HMCS ''Harry DeWolf'' (AOPV 430) is the

lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...

of its class of

offshore patrol vessel A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval ship, naval vessel generally designed for Coastal defence and fortification, coastal defence, Border control, border security, or law ...

s for the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...

(RCN). The class was derived from the

Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship ''Harry DeWolf''-class offshore patrol vessels are warships of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) built within the Government of Canada Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) procurement project, part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy ...

project as part of the

National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy The National Shipbuilding Strategy (NSS), formerly the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), is a Government of Canada program operated by the Department of Public Works and Government Services. The NSS was developed under the Stephe ...

and is primarily designed for the patrol and support of Canada's Arctic regions. Named after Vice Admiral

Harry DeWolf Vice Admiral Henry George DeWolf (26 June 1903 – 18 December 2000) was a Canadian naval officer who was famous as the first commander of during the Second World War. Early years DeWolf entered the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1918 at age ...

, a former head of the RCN, the vessel was ordered in 2011,

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

in 2016 and launched in 2018. The vessel completed contractors

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in July 2020, was delivered to the RCN on 31 July 2020 and began post-acceptance sea trials. ''Harry DeWolf'' was commissioned on 26 June 2021.

Design and description

The s are designed for use in the Arctic regions of Canada for patrol and support within Canada's exclusive economic zone. The vessel is

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...

with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of . The ship has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of . The ship has an enclosed foredeck that protects machinery and work spaces from Arctic climates. The vessel is powered by a diesel-electric system composed of four

MAN A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromo ...

6L32/44CR four-stroke medium-speed

diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

s and two electric propulsion motors rated at driving two

shafts ''Shafts'' was an English feminist magazine produced by Margaret Sibthorp from 1892 until 1899. Initially published weekly and priced at one penny, its themes included votes for women, women's education, and radical attitudes towards vivisection, ...

. ''Harry DeWolf'' is capable of in open water and in first-year sea ice. The ship is also equipped with a

bow thruster Manoeuvering thruster (bow thruster or stern thruster) is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat to make it more manoeuvrable. Bow thrusters make docking easier, since they allow th ...

to aid during manoeuvres and docking procedures without requiring

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

assistance. The ship has a range of and an endurance of 85 days. ''Harry DeWolf'' is equipped with fin stabilizers to decrease roll in open water but can be retracted during icebreaking. ''Harry DeWolf'' is able to deploy with multiple payloads, including

shipping container A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of ...

underwater survey An underwater survey is a survey performed in an underwater environment or conducted remotely on an underwater object or region. Survey can have several meanings. The word originates in Medieval Latin with meanings of ''looking over'' and ''detail ...

equipment or

landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...

. Payload operations are aided by a crane for loading and unloading. The ship is equipped with a vehicle bay which can hold

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

all-terrain vehicle An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is stra ...

s and

snowmobile A snowmobile, also known as a Ski-Doo, snowmachine, sled, motor sled, motor sledge, skimobile, or snow scooter, is a motorized vehicle designed for winter travel and recreation on snow. It is designed to be operated on snow and ice and does not ...

s. The ship also has two multi-role rescue boats capable of over . The ship is armed with one BAE Mk 38 gun and two

M2 Browning The M2 machine gun or Browning .50 caliber machine gun (informally, "Ma Deuce") is a heavy machine gun that was designed towards the end of World War I by John Browning. Its design is similar to Browning's earlier M1919 Browning machine gun, w ...

machine guns. The patrol ship has an onboard

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

and

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

for helicopters up to the size of a

Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone The Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone is a twin-engine, multi-role shipboard helicopter developed by the Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation for the Canadian Armed Forces. A military variant of the Sikorsky S-92, the CH-148 is designed for shipboard operations ...

. ''Harry DeWolf'' has a complement of 65 and accommodation for 85 or 87.

Construction

The order for the

s was placed on 19 October 2011 with Irving Shipyards of Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

as part of the

. The ship was to be constructed in 62 blocks, which would then be pieced together into three larger blocks. These three "mega blocks" would be fitted together to form the hull of the ship. On 18 September 2014, it was announced that the first ship of the class was to be named ''Harry DeWolf'' in honour of Rear Admiral

, a decorated naval officer who served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

in European waters and as the Royal Canadian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff during the early

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. The ship was given the

hull number Hull number is a serial identification number given to a boat or ship. For the military, a lower number implies an older vessel. For civilian use, the HIN is used to trace the boat's history. The precise usage varies by country and type. United ...

AOPV 430. On 18 June 2015 it was reported that the construction of test modules for ''Harry DeWolf'' was underway. The first sections of

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

were placed on 11 March 2016, but the official laying of the keel of ''Harry DeWolf'' was held on 9 June 2016, marking the first naval construction in Canada since 1998. On 8 December 2017, the three main sections of ''Harry DeWolf'' were fitted into place. ''Harry DeWolf'' was launched on 15 September 2018. The vessel was loaded onto the semi-submersible barge ''Boa Barge 37'' and taken out into

Halifax Harbour Halifax Harbour is a large natural harbour on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada, located in the Halifax Regional Municipality. Halifax largely owes its existence to the harbour, being one of the largest and deepest ice-free natural harbo ...

. There, the barge was submerged and the ship floated free, to be towed back to the shipyard. The vessel was officially named at Halifax on 5 October 2018 by sponsor

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau Sophie Grégoire Trudeau (; born April 24, 1975), also known as Sophie Grégoire, is a Canadian retired television host. She is married to the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau. She is involved in charity work, social work, and pub ...

, the wife of Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2 ...

. ''Harry DeWolf'' began builders

s on 22 November 2019. The ship was delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy on 31 July 2020 and began post-acceptance sea trials. The ship was commissioned on 26 June 2021.

Service history

HMCS Harry DeWolf Arctic Transit Aug 2021

''Harry DeWolf'' embarked on its inaugural deployment on 3 August 2021. It participated in

Operation Nanook Operation Nanook (OP NANOOK; french: Opération Nanook) is an annual sovereignty operation and manoeuvre warfare exercise conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic. Sovereignty patrols in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern C ...

, Canada's annual

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

operation and

manoeuvre warfare Maneuver warfare, or manoeuvre warfare, is a military strategy which seeks to shatter the enemy's overall cohesion and will to fight. Background Maneuver warfare, the use of initiative, originality and the unexpected, combined with a ruth ...

exercise conducted in the

Arctic The Arctic ( or ) is a polar regions of Earth, polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenla ...

, alongside and elements of the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues in ...

and the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

. The ship then proceeded through the

Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arct ...

, and docked at

CFB Esquimalt Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquima ...

on 4 October 2021. ''Harry DeWolf'' left CFB Esquimalt on 22 October 2021, and sailed to the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. During this second leg of its journey, it took part in

Operation Caribbe Operation Caribbe is the Canadian Armed Forces contribution to the elimination of illegal trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and the eastern Pacific Ocean by organized crime. The operation began in 2006 and its mandate has been altered twice since ...

— Canada's contribution to the US-led anti-drug smuggling effort

Operation Martillo Operation Martillo is an ongoing multi-national anti-drug operation that began on 15 January 2012, and "aims to combat international Illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, and promote peace, stability in Central America, Central and South America" ...

— and seized almost of cocaine. ''Harry DeWolf'' returned to

CFB Halifax Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax is Canada's east coast naval base and home port to the Royal Canadian Navy Atlantic fleet, known as Canadian Fleet Atlantic (CANFLTLANT), that forms part of the formation Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT). I ...

on 16 December 2021, becoming the first Canadian naval vessel to circumnavigate North America since made a similar voyage in 1954. In August 2022, ''Harry DeWolf'' was among the Canadian warships that were to be deployed to the Arctic as part of the multinational

military exercise A military exercise or war game is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat. This also serves the purpose of ensuring the com ...

. However, after two of four generators on the ship ceased functioning, the ship's participation in the exercise was cancelled due to a need to return to Halifax for repairs. The ship is not expected to return to service until April 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harry Dewolf, HMCS Harry DeWolf-class offshore patrol vessels 2018 ships Ships built in Nova Scotia