HMCS Charlottetown home for the holidays after demanding NATO deployment
By Nathan Stone,
Trident Staff
After six months of serving as the eyes and ears of NATO during a tense time in the eastern Mediterranean, His Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Charlottetown returned to Halifax on December 20.
On deployment as the flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), the crew of Charlottetown was tasked with watching the movement of non-allied vessels, primarily those of the Russian Federation, through the region. They also monitored civilian ships suspected of being involved in illegal trade to bypass international sanctions.
Commander (Cdr) Nicholas Buxton, Charlottetown’s commanding officer, said that they observed Russian ships travelling to and from Tartus, Syria and successfully monitored several ships during a Russian naval exercise.
“Charlottetown, along with other units, participated in an enhanced period of vigilance activities in September which coincided with the Russian Federation Navy’s Okean 24, a large-scale exercise that took place concurrently in the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Pacific theatres,” Cdr Buxton said.
“For us, that involved monitoring three Russian Federation warships and a Kilo-class submarine. This unique period spent alone with Russian assets was a particular source of pride for the crew.”
Charlottetown’s role with SNMG2 was part of Canada’s ongoing Operation Reassurance, through which the Canadian Armed Forces contributes to NATO’s collective defense in eastern and central Europe.
While performing their duties, the ship’s crew had to react quickly to major world events, including Israeli military operations in Lebanon and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
These rapid changes in the region forced Charlottetown and its SNMG2 partners to modify existing plans and draw up new contingencies. One of those would have involved the ship helping to evacuate Canadian citizens from Lebanon if needed.
“Sometimes a change of plan would happen and the turnaround time would be pretty short,” said Lieutenant(N) (Lt(N)) Sebastian Savard, who serves as a Communication and Information Systems Officer aboard Charlottetown. He added “we’d have to execute a plan in hours or less, where usually we would have days, weeks or months to prepare.”
Cdr Buxton praised the crew’s ability to handle the “extraordinary demands” of the deployment and the added pressure of acting as the flagship for SNMG2. Charlottetown hosted Commodore (Cmdre) Matthew Coates, who commanded SNMG2 from July 1 to December 3, along with his staff.
“It’s always a different experience being the flagship,” said Cdr Buxton, “Our mission in Charlottetown was to do everything to enable Cmdre Coates to be successful.”
He said the ship’s crew took “great pride” in serving as the flagship, adding that for many of the sailors aboard it represented a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The complexity and scope of the deployment allowed Charlottetown’s crew the chance to put years of training into action.
“It’s the most operational I’ve ever been,” said Lt(N) Savard, “We were tracking and finding non-allied submarines…it is something we’ve trained to do our whole careers.”
Petty Officer 2nd Class (PO2) River Leggat, Naval Communicator and watch supervisor for Charlottetown’s communication control group, said her team went above and beyond with every task handed to them.
“We did a major exercise in September and it was the first time a lot of my team had seen multiple shifts, working on the bridge, and managing signals. Many of them stepped up to the plate in a big way, even beyond their rank level… It was really good to see all our training come to life.”
Charlottetown returned home to Halifax just in time for the holidays – an opportunity for the crew to rest and recharge. PO2 Leggat said that she’s looking forward to relaxing and enjoying simple pleasures.
“It’ll be a relief to have quiet, a nice shower, and cozy home time.”
