Photography in the Snow

 As a Trustee, I went to lunch in HMCS Sackville within the Dockyard on Friday during the first snowstorm of the year, and then decided to walk home after lunch via the bridge before going back to work from home. This provided some interesting photographic opportunities, all of which I decided to convert to high contrast black and white.

Sackville herself looked pretty in the snow.

HMCS Charlottetown alongside MV Asterix for refuelling.

Charlottetown and another frigate alongside in Dockyard during the snow.

The bridge itself similarly caught my eye.

The view from mid-span looking back towards Halifax.

Looking back towards Halifax from the Dartmouth bridge tower.

The views on the Dartmouth side of the bridge were also nice.

Windmill Road.

Shore Drive and the Harbour Pilot base on the Dartmouth shore.

Houses on Windmill Road.

Landscape view of Windmill Road.

It was a long slog across the bridge in the snow, but ultimately worth it for the photos.

RCN Imagery of 2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic curtailed my daily walk to work for much of 2020, and I didn't go into the office at all during the period of mid-March to mid-September. This greatly reduced my opportunities for photographing the ships of the Royal Canadian Navy in Halifax Harbour, as I didn't get my daily ferry ride. Nevertheless, I did manage to capture some of the comings and goings.

Two RCN ships are currently painted in Second World War camouflage schemes, including REGINA on the West Coast and MONCTON on the East Coast (pictured below).

Early in 2020, TORONTO was up on the Syncrolift for maintenance, and I took the opportunity to capture the ship in a variety of lighting conditions.

The depths of winter are usually favourable to capture sea smoke, and fortunately I caught at least one instance before I stopped travelling into the office. Below, M/V Asterix is seen at the new jetty intended for the Harry Dewolf-class ships.

HARRY DEWOLF herself started the year still alongside at Halifax Shipyard, but went on to pass a number of key milestones during 2020 in advance of her formal commissioning in 2021.

SUMMERSIDE underway before lockdown.

In June, SACKVILLE made an assisted sailpast of the waterfront, dressed overall in signal flags. Although not open to visitors, SACKVILLE went alongside in her customary berth on the waterfront near the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, and staff were available to interpret the ship from the shore. In addition, the ship went into refit in the autumn.

HARRY DEWOLF underwent sea trials over the summer in advance of being delivered to the Navy.

The RCAF's Cyclone helicopters resumed flying operations after the tragic crash in the Ionian Sea in April.

At the end of July, HMCS TORONTO departed Halifax to relieve FREDERICTON on NATO duty in Europe.

A few days later, FREDERICTON herself was led into Halifax by Bluenose II and HMCS ORIOLE.

HARRY DEWOLF was handed over to the Navy, and began the Navy's own set of sea trials. 

In September, with her mast already removed in advance of her upcoming refit, SACKVILLE hosted the committal ceremony for a number of veterans, including Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough (a victim of the April 2020 Cyclone crash) and the ship's own former CO, Jim Reddy.

Asterix returning to port:

Usually alongside at the dedicated AOPV jetty, I took the opportunity to get this shot of HARRY DEWOLF amidst the other ships in Dockyard on November 11th. 

Earlier trials presumably having gone well, HARRY DEWOLF ventured further afield and rounded Newfoundland, before I caught her on her return to Halifax.

I was lucky to capture FREDERICTON hoisting anchor and heading out of Halifax one day in early December.

After 193 days deployed, TORONTO returned to Halifax two days before Christmas. 

Most of these images, and more, can be found on my Smugmug website.

Starting in September, SACKVILLE entered a refit period at HMC Dockyard after being lifted out of the water on the Syncrolift, and being moved into the Submarine Maintenance Shed.

The current refit is seeing the existing hull plating recladded with new 1/4" steel plating below the waterline.

The refit is expected to last until April 2021, and it is expected that the recladding will buy the ship another 10 years while fundraising proceeds for future work that is required to reskin the entire hull below the waterline with new plating. The refit is being documented in photos here.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent

Since her relocation to St. John's in 2009, CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent is no longer a common sight in Halifax, and it has been several years since I last managed to take photos of her at all, let along underway in the harbour. Currently hard at work in the Cabot Strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence, the Louis had to pop into Halifax for fuel and possibly supplies and a crew change. Although disappointed on Monday when she headed straight to the Irving wharf to refuel, we got lucky on Tuesday as her up-harbour transit coincided with both sunrise and our ferry ride.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

Launched in 1966 and commissioned in 1969, the Louis is second in age in the Canadian Coast Guard fleet to only the CCGS Hudson. Originally built with a somewhat inefficient turbo-electric (steam) powerplant driving three shafts, intended to provided necessary experience to CCG crews in the event that Canada subsequently procured a nuclear-powered icebreaker, Louis received an extensive refit in Halifax between 1988 and 1993 that converted her to diesel-electric propulsion and provided her with a new, lengthened, bow with an air bubbler system.

This makes 2019 her 50th anniversary of beginning service in the CCG fleet.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

Louis was showing off with her starboard bubblers (the port ones didn't seem to be active) during her transit (either that or the bow thrusters which I believe she also has). I'd like to think it was solely for my benefit to make for more impressive photos, but they were probably just exercising the system. The bubbler system is used during ice breaking operations to reduce the friction between the hull and the ice being broken.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent meets the future HMC Ships Harry Dewolf and Margaret Brooke for what I believe may be the first time.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

CCGS Louis S. St. Laurent.

Classed as an "Arctic Class 4" or "Heavy Gulf" icebreaker, the Louis S. St. Laurent is currently Canada's largest and heaviest icebreaker (the smaller CCGS Terry Fox, also an "Arctic Class 4" vessel, was taken up in the 1990s from commercial service). She is due to be replaced by the "Polar Class 2" icebreaker CCGS John G. Diefenbaker sometime in the 2020s. Only time will tell if the Louis reaches 60 years of service before being replaced or otherwise taken out of service due to her age and condition.

Meanwhile, the Royal Canadian Navy is getting back into the Arctic business. Seen in some of the photos above are the first two Arctic Offshore Patrol Vessels (AOPV), the future HMC Ships Harry Dewolf and Margaret Brooke. These "Polar Class 5" vessels carry a much lighter polar rating than the CCG ships, and will likely be limited to summer service in the Arctic. They will also carry out offshore patrols in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. For more background on these ships, check out the March edition of Warships IFR magazine, for my article starting on Page 37 (probably available at Atlantic News or Chapters sometime in early April). The cover appears below.