Icebreaking tug Polar Circle departs Halifax

The icebreaking tug Polar Circle has been laid up in Halifax for some time this fall, and finally departed the harbour for Boston this afternoon - her departure was perfectly timed for the 4:45 ferry to Dartmouth.

To get these photos of a moving ship from another moving ship, I stopped down to f/4 (the widest aperture for my 70-200mm lens) and I normally leave the camera set to auto-ISO - so in this case, the camera jumped the ISO up to between 5000 and 10,000 depending on the image. While not ideal, even the older Sony camera body that I use managed just fine with fairly natural looking grain at those levels.

Dawn Shipping Photos

It is that time of year when my commute to work often coincides with sunrise or other early morning lighting, and I managed to make a few nice images as a result in October and November.

ACL's appropriately named Atlantic Sun was departing Halifax one morning while I chased photos of the USS Gerald R. Ford.

Dynamogracht entering the harbour at sunrise.

ONE Hangzhou Bay entering Halifax Harbour at sunrise.

Unfortunately, the morning I was chasing the USS Gerald R. Ford, I didn't manage to get a spectacular sunrise image - this was the angle I received the morning that Atlantic Sun was leaving. 

Atlantic Sun departing off to the right with the USS Gerald R. Ford at left.

I tried to convince my editor at Warships IFR that he should include the following photo inside the magazine, and feature wording to the following effect on the cover: "USS Gerald R. Ford off the rails! Photos inside."

For some reason, he didn't go for it, but I thought it was a great idea. 

USS Gerald R. Ford "off the rails" as it were, pictured from the Dartmouth side. 

That said, a few mornings later, I did manage to get a sunrise shot from the Halifax side that I was happy with.

USS Gerald R. Ford at sunrise from Halifax.

Voyage into the High North

Part 1 of my story and the photography of my voyage into Canada's north in HMCS Margaret Brooke for three weeks in August 2022 is featured in the December issue of Warships IFR magazine. In addition, I contributed content on the ship's commissioning at the end of October plus the visit to Halifax of the USS Gerald R. Ford at around the same time.

My Margaret Brooke story is being spread across four issues - December, January, February, and March.

Already on shelves in the UK, the December issue should appear in Canada in the coming weeks, and the cover looks like this:

HMCS Moncton departure

HMCS Moncton was at anchor on Friday morning when I took the ferry across, and shortly started up her engines and headed out on the Halifax side of George's Island. I suspect she was headed out to escort in a USN submarine that arrived later than morning. 

Moncton is painted in a commemorative Second World War camouflage pattern similar to that worn by various Flower-class corvettes during that war. 

The sun had just come up before the ship headed out, and so most of my photos are backlit. If you look carefully, you can see CCGS Kopit Hopson 1752 in the background - she was underway from Irving's facilities at Woodside, and I suspect she swung her compass on the other side of George's Island from where I was standing.

Launch of the future HMCS William Hall

The fourth of six new AOPVs to be built for the Royal Canadian Navy, the future HMCS William Hall, was launched by Irving Shipbuilding on Sunday. I caught her being towed back to the shipyard after launching. Halifax Shipping News has photos of the actual launch process.

Only a week before, the ship was still on land and looking like she wasn't going anywhere fast.

Two slightly modified additional ships (making a total of eight) will be built for the Canadian Coast Guard, once the ships for the Navy are complete.

My Absence for most of 2022...

This year has been rather busy, hectic, and stressful for me for a number of reasons, and as a result I have not posted anything to this blog since January (and I was rather sporadic even before that). I don't know that this blog is going to be that much more active in the coming months, but I thought I would share a few things that I have been doing this year.

Tug and pilot boat Masik Viking follows Margaret Brooke out of the port of Nuuk in Greenland.

First of all, I was fortunate in August to be able to accompany the future HMCS Margaret Brooke as embedded media into Canada's northern waters - first along the shore of Labrador to Iqaluit and then, after a quick diversion over to Nuuk in Greenland, up into Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait before I finally disembarked in Pond Inlet. 

View from Pond Inlet at the western end of Baffin Island.

This trip was to support an article for Warships IFR magazine, and it will appear spread over four issues of the magazine starting with the December issue - which was released in the UK on November 18th and normally appears in Canada after the middle of the following month. I have been self-embargoing most of my images of naval equipment and personnel from that trip to avoid scooping the magazine, but I have been sharing my landscape (and seascape) photography via my various social media accounts as well as the travel section of my Smugmug website.

Crew line the side of the newly commissioned HMCS Margaret Brooke during the commissioning ceremony.

Several weeks ago, I also got to attend the commissioning ceremony for HMCS Margaret Brooke and a day later visited the visiting USS Gerald R. Ford as well as the Danish frigate HDMS Peter Willemoes. Some of these events will also result in pieces in the December issue of Warships IFR, but I may share some of the images and observations on this blog once I finish with the magazine contributions.

A Seahawk helicopter on the flight deck of the USS Gerald R. Ford.

In any case, while occasionally feel guilty for neglecting my blog, I have been exceptionally busy and figure that I have an excuse. Hopefully the winter months will provide some time to rectify the situation.

Final Voyage of CCGS Hudson

Commissioned in 1964 as Canadian Survey Ship (CSS) Hudson, she was the first dedicated hydrographic and oceanographic vessel built for Canada and served the Canadian Oceanographic Service until 1996 when she was transferred to the Canadian Coast Guard fleet to become CCGS Hudson. I have photographed this ship many times over the last 25 or so years.

Hudson transiting the narrows of Halifax Harbour at sunrise in March 2007.

A scan from film, probably in either the late 1990s or early 2000s.

Hudson returning from sea in April 2016.

Hudson in July 2021, fresh out of refit and looking like new.

Despite a recent refit that was intended to extend the ship's life until replacements could come online later in this decade, one of the ship's two electric motors that drive the ship suffered a catastrophic failure and has been deemed not worth repairing. The ship will therefore be retired and returned from St. John's, NL, to Halifax on her one remaining motor on what was her final voyage under her own power.

I managed to catch her return from the Macdonald Bridge this past Monday, January 24. She was escorted for at least a portion of her voyage by CCGS Sir William Alexander, who preceded Hudson and saluted the latter using her firefighting monitors, and the lifeboat Sambro and an inflatable also escorted her into the harbour.

 

Sir William Alexander showing off her firefighting monitors.

The first view of Hudson from the bridge.

Sir William Alexander leading Hudson.

Sir William Alexander leading Hudson.

CCGS Sir William Alexander.

Hudson with the escorting RHIB and lifeboat.

Hudson about to pass under the bridge.

Lifeboat Sambro.

With Hudson now gone, the Canadian Coast Guard will have a large gap in their research fleet until her replacement comes online.

For more coverage of Hudson's return, see Mac Mackay's Shipfax blog.