End of an Era: The future HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, Canada’s Sixth Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship is Delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy
Today marked the official delivery of the future HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, the sixth and final Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) built at Halifax Shipyard for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).
During a ceremony at Halifax Shipyard, Dirk Lesko, Irving Shipbuilding President; Rear Admiral Josée Kurtz, Maritime Forces Atlantic and Joint Task Force Atlantic Commander; and Commander Brian Henwood, HMCS Robert Hampton Gray Commanding Officer, signed the ship’s documents.
Following the ceremony, the ship departed Irving Shipbuilding’s pier to move to HMC Dockyard.
Lieutenant Robert Hampton Gray was a Canadian naval hero of the Second World War. Gray joined the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1940 and served as a pilot in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm. Gray was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for courage and determination in carrying out daring air strikes on the Japanese destroyer HIJMS Amakusa. Gray was the only member of the RCN to be awarded the Victoria Cross during the Second World War.
Halifax Shipyard has delivered one AOPS per year to the RCN, concluding with the future HMCS Robert Hampton Gray. A further two AOPS variants are under construction for the Canadian Coast Guard. In April, Irving Shipbuilding began construction on the first River-class destroyer, the future HMCS Fraser. The River-class will be comprised of 15 destroyer ships built in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Quotes
“The future HMCS Robert Hampton Gray stands as a powerful tribute to a Canadian hero and a testament to the skill and commitment of our exceptional workforce. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. continues to demonstrate the success of the National Shipbuilding Strategy, and this vessel is a proud reflection of that progress and sovereign capability.”
Dirk Lesko, President, Irving Shipbuilding Inc.
“With today’s delivery of HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, a ship proudly bearing the name of a Canadian Second World War hero, our government has successfully delivered the first class of ships built for the Royal Canadian Navy through the National Shipbuilding Strategy. I was pleased to visit Irving Shipbuilding and see HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, where I witnessed firsthand the exceptional work of our Canadian shipbuilders, skilled workers whose expertise are delivering world-class vessels for our Navy. The Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ships have significantly enhanced Canada’s ability to protect our sovereignty and participate in critical operations alongside our allies, particularly in the Arctic. We will continue to invest in the infrastructure, technology, and equipment that our Navy needs, ensuring a stronger, more secure future for all Canadians.”
The Honourable Joël Lightbound
Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement
“Delivering the sixth and final Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship to the Royal Canadian Navy marks a proud and exciting milestone under the National Shipbuilding Strategy. This achievement reflects the dedication and expertise of the skilled workers in our world-class shipbuilding industry, who have constructed a class of modern, versatile vessels that are equipping our Navy to protect our country in a wide range of operations.”
The Honourable Stephen Fuhr
Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)
Noah Notes: What a time. We are rapidly approaching the end of the AOPS project for the Royal Canadian Navy, a project nearly twenty years in the making. We still have the two Coast Guard variants and then from there Irving will move fully onto the River-class Destroyers.
End of Eras and such…
Its gonna be very weird to not be hearing about the next launch, and despite all the issues, controversies and struggles I want to take the moment to give a huge congrats to everyone who has worked on the project these many years.
This was a massive undertaking, and it can't be highlighted the struggle it is to build up this kind of thing from near scratch. Entire careers have been spent with these vessels, and for many I know this is truly the end of major part of their lives.
To all of you who have worked through the AOPS, from the welders to the project managers and everyone in between. You deserve this moment, and you deserve to hold your heads uo with pride. You started with almost nothing and have built something special.
It's also the beginning of something bigger, and to that I say hold your heads high Irving workers! We are still only at the beginning and there is still much to be done.
Start what needs starting. Finish what needs finishing. Get on the road. Stay on the road. Don't give up.
The Harry DeWolf class is a solid platform for the RCN to enable regular arctic patrols and will allow the ability for future upgrading. This class will undoubtedly recieve armament and capability upgrades in the future as their roles evolve and situations warrant. I would like to see the full integration of the CH-148 Cyclone and the RAST hauldown system to start. With an on-board HelAirDet, surveillance capability will be significantly expanded. The new ISTAR drone capability for the Halifax class will likely also be expanded to this class to ensure the ships can deploy with either helo or drone capability depending on the mission requirement. I could see the main gun upgraded to the Bofors 57 mm, 8 NSM's and RIM 116 or CIWS mounted if global security conditions continue to deteriorate. This is a brand new class in its infancy. The DND budget will allow for future capability upgrades and the Arctic has become the new future zone of international competition.
Having a hard time with this class or ship being fairly useless in any conflict and therefore should never have been designated to the Navy. They are simply light to medium ice breakers with no combat capability whatsoever. While I appreciate the effort put into these vessels, Canada would have been better off building 6 Pohjanmaa class corvettes/frigates for our Navy and two heavier ice breakers around Polar Class 3 vessels for the Coast Guard. These ships have only postponed the building of actual warships.