The ship is joining Standing NATO Maritime Group One in the North Atlantic Ocean, and the Mediterranean and Baltic seas.
On its second deployment under Operation Reassurance, HMCS Charlottetown replaces HMCS St. John’s, which arrived in its home port of Halifax on July 17 after six months.
“The highly trained and professional ship’s company is well prepared to meet the challenges of this mission,” said Cmdr. Jeff Hutt of HMCS Charlottetown.
“HMCS Charlottetown is committed to further increase the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to work alongside our allies, contribute to enhancing NATO readiness, and help strengthen international and regional stability.”
Quick facts
• HMCS Charlottetown is a Halifax-class frigate with a crew of approximately 240 personnel of all ranks, including an Enhanced Naval Boarding Party and a CH-124 Sea King helicopter air detachment
• The Enhanced Naval Boarding Party provides a relatively new capability for the Royal Canadian Navy that is used in support of maritime interdiction operations
• HMCS Charlottetown’s deployment is part of a range of military activities undertaken by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to support NATO assurance and deterrence measures through the provision of military capabilities for training, exercises, demonstrations and assigned NATO tasks and demonstrates Canada’s commitment to promote security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe
• During its first deployment in support of Operation Reassurance, HMCS Charlottetown conducted maritime security operations and joint NATO training exercises between June 2016 and January 2017, in the North Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean, Aegean and Baltic Seas as part of Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2).
• The Standing NATO Maritime Groups are multinational, integrated maritime forces made up of vessels from various Allied countries. These vessels are made available to NATO to perform different tasks ranging from exercises to operational missions. They also help to establish Alliance presence, demonstrate solidarity, conduct routine diplomatic visits to different countries, support partner engagement, and provide a variety of maritime military capabilities to ongoing missions
• Commander Jeff Hutt, from Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, has served in the CAF since 1998. After his initial naval training, he was assigned to HMCS Charlottetown and was twice deployed with the ship to the Arabian Sea. On board HMCS Athabaskan, he served in Operation Hestia, Canada’s response to the earthquake in Haiti. He was Chief of Staff to the Commander of Naval Reserves in Quebec City from July 2015 to December 2016
• Operation Reassurance refers to the military activities undertaken by the CAF since 2014 to support NATO assurance and deterrence measures in Eastern and Central Europe, aimed at reinforcing NATO’s collective defence and demonstrating the strength of Allied solidarity
