Navy

Keel for DeWolf

On June 9, 2016, at Irving Shipbuilding’s facility in Halifax, Rear Admiral John Newton, Commander Joint Task Force Atlantic and Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT), along with Kevin McCoy, President of Irving Shipbuilding, and Chief Petty Officer 1st Class Pierre Auger, MARLANT Formation Chief, attended a coin placement ceremony for the future Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Harry DeWolf, the lead ship in the class.

Mr. Kevin McKoy, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Irving Shipbuilding; Mr. Carl Risser (46 years of service with Irving); Rear-Admiral Newton, Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic; Chief Petty Officer First Class Pierre Auger, Formation Chief Petty Officer
Mr. Kevin McKoy, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Irving Shipbuilding; Mr. Carl Risser (46 years of service with Irving); Rear-Admiral Newton, Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic; Chief Petty Officer First Class Pierre Auger, Formation Chief Petty Officer

The coin placement is a shipbuilder and naval tradition where a newly minted coin is placed on the ship’s structure to bring luck to the vessel and her crew for the life of the ship. The coin was placed by Carl Risser who, with 46 years of shipbuilding experience at Irving Shipbuilding, declared the keel as «well and truly laid». The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS) project office as well as Irving Shipbuilding employees, and marks another significant milestone in the ongoing construction of HMCS Harry DeWolf.

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) is eagerly anticipating the delivery of HMCS Harry DeWolf, the first of the Harry DeWolf-class AOPS, in 2018. The ship is named after Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf, a widely-respected officer who served with distinction in the Second World War and later rose to be Chief of the Naval Staff in the late 1950s.

The Harry DeWolf Class will be capable of:

  • armed sea-borne surveillance of Canada’s waters, including the Arctic;
  • providing government situational awareness of activities and events in these regions;
  • cooperating with other partners in the Canadian Armed Forces and other government departments to assert and enforce Canadian sovereignty, when and where necessary.

The Harry DeWolf Class will provide the RCN with the ability to operate much further north on a sustained basis into the Canadian Arctic and will allow the RCN to continue, and indeed increase, its close Arctic collaboration with the Canadian Coast Guard, as well as other governmental departments and international allies, while continuing to build the RCN’s own Arctic sea-going competencies.

With their robust sealift and utility capability, the Harry DeWolf Class will also be extremely useful throughout the non-navigable Arctic seasons in carrying out a variety of missions and tasks such as humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, or support to remote communities wherever they may be operating.

Harry DeWolf-Class Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship
Harry DeWolf-Class Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship

The announced names of the Harry DeWolf-class ships to date are:

  • HMCS Harry DeWolf
  • HMCS Margaret Brooke
  • HMCS Max Bernays
  • HMCS William Hall
  • HMCS Frédérick Rolette
  • HMCS Robert Hampton Gray

 

Specifications

Displacement 6,440 tonnes
Length 338 feet/103 m
Beam 62.3 feet/19 m
Maximum speed 17 knots/19.5 mph/31 km/h
Cruising speed 14 knots/16 mph/26 km/h
Range at Cruising speed 6,800 NM/7,825 miles/12,593.6 km
Complement 65
International ice classification standard Polar Class 5
Be able to sustain operations up to 4 months
Remain operational 25 years beyond Initial Operational Capability (IOC)