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Canadian Forces Maritime Command (MARCOM) is responsible for naval operations of the navy of the Canadian Armed Forces. MARCOM maintains fleets on the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, these being Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) respectively.
MARCOM is the descendant of the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) which was the name of Canada's naval service until February 1, 1968.
Navy bases and training centres
History since unification
Following unification on February 1, 1968 MARCOM undertook several changes to its force structure. The navy's sole aircraft carrier HMCS Bonaventure was nearing the end of its service life, being a World War II-era vessel. In the early 1970s it was decided to pay the Bonny off and not find a replacement, instead focusing on the traditional blue water navy.
Tribal class and patrol frigates
The fleet was enhanced in 1972 with the addition of the four new Tribal-class destroyer-helicopter (DDH) vessels, also known as the Iroquois class. By the mid-1970s the navy was looking at an entire new class of frigate-helicopter (FH) vessels to replace the aging Saguenay, Restigouche and MacKenzie classes. This design evolved into the "Canadian Patrol Frigate Program" which was promised by the government in the early 1980s during a period of increased military spending. By the late-1980s, with construction of the first six vessels underway (by now called the Halifax class), construction of a further six vessels was announced. Nine of the twelve CPF vessels were built at Saint John, New Brunswick, and the remaining three were built at Lauzon, Quebec.
TRUMP
The late 1980s also saw the "Tribal Update and Modernization Program" or TRUMP, which saw the four early-1970s Tribal destroyers updated into area defence destroyers. The TRUMP update saw these vessels become the first non-U.S. ships to carry the Standard-Arm antiaircraft missile.
Gulf War
MARCOM hurriedly modernized and deployed HMCS Terra Nova, a Restigouche-class destroyer-escort, along with HMCS Athabaskan and the supply ship HMCS Protecteur to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Shield and later Operation Desert Storm where these vessels were involved in escort duties of various coalition naval forces and non-combatants.
CPF and MCDV
In the mid-1990s, the patrol frigate program was winding down and most of the Restigouche, Saguenay, and MacKenzie class vessels were retired. Additional new vessels were entering service as the "Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Program" began delivering the new Kingston-class minesweeper and coastal patrol vessels which were being designed to be crewed by reservists from MARCOM's various naval reserve divisions across the country.
Upholder submarines
In the late 1990s the Canadian government made a deal with the United Kingdom to acquire four mothballed, state-of-the-art Upholder-class diesel submarines that were made surplus by the Royal Navy's decision to consolidate its submarine forces on the Trafalgar-class nuclear boats. The Upholders were considered too valuable and technologically advanced by the Royal and U.S. Navies to allow them to fall into the hands of a non-allied nation; therefore Canada was encouraged (through significant discounts) to acquire the Upholders.
The transaction included some reciprocal rights for British forces to continue using CFB Suffield for armoured unit training and CFB Goose Bay for low-level flight training, while Canada received four well-built and very lightly used high-tech diesel submarines to replace the 1960s-era Oberon class. After a costly update program which took longer than expected, along with several public and highly embarrassing equipment failures, the Upholders are being successfully reactivated following a decade of mothballing and are now being integrated into the Canadian navy as the Victoria class. Part of this deal will see MARPAC receive its first submarine in four decades and returning an active submarine presence to Canada's west coast.
Maritime helicopter replacement
Although aviation assets are the responsibility of Canadian Forces Air Command (AIRCOM) since unification, the political fiasco surrounding the maritime helicopter replacement has had a major impact on the ability of the Canadian patrol frigates to deliver their expected capabilities. In 1993 the Maritime Helicopter Program, which had selected the EH-101 Merlin as a replacement for the aging CH-124 Sea King, was cancelled by incoming Prime Minister Jean Chrétien in an infamous decision that dogged his government for over a decade. Chrétien did end up ordering 15 CH-149 Cormorants, a slightly cheaper version of the Merlin, for search and rescue services, however it took until July 2004 for a new replacement of the now-ancient Sea Kings to be announced (they will be replaced with the Sikhorsky S-92) with delivery expected to be completed by 2008-2010.
Supply ship replacement
In the late 1990s one of the fleet's three underway replenishment vessels, HMCS Provider, was paid off. The remaining two supply ships, HMCS Preserver and HMCS Protecteur, were showing their age and MARCOM began studies into a designing a new class of underway replenishment and naval sealift-capable vessels.
On April 16, 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin announced plans to purchase three new joint support ships to replace the Protecteur-class underway replenishment ships. In addition to supporting naval operations, the new ships will together be able to transport an army battle group, a capability Canada's navy has lacked since the departure of the light-carrier HMCS Magnificent in the late 1950s when she was used as a transport during the Suez Crisis.
Also under active speculation was the possibility that Canada would be looking at a 6-10 vessel replacement program for the Tribal-class destroyers, possibly involving the use of the U.S.-developed AEGIS radar system.
Current status
As of 2004, MARCOM operates a fleet of about 30 surface ships:
- 2 Protecteur-class underway replenishment ships
- 4 Iroquois-class destroyers
- 12 Halifax-class frigates
- 12 Kingston-class coastal defence vessels
- 4 Victoria-class submarines
- various minor tenders and auxiliaries
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