Queenston-class auxiliary vessel

The Queenston class of ships will be based on the Berlin-class replenishment ship
Class overview
Name: Queenston class
Builders: Seaspan Marine Corporation
Operators:  Royal Canadian Navy
Preceded by: Protecteur class
Planned: 2-3
Completed: 0
General characteristics
Type: Auxiliary vessel
Displacement: 20,240 tonnes
Length: 173.7 m (569 ft 11 in)
Beam: 24 m (78 ft 9 in)
Height: 17.5 m (57 ft 5 in)
Draught: 7.6 m (24 ft 11 in)
Installed power: 2 × MAN 12V32/40 (2 x 7,200 kilowatts (9,700 hp))
Propulsion:
Speed: 20 knots (37 km/h)
Range: 16,000 kilometres (9,900 mi)+
Endurance: 45 days
Complement: 139 (+ 94)
Armament:
Aircraft carried: 2 x Sikorsky CH-148 Cyclone
Aviation facilities: Hangar and flight deck

The Queenston class is a class of naval auxiliaries for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN).[1] The class began as the Joint Support Ship Project, a Government of Canada procurement project for the RCN that is part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. It will see the RCN acquire two multi-role vessels to replace the Protecteur-class auxiliary oiler replenishment (AOR) vessels currently operated by the RCN.[2]

The project has suffered from considerable delays. Originally announced in 2004, a contract for the construction of these ships was to have been signed in 2009 which would have seen the first vessel available for operational service in 2012. In 2010 the federal government grouped the Joint Support Ship Project under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy which was finalized in October 2011. Currently the federal government is in contract negotiations with the winning proponent Seaspan Marine Corporation for building the Joint Support Ship Project and several other non-combat ship procurements for the RCN and the Canadian Coast Guard.

On 2 June 2013, it was announced that ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems Canada's Berlin-class AOR was selected as the design for the Joint Support Ship Project.[3][4]

In order to speed construction of the Queenston-class naval auxiliaries, the delivery of the new polar icebreaker, CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, will be delayed until the 2020s.

Class name

On 25 October 2013, the Minister of National Defence announced the JSS has been named Queenston class with two ships named, HMCS Queenston and HMCS Châteauguay.[5] Their namesakes are the Battle of Queenston Heights and the Battle of Châteauguay, two battles during the War of 1812. A possible third ship in the class could be built, to be named HMCS Crysler's Farm, also named after a battle from the War of 1812.[6]

Purpose

The Joint Support Ship Project consists of 2–3 multi-role vessels that will replace the underway replenishment capability of the Protecteur-class auxiliary vessel, as well as provide basic sealift for the Canadian Army, support to forces ashore, and command facilities for a Canadian Forces "joint force" or "naval task group".[7]

The Joint Support Ship Project should not be confused with the Amphibious Assault Ship Project, which is another separate procurement project also under consideration by the Royal Canadian Navy; planning for the Amphibious Assault Ship Project is at a much earlier stage.

Proposed ship capabilities

The Joint Support Ship Project envisions several multi-role vessels capable of supporting the Royal Canadian Navy's warships at sea, as well as providing strategic sealift and some airlift for naval task groups or army operations. The vessels will have a multi-purpose covered deck with the ability to carry up to 10,000 tonnes of ship fuel, 1,300 tonnes of aviation fuel, 1,100 tonnes of ammunition as well as 1,000–1,500 lane metres of deck space for carrying vehicles and containerized cargo. The vessels will also have hospital facilities as well as a large helicopter deck with two landing spots, hangar space for four helicopters, and a roll-on/roll-off deck for vehicles onto a dock.[8]

Ship particulars
Survivability
Sealift
Airlift

Vessels will be designed with double or triple hulls for storage of petroleum products, unlike the current Protecteur class single-hull vessels.

Joint headquarters support

Project timeline

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Pugliese, David (25 October 2013). "Joint Support Ships to Be Named HMCS Queenston and HMCS Châteauguay". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  2. Canadian Forces, Future Canadian Amphibious Assault Ship and Joint Support Ship Archived June 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. Backgrounder: Joint Support Ship Design Decision Archived June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. McKnight, Zoe (3 June 2013). "Navy adopts German design to be built in North Vancouver". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  5. "Names chosen for the Royal Canadian Navy's new Joint Support Ships". Government of Canada. Royal Canadian Navy. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  6. Pugliese, David (8 April 2016). "Royal Canadian Navy picks a name for a third Joint Support Ship". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  7. "Canada to build 2 Joint Support Ships". Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  8. "Canada’s C$ 2.9B "Joint Support Ship" Project, Take 2". Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  9. ""Naval plan 'hare-brained'," The Halifax Chronicle-Herald, 2 Feb 07". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved February 2, 2007.
  10. Joint Support Ship Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  11. http://web.archive.org/web/20120306044059/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/todays-paper/Somnia/1696153/story.html. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. Ships still on drawing board Archived September 27, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  13. Weese, Bryn (14 July 2010). "Canadian Navy moves forward on new supply ships". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  14. Tutton, Michael (14 July 2010). "Navy to buy two new support ships for $2.6 billion". The Star (Toronto). Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  15. Fowlie, Jonathan; Berthiaume, Lee; Hiltz, Robert; White, Marianne (20 October 2011). "Jubilation greets $8-billion shipbuilding contract for B.C.". The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  16. "National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy Secretariat announces Vancouver Shipyards to build the Joint Support Ships in 2016". Government of Canada. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  17. Pugliese, David (26 September 2015). "Canada To Lease Commercial Vessel To Refuel Navy Ships". www.defensenews.com (Tegna). Retrieved 24 October 2015.

External links

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