Harbour Photos this Week: October 24-28

Riding in HMCS SACKVILLE back to the Dockyard (covered in a separate post) was definately the high point of my week, photography wise, but there were a few other things to catch my camera's attention. I will start with some incidental photos taken during SACKVILLE's transit.

HMCS ATHABASKAN as viewed from SACKVILLE upon returning to the Dockyard.

HMCS ATHABASKAN as viewed from SACKVILLE upon returning to the Dockyard.

Ex-HMCS IROQUOIS awaiting disposal.

On Tuesday, there was some more naval action when ATHABASKAN and ST. JOHN'S left to participate in Exercise Spartan Warrior. 

HMCS ATHABASKAN.

HMCS ATHABASKAN.

HMCS ST. JOHN'S.

HMCS ST. JOHN'S recovering a RHIB.

Wednesday I was in meetings in Dartmouth, and didn't get to see what was in the harbour, but on Thursday the French Navy's offshore patrol vessel BOUGAINVILLE departed. She had been visiting the Dockyard for the week.

FNS BOUGAINVILLE.

FNS BOUGAINVILLE.

FNS BOUGAINVILLE.

In a relatively rare occurence, there were two cruise ships overnighting on the seawall on Thursday, and the Port of Halifax was kind enough to tweet this news to area photographers. I didn't get the best photos, but here they are:

AIDAmar in the foreground, with the NSPI headquarters to the right.

Carribean Princess and AIDAmar on the seawall Thursday night.

There were also some interesting sunrises and other cloud effects this week, two of which I captured and will show here.

Imposing clouds over the two harbour lighthouses on Tuesday afternoon.

Maple Leaf flag flying from the stern of CSS Acadia.

I will finish with a photo that wasn't taken this week, but which I finally got around to processing this week.

Carnival Sunshine and Amadea arriving on October 21.

Photos this week: September 19-23

I don't have much time to write today, so I'll just share some of the photos I took this week around the harbour.

Norwegian Gem arriving in the fog on Monday morning.

If you look closely, you can see HMCS SUMMERSIDE sneaking in behind Norwegian Gem.

Norwegian Gem turned 180 degrees before coming alongside.

A large crane on a barge has been stored on the Dartmouth shore next to the Macdonald Bridge. It looked particularly interesting in the fog on Monday.

Bluenose v2.5 was in port this week, and the calm harbour on Monday made for nice reflections.

The Navy was also busy this week too, starting on Monday when GOOSE BAY and SUMMERSIDE emerged out of the fog. The Navy's paint scheme blends well into the fog, and I had to resort to manual focus for many of these shots, as there was not enough contract to use the autofocus. 

HMCS GOOSE BAY.

HMCS GOOSE BAY passing the George's Island lighthouse.

The fog thickened up a little bit before SUMMERSIDE could make her way in.

Friday provided two special treats, with GOOSE BAY and SUMMERSIDE anchored in formation at dawn, and HMCS ST. JOHN'S being hoisted on the Syncrolift for maintenance.

GOOSE BAY and SUMMERSIDE at dawn.

The Syncrolift was originally built to handle the OBERON class submarines purchased for the RCN in the 1960s, and there was originally a tent-shaped shed that the subs could be rolled into for long term maintenance and refits. In the mid-1980s, the Syncrolift itself was upgraded to handle up to 6000 tonne "NATO" frigates, and it could then handle the destroyers of the day. With the purchase of the VICTORIA class submarines in the late 1990s, the old shed was no longer big enough, and while the Syncrolift platform could lift the new subs, it could not support them to be rolled inshore as the VICTORIA class have a larger load density (e.g. higher tonnes per length) and the inshore portion of the platform (and associated winches) had to be upgraded once again. Around the same time, the sub shed itself was torn down, and replaced with the new structure shown in the photos below which can handle the VICTORIA class.

Blocked up on the Syncrolift, ST. JOHN'S is hoisted out of the water. 

The blocking under the ship has to be fairly tall in order to accommodate the ship's propellers, which draw considerably more water than the hull. If you look closely, you can see some of the old blue antifouling paint peaking out from underneath the current black colour. Prior to the blue, I believe a grey colour was used. You could probably write a short paper on the procession of different colours of antifouling paint used by the Navy over the years. 

The heaviest part (or greatest load density) of the ships and subs is the middle part of the ship, and the platform and winches under that portion of the ship have to be able to handle the larger load. You can see the smaller winches on the harbour side, with larger winches located under the ship's funnel (and machinery spaces). 

I got a good chuckle when I zoomed in on images of what I presume is one of hte Navy's boarding teams heading out on Friday, with several members holding what appeared to be Tim Horton's cups in their hands.