HMCS Montréal (FFH 336)

HMCS ''Montréal'' is a that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1993. ''Montréal'' is the seventh ship in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second vessel to carry the designation . She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax. ''Montréal'' serves on MARLANT missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. The ship has also been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations. The vessel has also participated in several NATO missions, patrolling the Atlantic Ocean as part of Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and its successor Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group 1 (SNMG1). The vessel is designated as a Bilingual Language Unit in the Royal Canadian Navy.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 293

Description and design

The ''Halifax''-class frigate design, emerging from the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project, was ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1977 as a replacement for the aging , , , and es of destroyer escorts, which were all tasked with anti-submarine warfare.Milner, p. 284 ''Montréal'' was ordered in December 1987 as part of the second batch of frigates.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 291Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 47 To reflect the changing long-term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the ''Halifax''-class frigates were designed as general purpose warships with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.

As built, the ''Halifax''-class vessels displaced and were long overall and between perpendiculars with a beam of and a draught of .Saunders, p. 90 That made them slightly larger than the ''Iroquois''-class destroyers. The vessels are propelled by two shafts with Escher Wyss controllable pitch propellers driven by a CODOG system of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, generating and one SEMT Pielstick 20 PA6 V 280 diesel engine, generating .

This gives the frigates a maximum speed of and a range of at while using their diesel engines. Using their gas turbines, the ships have a range of at . The ''Halifax'' class have a complement of 198 naval personnel of which 17 are officers and 17 aircrew of which 8 are officers.

Armament and aircraft

As built the ''Halifax''-class vessels deployed the CH-124 Sea King helicopter, which acted in concert with shipboard sensors to seek out and destroy submarines at long distances from the ships. The ships have a helicopter deck fitted with a " bear trap" system allowing the launch and recovery of helicopters in up to sea state 6. The ''Halifax'' class also carries a close-in anti-submarine weapon in the form of the Mark 46 torpedo, launched from twin Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo tubes in launcher compartments either side of the forward end of the helicopter hangar.

As built, the anti-shipping role is supported by the RGM-84 Harpoon Block 1C surface-to-surface missile, mounted in two quadruple launch tubes at the main deck level between the funnel and the helicopter hangar. For anti-aircraft self-defence the ships are armed with the Sea Sparrow vertical launch surface-to-air missile in two Mk 48 Mod 0 eight-cell launchers placed to port and starboard of the funnel. The vessels carry 16 missiles. A Raytheon/General Dynamics Phalanx Mark 15 Mod 21 Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) is mounted on top of the helicopter hangar for "last-ditch" defence against targets that evade the Sea Sparrow.

As built, the main gun on the forecastle is a /70 calibre Mark 2 gun from Bofors. The gun is capable of firing shells at a rate of 220 rounds per minute at a range of more than . The vessels also carry eight machine guns.

Countermeasures and sensors

As built, the decoy system comprises two BAE Systems Shield Mark 2 decoy launchers which fire chaff to and infrared rockets to in distraction, confusion and centroid seduction modes. The torpedo decoy is the AN/SLQ-25A Nixie towed acoustic decoy from Argon ST. The ship's radar warning receiver, the CANEWS (Canadian Electronic Warfare System), SLQ-501, and the radar jammer, SLQ-505, were developed by Thorn and Lockheed Martin Canada.

Two Thales Nederland (formerly Signaal) SPG-503 (STIR 1.8) fire control radars are installed one on the roof of the bridge and one on the raised radar platform immediately forward of the helicopter hangar. The ship is also fitted with Raytheon AN/SPS-49(V)5 long-range active air search radar operating at C and D bands, Ericsson HC150 Sea Giraffe medium-range air and surface search radar operating at G and H bands, and Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 I-band navigation radar. The sonar suite includes the CANTASS Canadian Towed Array and GD-C AN/SQS-510 hull mounted sonar and incorporates an acoustic range prediction system. The sonobuoy processing system is the GD-C AN/UYS-503.

Modernization

The ''Halifax'' class underwent a modernization program, known as the Halifax Class Modernization (HCM) program, in order to update the frigates' capabilities in combatting modern smaller, faster and more mobile threats. This involved upgrading the command and control, radar, communications, electronic warfare and armament systems. Further improvements, such as modifying the vessel to accommodate the new Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and satellite links will be done separately from the main Frigate Equipment Life Extension (FELEX) program.

The FELEX program comprised upgrading the combat systems integration to CMS330. The SPS-49 2D long range air search radar was replaced by the Thales Nederland SMART-S Mk 2 E/F-band 3D surveillance radar, and the two STIR 1.8 fire control radars were replaced by a pair of Saab Ceros 200 re-control radars. A Telephonics IFF Mode 5/S interrogator was installed and the Elisra NS9003A-V2HC ESM system replaced the SLQ-501 CANEWS. An IBM multi-link (Link 11, Link 16 and Link 22 enabled) datalink processing system was installed along with two Raytheon Anschütz Pathfinder Mk II navigation radars. Furthermore, Rheinmetall's Multi-Ammunition Soft kill System (MASS), known as MASS DUERAS was introduced to replace the Plessey Shield decoy system. The existing 57 mm Mk 2 guns were upgraded to the Mk 3 standard and the Harpoon missiles were improved to Block II levels, the Phalanx was upgraded to Block 1B and the obsolete Sea Sparrow system was replaced by the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile.

Service history

''Montréal'' was laid down on 8 February 1991 by Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd. at Saint John and launched on 28 February 1992. She was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 21 July 1994 by Francine St-Pierre and carries the hull classification symbol FFH 336. In January 1995 ''Montréal'' joined the NATO mission in the Adriatic Sea enforcing the United Nations blockade of Yugoslavia. Twice she acted as the flagship of the force before returning to Canada on 19 July 2005. In 1997 as part of an experiment to reduce noise, the warship had 12,500 anechoic tiles added to her hull. The experiment was not successful. As part of a NATO fleet in 1998, ''Montréal'' sailed to Saint Petersburg, Russia as part of celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. The frigate represented Canada in the Millennium International Fleet Review in New York City.

In July 2000, the American merchant ship GTS ''Katie'' refused to bring its Canadian military cargo into port, claiming unpaid fees. On 30 July, the Canadian Forces sent the destroyer to maintain contact with the rogue ship and deployed ''Montréal'' the following day. As part of Operation Megaphone, a detachment of personnel was sent over by CH-124 Sea King to board ''Katie''. The crew of the merchant ship offered no resistance and the ship was escorted into port. The captain of the ship later claimed that the ship had been attacked and the boarding had been "dangerous". The Canadian Defence Minister later rebuffed those charges, claiming the boarding had been necessary.

In 2002, ''Montréal'' sailed to take part in Operation Apollo, Canada's naval contribution to the War in Afghanistan. Arriving on 9 September the frigate remained in theatre until 25 April 2003. The warship had remained longer than usual in theatre due to a crash of a CH-124 Sea King aboard her replacement, the destroyer . In 2004, the frigate sailed to the Arctic, becoming the first major Canadian warship to visit the region since 1982. In January 2005, ''Montréal'' deployed as part of a NATO rapid reaction force. On 8 February 2005 a crewmember was lost overboard and subsequently pronounced dead.

The warship participated in Operation Nanook in 2010. In 2010 ''Montréal'' engaged in acceptance trials for the new CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter. Several modifications had to be made for the trials to the ship, including adding night-vision friendly green filters to the flight deck landing lights and reinforcing the flight deck due to the Cyclone being heavier than the CH-124 Sea King. ''Montréal'' successfully completed the tests which included routine flying operations as well as responding to some critical situations.

On 3 July 2011, as part of their national Canadian tour, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on the vessel which conveyed them from Montréal to Quebec City. In August, ''Montréal'' sailed up the St. Lawrence Seaway into Lake Ontario as part of Great Lakes Deployment 11 where she visited multiple cities including Toronto, Hamilton, Montréal, and Trois-Rivières. On 5 July 2012, ''Montréal'' was turned over to Irving Shipbuilding's Halifax Shipyards, to start an 18-month mid-life upgrading and modernization (HCM/FELEX). ''Montréal'' re-joined the fleet after completing the Halifax Class Modernization refit on 26 September 2013. Subsequently, ''Montréal'' conducted sea trials for her new combat and weapons systems. ''Montréal'' achieved Restricted Readiness on 9 May 2014. After further Sea Acceptance Trials and Work Ups, ''Montréal'' assumed Normal Readiness on 9 March 2015, being the fifth post-refit frigate to achieve this milestone.

In late 2015, ''Montréal'' deployed for a large NATO naval exercise, Joint Warrior. On completion of this exercise, ''Montréal'' participated in "At Sea Demonstration 2015" (ASD 2015), a multinational exercise that took place off the Hebrides Islands of Scotland in October 2015. The exercise was conducted under the Maritime Theater Missile Defence Forum (MTMD), an international group that aims to improve maritime integrated air and missile defence capabilities within a coalition context. While on exercise during a port visit in Faslane, Scotland, ''Montréal'' hosted an official royal visit by Prince Charles who was recently appointed as Commodore in Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy's Atlantic Fleet. ''Montréal'' returned to Halifax on 27 November 2015.

The ship participated in further sea trials with the CH-148 Cyclone helicopters off the coast of Nova Scotia in March 2016. In April it was announced that ''Montréal'' and sister ship would be the test ships for the Royal Canadian Navy's planned reduced crew size trials. On 24 October 2016, ''Montréal'' began her first deployment after conversion to an experimental ship. In May 2017, 120 of the crew were deployed in the Mauricie region of Quebec to participate in flood relief efforts. In August 2017, ''Montréal'' and the s and departed Halifax to take part in the Operation Nanook in Canada's northern waters.

On 19 January 2022, ''Montréal'' left Halifax to join SNMG2 as part of Operation Reassurance. She returned to Halifax following the completion of her deployment on 15 July 2022. On 26 March 2023, the frigate and the supply ship left Halifax on a deployment to the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region. On 3 June, the People's Liberation Army Navy warship cut across the bow of while the American destroyer was transiting the Taiwan Strait together with ''Montréal''; the closest point of approach was . The vessel returned to Halifax on 3 October. The frigate departed for Pacific waters again in April 2024 for a six-month deployment.

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External links

HMCS ''Montréal'' Facebook website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal, Hmcs
Fleet of the Royal Canadian Navy
Halifax-class frigates
1992 ships
Ships built in Saint John, New Brunswick