NAC News – Edition 655 HMCS Star
Your weekly national and international naval news for the week of February 6, 2026
Edition 655 HMCS Star Quote: “Apparently, several Russian naval vessels are already providing escort to sanctioned ‘shadow ships’. On January 10, Northern Fleet destroyer Severmorsk was spotted as it escorted two cargo ships near the coast of Portugal. The Mys Zhelaniya was one of the ships. A lion’s share of Russian oil exports is now shipped by sanctioned carriers, many of which are old and have a shady ownership and management structure. Information compiled by the Barents Observer shows that more than 50 ‘shadow tankers’ have sailed along the Norwegian coast to Murmansk in the period of October 2025 – January 2026. Many more are sailing in the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Several of them are operating in outright conflict with international maritime laws.” Russia hints it will deploy Navy to protect ‘shadow fleet’, The Barents Observer, Atle Staalesen, 28 January 2026
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)
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 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
Oslo Security Forum Bombshell: Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges Reveals Europe’s Weaknesses | AC14 (Editor – The General is 2:30 min on a 8:30 min video)
“We Monitor Your Nukes,” Norway PM Stoere Slams U.S. Claims on NATO Contributions in Oslo Speech (Editor – 12:00 min video)
Fears grow that Russia will deploy more nukes in the Arctic and Global nuclear arms control system faces growing risks of disorder
CANADA
On The Line with Vice-Admiral Angus Topshee, commander of the Royal Canadian Navy (Editor – excellent interview, packed with info and useful perspective in a 54:38 min video)
HMCS Charlottetown departs on Operation HORIZON and NEON & Le NCSM Charlottetown prend la mer en vue de participer aux opérations HORIZON et NEON
Canada’s Secretary of State for Defence Procurement Visits Hanwha Ocean and Race heats up to build Canada’s next submarines (Editor – 1:50 min video)
TKMS and EllisDon sign Strategic Teaming Agreement to support submarine project and TKMS launches CDDE – Canadian Defence & Dual-Use Innovation Ecosystem
NATO’s new defence target could add $63B to federal deficit, PBO warns
Why Greenland’s youngest parliamentarian says Canada matters more than ever (Editor – useful background)
How Should Canada Position its Military in an Uncertain World? | TVO Today Live (Editor – finally these sort of discussions are going mainstream, 1:23:42 hr video)
Canada Might Now Buy Far More Than 88 F-35 Stealth Fighters (Editor – after decades of “restraint” a fundamental shift in mind set is required) while Canada’s $400M Gripen Fighter Factory — Montreal Gets Hundreds of New Jobs
CDAI: Force Development – Sustaining Canada’s Future Submarine Fleet, Report – February 2026
CDAI: Can Carney’s Canada Contend with a “Ruptured” Global Order? (Editor – 29:17 min podcast)
Teacher by day, Naval Warfare Officer by NIGHT! (Editor – RCN/MRC 2:31 min video) & Enseignant le jour, officier de guerre navale la NUIT!
Baffinland says they’re cleared to start building railway and port (Editor – 2:15 min video)
Latest BC Ferries’ Island Class Vessel Completes Sea Trials
Vignettes from the life of a young woman in wartime Halifax
Hull Damage Worsens on Grounded MSC Baltic III as Winter Storms Stall Salvage
Pension surplus scooped — again
Federal Retirees supports study on solo retirees
Canada rolls out whalesafe strategy to curb right whale entanglements
Editor – I’d recommended before Christmas as a Santa gift Rich Gimblett & Karl Gagnon’s co-authored book Guardians of the North: Canadian Warships and Maritime Aircraft, 1910–2025. Well, my daughter not Santa gave me a copy, too big for a stocking stuffer. Well, the glowing reviews were spot on. If Santa didn’t favour you with one, I highly recommend you buy one on-line or go to a good bookstore! Rich has given me permission to use pertinent snippets from their book to augment the growing NAC News “This week in RCN/Maritime history” calendar, thanks.
NAC Naval Affairs: Bibliography Personnel (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: Feb. 2, 2026
U.S., Russia agree to re-establish military-to-military dialogue after 4-year pause
Raytheon to Bolster Tomahawk and SM-6 Production in Critical Munition Deal (Editor – Red Sea and Ukraine lessons – everyone needs more weapons and reload systems)
Why the Navy’s $6BN Submarine Is Failing Before It’s Built! (Editor – 10:33 min video)
Carrier John F. Kennedy Returns From First Stint At Sea, Completes Builder’s Trials
Report: U.S. Navy is Feeling Out Ship Construction Options in Turkey
Danish Defence Charters Cruise Ship to House Troops in Greenland
Destroyer USS Truxtun to Deploy as Navy Maintains Warship Build Up in Southern, Central Commands then Destroyer USS Truxtun Back in Norfolk for Equipment Repair, Delaying Deployment
How the Navy Beat The Army (Editor – 1:15 min video)
Petrobras scoops up multibillion-dollar oil deals in India
Panama Court Hands Trump a Win on China’s Grip Over Canal Ports
US Marines welcome two new CH‑53K King Stallion helicopters
Powerful US Navy laser weapon successfully neutralizes drone threats at sea
Coast Guard Gearing Up to Absorb Massive Investment, Commandant Says with Seattle to Receive $323m to Expand US Icebreaker Base for Polar Security Cutters but Coast Guard Still Short on People and Ships Despite $25 Billion Funding Surge
Trump Launches $12 Billion Minerals Stockpile to Counter China
Colombia Takes Delivery of Locally Built Ocean Patrol Vessel From COTECMAR
Cruise Ship Makes Record Panama Canal Transit (Editor – “208,000 gross tons with capacity for approximately 6,700 passengers. Measures 342 meters in length and 46.4 meters in beam.)
China Warns Panama of ‘Heavy Prices’ After Canal Ports Ruling then China Tells State Firms to Freeze Panama Projects After Canal Ports Ruling
US Refiners Struggle to Absorb Venezuelan Oil Surge After Trump-Maduro Deal (Editor – so ironic)
INDO-PACIFIC
Pacific Ocean and adjoining seas:
What China’s military leadership shakeup means for the world (Editor – 1:00 min CBC News video)
David Ochmanek on China, Taiwan, and Indo-Pacific Security (Editor – Excellent thought-provoking USNI 1:26:55 hr podcast)
Unacceptable: Chinese ambassador threatens as Australia reviews Darwin Port lease
Japan and South Korea Agree to Resume Joint Drills Halted Nearly One Decade Ago
Australia sends two Anzac-class frigates on regional deployments
China Coast Guard Patrol Japan-Held Islands Almost Daily As Tensions Flare
Coast guard flags about 1,900 Chinese vessels
PLA Navy commissions new Type 052D destroyer; Chinese expert highlights type’s continuous production and upgrades (Editor – includes 0:25 sec rah-rah video)
China begins relocating structure from PMZ with background Creeping Sovereignty? China’s Maritime Structures in the Yellow Sea (West Sea)
Has China’s GJ-21 stealth attack drone joined sea trials for Type 076 Sichuan?
Taiwan’s Homegrown Submarine Completes Two Dive Tests｜TaiwanPlus News (Editor – 2:42 min video)
Eyes on the prize: CCG patrols prioritize Scarborough in 2025 and CCG releases videos on international maritime governance, law enforcement and Diaoyu Dao patrols
Australia accepts delivery of 23rd Guardian-class patrol boat
US congressional report explores option of not delivering any Aukus nuclear submarines to Australia
Responsible stewardship of SSNs (Editor – Australia and Brazil)
Reinvigorating the naval reserve (Editor – if you watched CRNC’s interview in the Canadian section this will resonate)
Back-to-Back Cocaine Seizures Top 9 Tons in French Polynesian Waters
China jumps a generation ahead in metals race with deep-sea rovers and 3-D mapping of ocean floors (Editor – 6:06 min video) while Japan Accelerates Deep-Sea Rare Earth Mining Plan & Japan retrieves rare earth-rich mud from seabed to lower reliance on China
Malaysia Seizes $130 Million Crude Cargo in Major Illegal STS Crackdown but then Malaysia Quietly Frees Tankers in Suspected Illegal STS Case, Exposing Limits of Shadow Fleet Enforcement
China Continued Shipbuilding Dominance in 2025, Raking In Most Orders
Indian Ocean and adjoining seas:
India-US near $3 Billion P-8I Poseidon deal for 6 more aircraft to counter China-Pak naval threats
West wants to cut China off from Indian Ocean — Russian security official
Survival of Chagos Sovereignty Deal Hinges on U.S. Review
Trump Slashes Tariffs on Indian Goods in Trade Deal Linked to Russian Oil Exit
EUROPE
Black and Caspian Seas:
One wrong move and it could all go wrong – the men clearing deadly undersea Russian mines
Some Black Sea Tankers Are Hugging the Turkish Coast for Protection
Ukraine hails ‘real results’ after Musk restricts Russian Starlink use (Editor – finally like the guy for something)
CIMSEC: Russia’s Strategic Brown Water Capabilities: A NATO Blind Spot?
‘Record number of missiles’ hit Ukraine leaving thousands with no heating in -20C
New fiberoptic drone and mothership boat system tested out for first time in Black Sea
Baltic Sea:
Estonia Detains Ship Heading for Russia Suspected of Smuggling & Estonian authorities detain commercial vessel with Russian sailors then Estonia Clears Russia-Bound Ship After Drug Raid
Mediterranean Sea:
15 Migrants Killed In Collision With Greek Coast Guard Patrol
General:
Denmark Approves Five Arctic Patrol Ships for Greenland Waters from March last year Danish consortium ready to build new Arctic patrol vessels and frigates
Russia’s investment in Northern Fleet undiminished, UK naval chief says
Senior Russian officer in hospital after being shot in Moscow
UK forces Russian anchored cargo ship out of its waters — Department for Transport
EU Buys 93 Percent of Yamal LNG As Imports Surge Ahead of 2027 Russian Ban (Editor – opportunity for Canada here, if we can just get transport sorted out, and couldn’t resist adding this pertinent one ‘They would take as much additional crude as we could supply’: Energy Minister Hodgson on India
Russian Captain Convicted of Gross Negligence in Deadly U.K. Tanker Collision
NATO forces hunting submarines in Arctic (Editor – note Canadian submarine sea-riders (Perisher students?)
France deploys Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group to Atlantic for ORION 26 war exercise
US Greenlights $1.7B Materials Sale for Spain’s F100 Frigate Mid-Life Upgrade
Why Calling this Warship a “FRIGATE” is a Complete Mistake (Editor – 2:44 min video)
Royal Navy begins to explore integrating Aster missiles with Mk 41 vertical launch system
Anadolu Shipyard launches 5th I-class frigate in Istanbul
Denmark Selects Distributed Construction Strategy for New Arctic Ships
Warship downs drone swarm off British coast in exercise
Norway increases order by two more to now six Type 212CD submarines
Portugal to receive EU’s first drone carrier NRP D. João II in 2026 for Atlantic surveillance
French Navy fits new EO/IR systems aboard Mistral-class LHDs
Norway considers reducing Type 26 Frigate purchase
Mini sonobuoys being developed for uncrewed systems
UK Tests Out Drone Boats for Maintaining Comms with Submersibles
Electronic warfare and the battle to expose illicit maritime activity
Two arrested for suspected sabotage of German warships in Hamburg
French Navy to Become First Operator of Airbus’ Aliaca VTOL Drone
MIDDLE EAST
General:
US says it shot down Iranian drone flying towards aircraft carrier
Reports: Iran Harasses US-Flagged Tanker Critical to U.S. Military Fuel Supply in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Khamenei warns any U.S. attack would spark ‘regional war’ but then Iran’s president says it is ready to negotiate with the US
How Iran’s Abu Mahdi Anti-Ship Missile Could Pose New Threat to U.S. Naval Forces in Arabian Sea
China and Russia Plan to Hold a Naval Exercise With Iran in February
M23 C-Series and T-Series submarines at DIMDEX 2026 in Qatar (Editor – 5:09 min video)
Aboard Al Fulk: Qatar’s unique Air Defense LPD (Editor – 5:02 min video)
Red Sea and Gulf of Aden:
U.S. Navy Deploys Aegis Destroyer to Israel for Red Sea Missile Defense
Shipping Firms Face Tough 2026 as Reopening of Red Sea Looms
GLOBAL INTERESTS
Up to 800 ‘Dark Fleet’ Vessels Operating Worldwide: US Coast Guard
Exercise Cutlass Express 2026 to Enhance Maritime Security in East Africa
SCUTTLEBUTT
Why Soviet reactors still lie in the Arctic I FULL DOC | SLICE EXPERTS (Editor -44:08 min video)
CP-121 Tracker; Carrier-borne ASW powerhouse turned aerial firefighter (No AI) (Editor – 18:35 min video)
How a Near-Miss Killed a 52,000-Ton Battleship (Editor – 1:00 min video)
Why did US Admirals defend Hitler’s successor? (Editor – 2:00 min video)
THIS WEEK IN RCN/MARITIME HISTORY
8 February 1943 HMCS Regina commanded by LCdr Harry Freeland, RCNR sank the Italian submarine Avorio in the Mediterranean Sea.
9 February 1941 HMS Mayflower and Snowberry (with Canadian COs) departed Halifax as local escort for the 47-ship convoy HX-108, bound for Liverpool. Both ships were Flower-class corvettes. Both ships had recently been delivered from Canadian shipyards and were subsequently completed in British yards on the Tyne River. Mayflower was fitted with a ‘dummy’ 4-inch gun built of wood for the transit to the U.K., an infamous example of the inferior condition of the early wartime Emergency Expansion Plan warships of the RCN. Although guns were acquired later, technological inferiority plagued the RCN until relatively late in the war. 269 Flower class corvettes (total varies by source) were built in British and Canadian yards, 123 vessels achieving service in the RCN’s fleet. This class was operated by British, Canadian, French and US navies. After the war these ships were passed to many other navies. Despite a very high number being built they were built in many different yards, the design constantly evolved due to operational experience and technical innovation throughout the vessel’s service life, and it was uncommon for any to be alike in either configuration or appearance.
10 February 1942 HMCS Spikenard is torpedoed by U136 and sunk due south of Iceland. Only eight men survived (57 perished) to be found by a westbound British ship the next day. Spikenard had been torpedoed at about the same time as the tanker, & sank so quickly, that the other escorts didn’t realize she was gone until morning.
11 February 1942 The unescorted motor tanker MV Victolite, (Imperial Oil Shipping Co. Ltd of Toronto), was sailing from Halifax to Las Piedras, Venezuela with a cargo of ballast seawater in her tanks. It was intended that she would be returning to Halifax with full tanks of Venezuelan petroleum. At 0328 on 11 Feb 42, she was hit amidships by one torpedo from U-564 about 260 nm north-northwest of Bermuda. The surfaced U-boat watched the crew abandon their ship in lifeboats, identified the vessel from her distress signals, and then shelled her for a short time to confirm that all crew had left. A boarding party in a rubber dinghy then went to the abandoned tanker to search for secret documents and diesel oil that could be used to refuel the U-boat, but all safes were open and empty, and the fuel found was unsuitable as it was too viscous. The boarding party left after placing four scuttling charges in the engine room. However, the ship remained afloat after the explosions and U-564 shelled her again. The U-boat left the burning wreck behind after firing 98 rounds from the deck gun into the tanks and the superstructure. The lifeboats with the 45 crew members and the 2 Royal Navy DEMS gunners were never seen again.
11 February 1944 Flying out of Limavady, F/O P.J. Heron and crew in Wellington XII MP578, part of RCAF Squadron 407, and equipped with a Leigh Light attacked and sunk U-283 in the North Atlantic. F/O was subsequently decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross.
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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