet from the Chief of Naval Operations C-NOte #4
Carrier John F. Kennedy Gets Underway for First Time Ahead of Builder’s Trials
Leonardo DRS Opens Advanced Naval Power and Propulsion Facility in Charleston, South Carolina
2 dead after U.S. strike on alleged drug boat in Eastern Pacific
Navy Won’t Decommission More Littoral Combat Ships, Officials Say
US and allies commit more funding to Tomahawk Block V programme
General Dynamics Unveils AD(X) VLS-Reloading Destroyer Tender
CIMSEC: Sea Control: 594: From Hulls to Pods with Emma Salisbury
CIMSEC: Washington’s Misplaced Shipbuilding Obsession
CIMSEC: Leading the Digital Fight: How the Navy’s IW Community Must Innovate to Win
China Extends Naval Mission in Western Hemisphere
Fire-Damaged ONE Henry Hudson Departs Los Angeles After Two-Month Salvage Effort
Coast Guard Conducts Icebreaking in New York Harbor and Hudson River
Caribbean Sea:
Families sue US over deadly boat strike off Venezuela coast (Editor – Remarkable court case come. “One of the lawyers said in a statement that the strike amounted to “lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theatre”.”)
Tanker Carrying Venezuelan Heavy Oil Departs To U.S.
U.S. Handing Over Seized Tanker to Venezuela
Top Ship Recycler GMS Says It Is In Talks to Buy Venezuela-Linked Ships Seized by US
INDO-PACIFIC
Pacific Ocean and adjoining seas:
Northern sea route: risks for South Korea
China overtakes Russia with N-subs
Japan Audit Flags $7.1B in Undelivered US Military Equipment After Five Years
USS Abraham Lincoln Faces Iran: Who Guards the Pacific Void? (Editor – 15:49 min video)
North Korea Strikes Maritime Target During Multiple Rocket Launcher System Test Fire
Russian Surveillance Ship Departs Japan’s Southwest Region, Chinese Surveillance Ship Passes Through
When Russian Engineers Tested China’s Su-27 Copy — They Refused to Fly It Back to Moscow (Editor – not a maritime article but it’s an interesting look into China’s reverse engineering/technological theft and the implications for their future carrier aircraft in a 43:54 min video)
U.S. Destroyer Drills with Philippine Forces Near Scarborough Shoal
China, Philippines Launch Joint Rescue After Bulk Carrier Sinks in Contested South China Sea with the Chinese view Chinese navy, coast guard to defend sovereignty, peace in South China Sea
US Warship Makes First Visit to Cambodia’s Chinese-Renovated Naval Base | APT (Editor – last 2:00 min of 5:88 have the dialogue)
Philippines Ferry Disaster Claims 29 Lives as Entire Fleet Grounded
Evergreen Orders 23 New Containerships in $1.47 Billion Fleet Expansion (Editor – pragmatic relationship)
Indian Ocean and adjoining seas:
Indian Navy set to get Black Shark Torpedoes: Italy’s lethal submarine killer explained
India Joins the Hypersonic Anti-Ship Missile Club
INS Surat pioneers AI-enabled warfare in Indian navy’s operational debut
EUROPE
Black and Caspian Seas:
Russia shows no sign of compromise as delegations meet in Abu Dhabi and perhaps the reason why Why Putin Has No Way Back | Sarah Paine (Editor – thought provoking 3:50 min video)
The dead of russia on the battlefield (Editor – a shocking plain talk in a 5:36 min video. How does Russia sustain this level of butchery?) and Russia and Ukraine’s combined war casualties could reach 2 million soon, report estimates
Ukraine Penetrates the Fog of War
Bulgaria approves Naval Strike Missile buy amid Black Sea buildup
Russian Strike Damages Port of Pivdennyi
Drone Attacks Push Black Sea Shipping Into New High-Risk Phase
Ukraine Catches Russian Mole Inside of its Sea Drone Program
Kazakh Oil Flows Set To Normalize As Black Sea Mooring Restored
The War in Ukraine in 2026 – Economics, Endurance & Risks as the War Continues (Editor – not a maritime podcast but a wide-ranging look in a 1:05:25 min video)
Baltic Sea:
Finland Ramps Up Baltic Sea Surveillance After String of Undersea Sabotage Incidents
European coastal states warn Russian shadow fleet over Baltic and North Sea safety
Mediterranean Sea:
Italian Navy Frigate Shadows Russian Kilo-Class Submarine in Mediterranean NATO Operation
Turkish drone carrier task group deploys to deter Russia
Sanctioned Russian Oil Tanker Goes ‘Not Under Command’ in Mediterranean Off Algeria
Sanctioned Shadow Fleet Tanker Escorted After Breakdown Off Spain
General:
French Carrier Strike Group Set Sails for High Intensity Exercise ORION 26
Europe Signals New Phase in Shadow Fleet Enforcement (Editor – “the EU’s December sanctions package pushed the total number of ships barred from European ports and services to nearly 600”)
EU Countries Give Final Approval to Russian Gas Ban
How Putin’s Russia is taking control of the Arctic | It’s Complicated (Editor – from two years ago but pertinent in a 5:59 min video)
Power Cut To Russia’s Main Naval Base Home Town (Russia get hammered by winter weather too)
The return to a British sphere of influence: The case for a GIUK gap security treaty
Royal Navy Submarine Maintenance Recovery Plan launched
Type 83 destroyer programme placed under Hybrid Navy review
Spain Dismantles Vast Narco-Fleet in Record Atlantic Drug Bust
Norwegian Firms Develop Swarm-Based Mine-Clearing Concept for Autonomous Sea Ops
HMS Mersey and HMS Severn monitor Russian naval vessels passing close to the UK then DSS Galatea Shadows Russian Ships
UK’s FSS program moves forward as ships start to take shape
France Detains Indian Captain Of Suspected Shadow Fleet Tanker
MIDDLE EAST
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden:
Renewed Houthi Threats and U.S. Military Buildup Cloud Shipping’s Tentative Return to the Suez
Destroyer Delbert D. Black Now in Red Sea Following Lincoln Strike Group Shift to Middle East
General:
EU adds Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to terrorist list
Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Faces Open Water in the Gulf of Oman then Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group Now in U.S. Central Command
US Aircraft Carrier Attack Plan on Iran | Explained (Editor – Staggering stats in a 8:43 min video)
U.S. Sanctions Iran’s Shadow Fleet Over Brutal Crackdown on Protesters
Navy’s Avenger Class Mine Hunters Have Left The Middle East For Good
GLOBAL INTERESTS
USCGC Polar Star Frees Cruise Ship Trapped in Antarctic Ice and Polar Star spends 50th Birthday rescuing a Cruise Ship in Antarctica (Editor – a no narrative 2:48 min video of the icebreaking assistance rendered)
SAS Amatola to sail on first SA Navy foreign deployment in a decade
Seafarer Abandonment is in Crisis Says ITF, Calling it a Disgrace
CMA CGM and Stonepeak Launch $2.4B Global Terminal Joint Venture
SCUTTLEBUTT
The One Resource Every Ship Depends On. (Editor – 1:00 min video)
The Admiral Nobody Wanted — Why Roosevelt Chose Nimitz After Pearl Harbor (Editor – 22:22 min video)
battleships/battlecruisers I wish were completed (Editor – 17:07 min video)
The Only Battleships Ever Sunk on Camera at Sea (Editor – 14:34 min video)
THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
31 January 1923 The Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve are established. Twenty-two years later during the second world about 100,000 officers and men were enrolled in the RCN, the RCNR, and the RCNVR, and some 6,500 women in the WRCNS. The peak strength of the entire Naval Service was reached in January 1945 with over 92,000 including Wrens.
1 February 1911 The first recruiting posters for the RCN are issued to post offices throughout Canada.
1 February 1968 The personnel and organization of the RCN, Canadian Army, and the Royal Canadian Air Force were unified into a single organization, the Canadian Armed Forces.
2 February 2003 HMCS Regina joins the Canadian Naval Task Group, part of the international anti-terrorism campaign in the Persian Gulf.
5 February 1856 The Victoria Cross, the Commonwealth’s highest award for military valour was instituted. There are only four Canadian naval VC recipients who were all serving in or with the RN at the time of the award, and three of them were Canadian born.
5 February 1942 The Canadian Pacific Steamships Ltd. passenger ship RMS Empress of Asia (an armed merchant cruiser and troopship under the Admiralty’s Liner Requisition Scheme) was sailing from Bombay to Singapore. Embarked were troops and supplies to reinforce Singapore in the face of the rapid Japanese advances and their recent conquest of British Malaya. The Empress was in convoy BM-12 and within eyesight of her destination when she became the enemy’s primary target among the five merchant ships in the convoy. Nine Japanese dive-bombers focused their assault on the Empress of Asia. She eventually sank after anchoring and burning on the Sultan Shoal at the entrance to Singapore. Sixteen passengers were killed. The 1884 survivors were rescued by HMAS Yarra, HMAS Bendigo, and HMAS Wollongong.
5 February 1944 HMS Puncher, an aircraft carrier, was commissioned into the Royal Navy at Vancouver with a Canadian crew under RCN Captain Roger E.S. Bidwell, but a Royal Naval Fleet Air Arm as their aviation contingent. HMS Puncher was a ‘Smiter’ class escort carrier (US Bogue class USS Willapa) built in the USA at Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co. Tacoma, Washington. She was transferred to the RN and commissioned on 5 February 1944. Manned by a small steaming party under the command of Commander Price (RCNVR), HMS Puncher departed Tacoma for Vancouver 12 February. She was one of 19 escort carriers to be modified to meet Admiralty requirements by the Burrard Dry Dock Co. Ltd., North Vancouver. Puncher was one of only two ships to be jointly RN/RCN manned, HMS Nabob under RCN Captain Horatio Nelson Lay was the other; her ship’s company, excluding the Air Department and squadrons, was provided by the Royal Canadian Navy. Several British Merchant Navy personnel under contracts manned the Engine Room. Out of her crew of 646 men, 450 were from Canada. On 16 January 1946 the White Ensign was lowered for the last time, and CVE 53 was transferred back to the custody of the USN and was subsequently rebuilt into a merchant ship that was scrapped in 1973.
6 February 1941 SS Maplecourt was the first Canadian registered merchant ship to be sunk during WW2. The freighter (with 3604 tons of cargo, including 1540 tons of steel) was one of 38 ships in slow convoy SC-20 which departed Halifax on 22 Jan 1941. The armed merchant cruiser HMS Ranpura was the sole mid-ocean escort. On 2 Feb, before nearing the Western Approaches, Ranpura broke off and returned to Halifax. Five RN Ships (destroyer Harvester; corvettes Arbuties, Camellia and Erica; and the armed yacht Philante) then became escorts. Five merchant ships were sunk before the convoy reached Liverpool. Maplecourt had been a straggler when she was torpedoed by U-107 on 6 Feb 1941. She rapidly sank about 360 nm west of Northern Ireland. The crew of 38 were lost.
6 February 1943 The RCN Flower Class corvette HMCS Louisburg east of Oran while escorting a convoy from Gibraltar to Bone, Algeria was attached by Italian aircraft with bombs and torpedoes. She sank in 3 minutes with the loss of 2 Officers, 35 crew, and 5 RN seaman.
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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