Halifax on Display
Check out this great overhead of the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Halifax (FFH 330), at the time flagship of Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2), during Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean, 30 August 2019.
Note her “HX” helicopter deck identifier, roughly amidships Harpoon cans, VLS Sea Sparrow 4-packs next to the Harpoons, 57mm Bofors hood ornament, assorted small boats in three different sizes, and her hangar-mounted CIWS. Canadian Forces Photo RP24-2019-0034-007 by Corporal Braden Trudeau, Formation Imaging Services
Commissioned 29 June 1992, the lead ship for the 5,000-ton Halifax-class frigates is optimized for ASW, carrying a hull-mounted sonar, two twin Mark 32 Mod 9 torpedo tubes, and a magazine for 24 Mk 46 torpedos to feed both the tubes and an embarked CH-148 Cyclone helicopter. For AShW, she has 8 Block II Harpoons while her anti-air/missile defense is limited to 16 verticle-launched ESSM Sea Sparrows, a Phalanx Block 1B CIWS, and a 57mm Bofors Mk3. Still, for her intended mission, the class has a great layout and it is too bad the U.S. Navy doesn’t have 30 of these in lieu of littoral combat ships.
Halifax returned to Canada yesterday morning, finishing over six months underway as the flag for Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1).