Navy to potentially create training ships on great lakes

[PuckChaser]

This is shocking to me that RCN hasn't thought of this before. I'm sure there's a ton about seamanship can be learned navigating the Lakes, especially Superior if you want them tested in difficult weather. Would be an amazing recruiting tool for a huge amount of the population to see HMCSs near their homes who may have never thought about sailing before.

 

[Stoker]

Orca, or Orca like training vessels on the great lakes makes a degree of sense, when we have 250+ NWO who can't get ship time. There would be numerous challenges such as berthing, maintenance, shore accommodation to name a few, but these are not unsolvable. The addition of being able to conduct NRETS more centrally is also very attractive.

You mean they can't their sea time on the Oriole?

 

[Kirkhill]

All joking aside, it would have to be berthed in Lake Winnipeg. There would be few options for periodic maintenance. The operating window would be Jun-Oct, which is shorter than on the great lakes. Travel and TD for any permanent crew would be excessive. Gimli looks close, but it's not. It would be better if CHW were equipped with a top notch bridge simulator which could be used for NRETS. There is enough real estate in the building for it to stand in for the rest of the ship. There is also an MDTU which could be used for MarTech training.

And don't forget Tecumseh. It can access the Glenmore Reservoir.

 

[Master Jack Carter]

I have had two postings to CFB Esquimalt, and the ORCA Class are awesome! They are used to train Junior Navy Officers at the Naval Officer Training Centre (NOTC) based at the former 3 PPCLI Barracks location. I highly suspect that land based Reserve Navy Bases in Quebec City, which is the Naval Reserve Command HQ, and others in Central Canada that all are close to St Lawrence River and the Great Lakes will have higher recruiting numbers. From a cost saving perspective, it makes sense. Instead of having to fly sailors to the West Coast to CFB Esquimalt, they can operate the ORCA's in the St Lawrence River and Great Lakes. Sailors on leave can drive home to nearby Quebec or Ontario, and not have to fly across the country from the West or East Coast. Cost of Living in Halifax and Victoria is very bad right now. Victoria is the third most expensive city to live in the world, behind only Tokyo, Japan, and London, England. CFHA just bought an entire 37 unit Condominium Complex in nearby View Royal near CFB Esquimalt so personnel can live in a modern complex. The Base Barracks at CFB Esquimalt Naden are rotting and moldy and all have to be replaced. The ORCA Class ships are based on an Australian Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Platform, and were modified to be shorter and faster for Canada, built by SEASPAN Victoria ahead of schedule and under budget. I got a day cruise on one, they will become very good recruiting tools when Central Canada Ontario and Quebec potential Recruits see them sailing around. I used to see them every day at CFB Esquimalt Naden and on the Colwood side during my Kayak Paddles in the harbour, and they are actually a Sexy Ship. Submariners posted to CFB Esquimalt Subs are mostly tasked to work on the ORCA's supporting NOTC Training.

HMCS CATARAQUI right beside the front gates of CFB Kingston and HMCS MONTCALM, which is the location of the Naval Reserve Command in Quebec City are the two locations being considered as the Operating Bases. CFB Valcatrez (Valcartier) and CFB Kingston both have numerous barracks for Sailors, and can build more. The Canadian Coast Guard operating already on the Great Lakes, now a Department of National Defence Asset, has very large operations to work on ships for routine maintenance and VLE or Vessel Life Extension Programs. It's already a GO.

 

[OldSolduer]

This is shocking to me that RCN hasn't thought of this before. I'm sure there's a ton about seamanship can be learned navigating the Lakes, especially Superior if you want them tested in difficult weather. Would be an amazing recruiting tool for a huge amount of the population to see HMCSs near their homes who may have never thought about sailing before.

The lake it is said never gives up her dead…

 

[Master Jack Carter]

Isn't there a joint US/Canada patrol system involving the coast guard, RCMP and various US agencies . . . ofh wait, that was in the good old days.

FJAG, Joint Task Force Pacific (JTF-P) still operates a huge program with DEA, Homeland Security (ICE), CIA, US Coast Guard patrolling within one of the largest Anti-Drug and Anti-Human Smuggling Operations in North America. I did the last five years 2017 - 2022 on the West Coast, and is always busy for the RCN, and CANSOFCOM. The St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes are fantastic places to close up the gaps coming into Canada and out of Canada by shipping routes for ORCA Class and the incoming Super Corvettes known to the Sheep and in the media as the Canadian Multi Mission Corvette, replacing the outgoing Kingston Class MCDV or Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels. The Multi-Billion Dollar Stolen Truck and SUV Industry that is sending them out by ships from Canada to International Black Markets in Sea Containers from the Great Lakes and through the St. Lawrence River to sea is one of the many Black Markets that are going to eventually fear the sight of an ORCA or Super Corvette pulling them over for a sea inspection of cargo. It is no longer about just the Arctic, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, but also our Interior Waters with Ocean Access.

 

[Czech_pivo]

This is shocking to me that RCN hasn't thought of this before. I'm sure there's a ton about seamanship can be learned navigating the Lakes, especially Superior if you want them tested in difficult weather. Would be an amazing recruiting tool for a huge amount of the population to see HMCSs near their homes who may have never thought about sailing before.

Have you ever been on Lake Erie when the wind starts blowing hard from the west? It can be brutal and unforgiving.

https://www.accuweather.com/en/winter-weather/rare-seiche-to-cause-hurricane-like-storm-surge-on-lake-erie/1838559

Gale warning issued with 6-metre waves expected on Lake Erie​

Gale warning issued with 6-metre waves expected on Lake Erie

A gale warning is now in effect for eastern Lake Erie as Fort Erie faces hazardous wind and wave conditions that threaten shoreline safety and visibility. Environment Canada is forecasting gale force winds that will escalate through Wednesday and create 6-metre waves off Fort Erie, with occasiona

forterieradio.ca

Because of its west-east setting and its shallowness, Lake Erie can be a very dangerous place very very quickly.