Navy conducts exercises in the Port of Prince Rupert with new vessel

The Royal Canadian Navy showed off its newest vessel during training exercises in the Port of Prince Rupert on Sept. 29.

A crew of 87 cruised into the port waters on the brand-new arctic and offshore patrol ship, the HMCS Harry DeWolf, just before 9 a.m. to pick up Rear Admiral Angus Topshee.

The navy conducted Force Generation Activity (training) for junior officers. The supervised crew were trained in ship navigation, focusing on collision regulations and interacting with other seafaring vessels.

“Going into a harbour, or out of a harbour, isn’t something that we take lightly,” Cmdr. Corey Gleason told The Northern View.

“We take a whole bunch of junior people and put them into positions that require some supervision. So, emergency steering positions, diving the ship on the helm, throttle positions and putting a junior navigator in charge of the navigation and supervised by my own navigator,” Gleason said.

In addition to exercises for the large patrol ship, crews received training on multi-role rescue boats, newly added the Canadian navy. Sailors learned how to safely navigate the smaller boats in an obstacle-filled harbour. The rescue boats have a large range allowing them to travel more than 160 km away from the main ship.

The sailors’ training actually began at 4 a.m. in order to conduct in-the-dark training. After more than two hours in the harbour, the HMCS Harry DeWolf left Prince Rupert waters and sailed for Vancouver where it will stop for two days before continuing on to the Panama Canal and complete its circumnavigation of North America in Halifax N.S.

READ MORE: Navy’s newest patrol ship to visit the Port of Prince Rupert on maiden voyage