There was a fair amount of Navy traffic this week, including an ever elusive submarine. Unusually, I will start with a photo taken in Lunenburg, where the French Navy's Saint Pierre et Miquelon patrol vessel FULMAR was tied up at the Lunenburg Foundry wharf.
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| FNS FULMAR (P740). |
On Tuesday, HMCS ST. JOHN'S timed her departure perfectly to coincide with my ferry trip to work, and I got some nice shots of her as we ducked around her stern.
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| HMCS ST. JOHN'S. |
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| HMCS ST. JOHN'S. |
As ST. JOHN'S was departing the harbour, Halifax's largest cruise ship visitor to date Anthem of the Seas was arriving for another visit. I will display some more images of the latter ship later, but when looking at this shot of the two ships together I can't help but be reminded of the scene in the James Bond movie "The Spy Who Loved Me" where the nuclear submarine is swallowed up by the much larger oil tanker.
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| ST. JOHN'S and Anthem of the Seas. |
HMCS WINDSOR (SSK 877) was busy this week, and departed and returned to Halifax multiple times, even taking out some Members of Parliament during one of her trips. I'm obviously in the wrong career!
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| HMCS WINDSOR passing the lighthouse on Georges Island. |
I was excited upon first siting WINDSOR on Wednesday, as she was running her diesels, and had the tell-tale condensing exhaust plumes streaming out behind her. Diesel-electric submarines like WINDSOR use their diesels to recharge their batteries, which in turn power the electric motors that move the submarine and power other equipment. After passing the lighthouse on McNab's Island, however, the diesels must have been shut down. Just imagine how much better the shot above would have been if she hadn't? Actually you don't have to, because on Friday I caught her again in roughly the same location.
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| HMCS WINDSOR running her diesels. |
Unfortunately, Friday was overcast, and didn't have the nice dawn sky for a background. Maybe next week?
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| HMCS WINDSOR. |
While on the subject of WINDSOR running her diesels, I might as well dig up these 10 year old shots of WINDSOR transiting the narrows on her way to Bedford Basin.
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| WINDSOR in May 2006. |
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| WINDSOR in May 2006. |
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| WINDSOR in May 2006. |
Finally, some news on fleet disposals. HMCS PRESERVER moved south in the Dockyard this week. She will be paid off for the last time on Friday October 21. While still in commission, she has been stranded alongside for around 2 years, pretty much relegated to serving as a fuel barge.
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| HMCS PRESERVER on week prior to being paid off. |
The former HMCS IROQUOIS will also soon be moving, when she leaves Halifax for the last time. It was announced this week that Iroquois will be heading for Liverpool to be broken up alongside ex-HMC Ships ALGONQUIN and PROTECTEUR, the former a sistership.
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| HMCS IROQUOIS in 2007. |
Commercial traffic was also busy this week, and October is usually one of the busiest months for cruise ships. Wednesday saw at least 5 cruise ships, although two were rather small, and one had overnighted from Tuesday.
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| From left to right, Victory I, Pearl Mist, Crystal Serenity, and Zuiderdam. |
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| Victory I, Pearl Mist, and Crystal Serenity in the background with Chebucto Pilot to the far right. |
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| Victory I and Zuiderdam. |
Speaking of Chebucto Pilot, I captured a nice image of her passing Georges Island, with sunlight reflected from a Halifax building illuminating her port side.
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| Chebucto Pilot. |
Even without being part of a dastardly plot to capture HMCS ST. JOHN'S, Anthem of the Seas is an impressive sight. She is apparently the fourth largest cruise ship in the world (for now, anyway).
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| Anthem of the Seas. |
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| Anthem of the Seas. |
Serenade of the Seas seems small by comparison.
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| Serenade of the Seas. |
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| Serenade of the Seas. |
On Tuesday, Common Venture was at anchor after receiving fuel from Algoma Dartmouth.
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| Common Leader. |
Veteran Atlantic Conveyor was threading her way out through the narrows, on what is probably one of her last trips before heading to the breakers.
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| Atlantic Conveyor. |
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| Nolhanava. |
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| Coriolis II is the former CCGS John Jacobson. She was tied up at the former Dartmouth CCG base, which is now slated to become an ocean research facility. |
