Recent content by stoker dave

I consider my time spent serving on His Majesty's ships to be amongst the most interesting, challenging, difficult and rewarding aspects of my life. It was a marvellous learning experience in every way. In my short career I travelled a good part of the world.

Have you guys thought about the ENORMOUS cost of developing and maintaining a nuclear weapons program? This is not a trivial undertaking. For the sake of argument please tell me which defence projects you are willing to give up in order to fund a nuclear weapons program. In view of the...

As regards crewing new submarines, does anyone know if these boats will support 'mixed genders'? I sailed on ships that were about 15% female crewed and found that things generally worked out ok.

It is true that when fabricating components using certain types and grades of metals, there must be very strict material control procedures implemented to keep the 'wrong' kinds of materials out of the facility. I have encountered such facilities used for the fabrication of parts for the...

I work in the nuclear industry and have worked with quite a number of individuals who have come from the US Navy nuclear program. They were, all of them, excellent workers and extremely knowledgeable. The US nuclear navy program has an excellent history of performance. US navy reactors have...

I will speculate that any proposal to build a whole new shipyard, including wharves, docking facilities, etc. would trigger an environmental assessment (EA). That can easily take a decade (maybe two) with no guarantee at the end that the facility could actually be built. And if a new...

I never had a problem with the quality or quantity of food on board HMC ships. On long deployments, however, I found it became monotonous. Think of going to your favourite restaurant..... now go there three (or maybe four) times a day for four or five months straight.

It's been a while (decades) since I wore a uniform but was recently at some military events. Those events featured playing the royal anthem and quite a bit of deference to His Majesty the King. I'm not certain I could anymore swear loyalty to the King (to Canada, for sure!). I am not...

The VAC link above now includes an additional event for Ottawa: 4 March 2026 – 13h00 Documentary Viewing, Canadian War Museum Ottawa, Ontario Veterans Affairs Canada and the Canadian War Museum will host a viewing of the documentary Canada Remembers our Heroes: The First Gulf War – The War to...

I will add that, although it is some decades since I wore the RCN uniform, deployments were some of the best experiences of my life. They can be your greatest challenge and greatest reward.

Information for Ottawa events are now listed (link above) as follows: 3 March 2026 – 11h00 Wreath laying ceremony, Beechwood National Cemetery Ottawa, Ontario Beechwood Cemetery will hold a wreath laying ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of Operation Friction and the end of the Gulf War...

Notice from VAC: In February and March 2026, Veterans Affairs Canada, along with our partners, and the Persian Gulf Veterans of Canada, will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Gulf War with events in Halifax and Ottawa. Halifax: 26 February 2026 – 9h30, Commemorative ceremony, Royal...

I know a disturbingly high number of 20-somethings who seem to think that they can live with their parents indefinitely without the need to either work or go to school.

A billion years ago I was a navy reservist in Toronto. At that time, the ships available for training were old and outdated. I think both some newer kit for the Great Lakes sailors and perhaps some small and limited operational role (with lots and lots and lots of supervision and oversight)...

Do you really think that some other country would sell their nuclear weapons to Canada and give Canada full operational authority over those weapons? I think the liability to the vendor would be too large to accept. Please justify your position.