HMCS Summerside (MM 711)

HMCS ''Summerside'' is a of the Royal Canadian Navy that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1999. ''Summerside'' is the twelfth, and last, ship of her class. She is the second vessel to use the designation . She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 304

Design and description

The ''Kingston'' class was designed to fill the minesweeper, coastal patrol and reserve training needs of the Canadian Forces, replacing the s, s and Royal Canadian Mounted Police coastal launches in those roles.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 299 In order to perform these varied duties the ''Kingston''-class vessels are designed to carry up to three ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads.Saunders (2008), p. 95 The seven module types available for embarkation include four route survey, two mechanical minesweeping and one bottom inspection modules.

The ''Kingston'' class displace and are long overall with a beam and a draught of . The coastal defence vessels are powered by four Jeumont ANR-53-50 alternators coupled to four Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines creating . Two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters are driven by two Jeumont CI 560L motors creating and the Z drives can be rotated 360°. This gives the ships a maximum speed of and a range of at .Saunders (2004), p. 92

The ''Kingston'' class is equipped with a Kelvin Hughes navigational radar using the I band and a Kelvin Hughes 6000 surface search radar scanning the E and F bands. The vessels carry an AN/SQS-511 towed side scan sonar for minesweeping and an AN/WLD-1 RMS Remote Minehunting System (RMHS). The vessels were equipped with one Bofors 40 mm/60 calibre Mk 5C gun and two M2 machine guns. The 40 mm gun was declared obsolete and removed from the vessels in 2014. Some of them ended up as museum pieces and on display at naval reserve installations across Canada. The ''Kingston''-class coastal defence vessels have a complement of 37.

Operational history

''Summerside'' was laid down on 28 March 1998 by Halifax Shipyards Ltd. at Halifax, Nova Scotia and was launched on 25 September 1998. She was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 18 July 1999 at Summerside, Prince Edward Island and carries the classification MM 711.

In August 2002, ''Summerside'' took part in Exercise "Narwhal Ranger", sailing into Arctic waters. This was the first time Canadian naval units had sailed into the Arctic in thirteen years.

As part of Exercise "Tradewinds" which took place from 1–25 June 2014, ''Summerside'' took part in and led training of forces from around the Caribbean Sea.

On 8 September 2015, ''Summerside'' deployed for large NATO naval exercises Joint Warrior and Trident Venture with , , , and .

In January 2016, ''Summerside'', alongside sister ship , sailed for the Caribbean to take part in Operation Caribbe. On 7 March, off the coast of Nicaragua, a sailing vessel was intercepted in international waters. The vessel was boarded by US Coast Guard officials deploying from ''Summerside'' and of cocaine was discovered and seized. The ship returned to Halifax on 7 April. In September ''Summerside'' was among the Canadian warships deployed to the NATO naval training exercise "Cutlass Fury" off the east coast of North America. In February 2017, ''Summerside'' and ''Moncton'' deployed to the coast of West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea as part of the naval exercise Neptune Trident. The two ships conducted missions against pirates and illegal fishing, along with making port visits to Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia and Ivory Coast. During the deployment, ''Summerside'' took part in a joint training exercise with naval vessels from Morocco and Senegal. ''Summerside'' returned to Halifax on 2 May with ''Moncton''.

On 26 January 2018, ''Summerside'' and sister ship departed Halifax for West Africa to take part in the naval exercise Obangame Express 2018 with the United States Navy and several African navies. Their visit to Nigeria marked the first time Canadian warships have ever visited the country. The vessels returned to Halifax on 17 April. In October 2018, ''Summerside'' was among the Canadian ships deployed to the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea as part of the large NATO exercise, Trident Juncture. On 17 December 2018 ''Summerside'' and were sailing home to Halifax from their deployment in European waters when they were called to the aid of the sailing vessel ''Makena'' which had been disabled southeast of Halifax. ''Summerside'' and ''Glace Bay'' rescued the four crewmembers of ''Makena'' with support from US and Canadian aircraft.

In June 2022, ''Summerside'' and ''Kingston'' were deployed to Europe in support of NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. During their deployment, they detected naval mines leftover from World War II and safely detonated them. They returned to Halifax in November.

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External links

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HMCS ''Summerside'' (MM 711) – official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Summerside, HMCS
Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy
Kingston-class coastal defence vessels
1998 ships
Ships built in Nova Scotia