By David Dunlop, 3 January 2022
Here is an article reported by the Canadian Press (CP). In an interview with CP on 29 December 2021, the Commander of the RCN, Vice-Admiral Craig Baines, described the Halifax-class frigates as "starting to show their age with replacements years away". According to Vice-Admiral Baines, there have been at least 10 fires on board the frigates, along with power outages, since 2018 -- and this does not include the recent fire on HMCS Fredericton. Vice-Admiral Baines also stated that the first Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC) frigate is not scheduled to be delivered for at least 10+ years and that an investment for the Halifax-class will need to be made soon to keep them in the "right state of readiness". He could not provide an estimate on how much money would be needed to keep the class running but it may be in the billions of dollars over the next 10+ years.
2 thoughts on “The Aging Halifax-class Frigates”
Of course the Halifax Class are showing their age and replacements are years away. This is not exactly news. What is disturbing is the seeming linking of the fires to the fact the Halifax Class are older. Thankfully most of the fires were of a minor nature and caused by either human error such as the Fredericton Fire, or just plain bad luck. Fires do happen even to new ships and most of the time we don’t hear about them because they are such a minor nature such as fuel leaking on a hot manifold, they happen. It’s the training we receive that mitigate the effects. Power outages are rare but they do happen, luckily the RCN is installing new CAT diesel generators on the Halifax Class.
Hello Retired RCN. “Of course the Halifax Class are showing their age and replacements are years away”. That statement may not be news to most RCN personnel, however when it is finally admitted by the head of the RCN, and the number of increasingly disturbing fires have occurred more frequently over the past few years indicates the serious problem the RCN is having…that is news to most Canadians. Fires aboard any ship is a serious incident no matter if it’s “human error” or the age of the ship. There is no such thing as “just bad luck” as you say when it comes to shipboard fires or power outages; just old or inferior equipment and/or poor management. I would say that the government was to blame for the latter. They knew about the DGs but either ignored the RCN or just hoped it would “go away”. The CAT DGs are probably a good replacement for the Halifax class however I’m not sure how effective the four Rolls Royce MTU DGs for the CSC Frigates will behave. Are they better than the CAT DGs? The only thing we both agree on is the excellent on-going FF training the crews are given, from the CO on down to the newest sailor and the costs of keeping the Halifax class “up to snuff” over the next 10+ years.