HMCS Charlottetown homeward bound

By Lieutenant-Commander Mike Davie
Photos by Cpl Robert LeBlanc

One hundred and eighty-nine days can pass in a blur. HMCS Charlottetown is now approaching the end of her six-month deployment on Operation ALTAIR (Roto 3), and it seems like just yesterday we sailed out of Halifax harbour.

Perhaps it’s the brisk operational tempo — Charlottetown was at sea conducting maritime security operations on 116 of her 133 days in the US CENTCOM area of responsibility. That’s 87 percent of her time in theatre, the highest operational tempo in Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, the coalition fleet engaged in the campaign against terrorism in the Arabian Sea-Persian Gulf region.

In that time, Charlottetown contributed significantly to deterrence of terrorism and other threats to maritime security — illegal migration, bootlegging and drug-running, for example — that harm legitimate commerce in the Gulf region. And because terrorism is a global problem, our efforts in the Gulf region also contributed significantly to security in Canada.

Charlottetown earned a reputation among the operational commanders as a “go to” ship . If something had to get done, Charlottetown would go out and do it and then look around for more. Due to this pattern of hard work and initiative, Charlottetown received five important leadership opportunities to coordinate efforts to locate and track vessels of interest, or provide the coalition presence required to deter and disrupt terrorist activities at sea and thus promote regional security and stability.

At the beginning of the deployment, Charlottetown integrated quickly into the USS Harry S Truman Strike Group, and was part of the aircraft carrier’s escort force not only during the eastbound voyage but also in the Persian Gulf while the Truman launched a series of air strikes in Afghanistan to support the International Security Assistance Force.

The main business of CTF 150 is maritime security operations in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the waters around the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the southern and central Persian Gulf. Of the nine boardings conducted by teams from Charlottetown, three resulted in the discovery of illicit cargo in vessels with ties to terrorism: 2,000 smuggled cases of beverage alcohol in one case; in the second case, a vessel carrying 4.3 tonnes of narcotics, the largest such discovery recorded in the region and the first by a coalition warship since 2005; and in the third case, another drug-smuggler with 1.7 tonnes of narcotics aboard. A measure of Charlottetown’s effectiveness came toward the end of the tour, when the crew of a known smuggler with links to terrorism jettisoned its cargo before the boarding team arrived. Total seizures by the coalition fleet during Charlottetown’s deployment came to 15.28 tonnes of narcotics and 10,536 bottles of alcohol with an estimated street value of more than $300 million. Who knows how much of that would have gone to finance terrorism?

While Charlottetown was in the Gulf of Aden, she tracked five boats carrying illegal migrants, of which three were later apprehended by the Yemeni Coast Guard. In the same area, the bulk carrier MV Adriatic Sea indicated a threat from three nearby skiffs and Charlottetown’s quick action and presence thwarted a potential act of piracy. When the French luxury yacht Le Ponant was seized and held for ransom off Somalia, the CH-124 Sea King helicopter despatched from Charlottetown obtained imagery revealing the presence of armed pirates and the state of the crew.

Incidentally, Charlottetown’s Sea King logged more than 500 flying hours in theatre and will reach 600 flying hours before returning to Halifax. This is an exceptional record that the Air Department worked very hard to achieve.

The constant patrolling of maritime security operations means that coalition ships are sometimes in the right place at the right time to prevent a tragedy. During this deployment, Charlottetown rendered assistance to three vessels in distress, providing food, fuel and technical help and thus saving the lives of 25 sailors.

With more than 3,600 queries and 103 approach operations, Charlottetown led CTF 150 in maritime security operations, winning local hearts and minds while establishing the coalition presence, gathering intelligence and providing security and stability in the region.

During this deployment, Charlottetown conducted multi-national coalition interoperability exercises and operations with warships, ship-borne helicopters and maritime reconnaissance patrol aircraft from Australia, Bahrain, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Pakistan and the United States. She also conducted port visits in Egypt and Israel on behalf of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

With her “can do” attitude and tireless crew, Charlottetown consistently demonstrated what a Canadian warship can accomplish when given the opportunity. Her activities have raised awareness among regional and coalition partners of the trade in illicit cargo, which has gone unchecked for years. During this deployment, it became obvious that the mere presence of warships does not deter acts of piracy.

Charlottetown may be heading home, but Canada’s work in this volatile, complex part of the world continues. The next deployment on Operation ALTAIR is already under way, with a three-ship task group comprising Her Majesty’s Canadian ships Iroquois, Calgary and Protecteur led by Commodore Bob Davidson with his flag in Iroquois. Cmdre Davidson will command CTF 150 from June until September 2008.