HMCS Yellowknife
 HMCS Yellowknife (MM 706) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Canada
| |
| Name: | Yellowknife |
| Namesake: | Yellowknife, Northwest Territories |
| Builder: | Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax |
| Laid down: | 7 November 1996 |
| Launched: | 5 June 1997 |
| Commissioned: | 18 April 1998 |
| Homeport: | CFB Esquimalt |
| Identification: | 706 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Kingston-class coastal defence vessel |
| Displacement: | 970 tonnes |
| Length: | 55.3 m (181.43 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.3 m (37.07 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.4 m (11.15 ft) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 15 kn (27.78 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nmi (9,260.00 km) |
| Capacity: | 47 |
| Complement: | 31 to 47 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
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| Armament: |
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HMCS Yellowknife is a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel that has served in the Canadian Forces since 1998.
Yellowknife is the seventh ship of her class which is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project. She is the first vessel to use the designation Yellowknife in the Royal Canadian Navy.[1]
Yellowknife was laid down on 7 November 1996 at Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax and was launched on 5 June 1997. She was officially commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 18 April 1998 at Esquimalt and carries the pennant number 706.[2]
She is assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) and is homeported at CFB Esquimalt.
Design
The Kingston-class coastal defence vessel was conceived to use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment and construction techniques in a ship designed to military specifications. The construction of the design required the building of partially outfitted steel block units, which were assembled into larger blocks and those blocks were integrated into the ship. The decks were assembled upside down with pre-outfitting of the underside of the deck prior to installation on the ship. The ship is outfitted with a degaussing system from Power Magnetics and Electronic Systems.[3]
Kingston class vessels are designed to carry up to three 6.1-metre (20 ft) ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads.[4]
Armament and Sensors
Kingston-class vessels are outfitted with a Bofors 40 mm 60 mk5C rapid fire gun, and two 12.7mm machine guns. The ships are equipped with one of three modular mine countermeasures systems: the deep sea Thales MMS mechanical mine sweeping system, the route survey system or the Sutec remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mine inspection system.[3]
The navigation equipment installed in Kingston-class vessels are a Kelvin Hughes I-band navigation radar and a global positioning system. The surface search radar is the E to F-band Kelvin Hughes 6000.[3]
Propulsion
The ship is equipped with four main Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines which are coupled to four alternators (600 V AC). Two Jeumont electric motors (±740 V DC) provide power to the two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters which are fitted with fixed-pitch reversing propellers. The propulsion system provides 15 knots (28 km/h) maximum continuous speed. The range at the economical cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h) using two engines is 5,000 nautical miles (9,000 km) with a 20% margin in tank capacity. Mechanical minesweeping is carried out at 8 knots (15 km/h). The crash stop length is five ship lengths from a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h).[3]
Service history
Yellowknife, accompanied by Winnipeg, Calgary and Brandon, departed in October 2014 to take part in San Francisco Fleet Week and the Task Group Exercise with the US Navy in American coastal waters.[5] Following those exercises, Yellowknife and Brandon deployed as part of Operation Caribbe, completing their tour on 4 December.[6]
References
- Citations
- ↑ "Volume 2, Part 1: Extant Commissioned Ships - HMCS Yellowknife". Official Lineages. National Defence and the Canadian Forces. 7 July 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ Macpherson and Barrie, p.304
- 1 2 3 4 "Kingston Class Coastal Defence Vessels, Canada". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- ↑ Saunders, Stephen (ed.) (2008). Jane's Fighting Ships 2008–2009. Jane's Fighting Ships (111th ed.). Surrey: Jane's Information Group. p. 95. ISBN 978-0-7106-2845-9. OCLC 225431774.
- ↑ "HMCS Calgary, Winnipeg, Brandon and Yellowknife set sail for U.S. exercise". Defence Watch. Ottawa Citizen. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
- ↑ Pugliese, David (4 December 2014). "Canadian military concludes annual contribution to Operation CARIBBE 2014". Defence Watch (Ottawa Citizen). Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- References
- Macpherson, Ken; Barrie, Ron (2002). Warships of Canada's Naval Forces 1910-2002 (3 ed.). St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-55125-072-1.
External links
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