Name Glace Bay Laid down 28 April 1995 Construction started 28 April 1995 Length 55 m | Commissioned 26 October 1996 Identification MM 701 Launched 22 January 1996 Draft 3.4 m | |
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HMCS Glace Bay is a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel that has served in the Canadian Forces and Royal Canadian Navy since 1996. Glace Bay is the second ship of her class which is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the second vessel to use the designation HMCS Glace Bay. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and is homeported at CFB Halifax.
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Design and description
The Kingston class was designed to fill the minesweeper, coastal patrol and reserve training needs of the Canadian Forces, replacing the Bay-class minesweepers, Porte-class gate vessels and Royal Canadian Mounted Police coastal launches in those roles. In order to perform these varied duties the Kingston-class vessels are designed to carry up to three 6.1-metre (20 ft) ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads. The seven module types available for embarkation include four route survey, two mechanical minesweeping and one bottom inspection modules.
The Kingston class displace 970 long tons (990 t) and are 55.3 metres (181 ft 5 in) long overall with a beam 11.3 metres (37 ft 1 in) and a draught of 3.4 metres (11 ft 2 in). The coastal defence vessels are powered by four Jeumont ANR-53-50 alternators coupled to four Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines creating 7.2 megawatts (9,700 hp). Two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters are driven by two Jeumont CI 560L motors creating 3,000 horsepower (2,200 kW) and the Z drives can be rotated 360°. This gives the ships a maximum speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) and a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph).
The Kingston class is equipped with a Kelvin Hughes navigational radar using the I band and a Kelvin Hughes 6000 surface search radar scanning the E and F bands. The vessels carry an AN/SQS-511 towed side scan sonar for minesweeping and a Remote-control Mine Hunting System (RMHS). The vessels are equipped with one Bofors 40 mm/60 calibre Mk 5C gun and two M2 machine guns. The Kingston-class coastal defence vessels have a complement of 37.
Service history
The ship's keel was laid down on 28 April 1995 by Halifax Shipyards Ltd. at Halifax, Nova Scotia and was launched on 22 January 1996. Glace Bay was commissioned into the Canadian Forces at Sydney on 26 October 1996 and carries the hull number MM 701.
In 1997, the coastal defence vessel deployed to the Great Lakes. Following the crash of Swissair Flight 111, Glace Bay was among the vessels sent to search for the downed aircraft in September 1998. The following year, she was sent to the Baltic Sea to participate in minesweeping exercises with NATO.
In November 2009, the Canadian trials for the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle unmanned aircraft system were performed aboard Glace Bay.
In June 2013, Glace Bay and sister ship Kingston were sent on a seven-week tour of the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes, making several port calls along the way. In 2014, she was deployed to serve in Operation Caribbe. During the ship's deployment, in collaboration with the United States Coast Guard, the vessel seized a large shipment of cocaine valued at $84 million.