Tweet
WAR GAMES
U.S., Canadian navies to sink warship
SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail
May 14, 2007
VICTORIA -- The Canadian warship HMCS Huron is scheduled to be blasted by a barrage of cannon, machine gun and missile fire today before the final, star-spangled torpedo blow is delivered from a U.S. submarine, lurking 100 kilometres west of Vancouver Island.
The sinking is part of Trident Fury, 12 days of thundering Canadian-U.S. war games that will mark the first time that Canadian Forces have been able to fire missiles at an actual vessel within domestic waters, said Lieutenant-Commander Mark MacIntyre, a Maritime Forces Pacific spokesman.
"When you have a real ship, it's a great training opportunity," LCdr. MacIntyre said from the Esquimalt naval base. "There was lots of interest from the U.S."
In fact, U.S. military muscle plays another key role.
Its naval reserve fleet tug USS Navajo will tow the Huron from Esquimalt to the battle scene, a 48-hour journey.
It cost $4.4-million to clean up and prepare the Huron for sinking to 2,000 metres below sea level. The overall cost for the Trident Fury 2007 exercise has not been determined, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
Until this year, Canadian Forces have had to travel to U.S. waters if they wanted to fire missiles, LCdr. MacIntyre said. This year, the Forces were given permission from various Canadian agencies to use a large area of the Pacific, west of Tofino, for a military exercise in which a make-believe Communist dictatorship and a democratic republic battle it out while a third country, sympathetic to the Communists, keeps a watchful eye.
Starting a week ago and continuing until Friday, a U.S. attack sub, eight warships, 40 aircraft (including one Australian fighter jet) and more than 2,000 military personnel will drop bombs, fire cannons and pick off pilotless planes with radar-guided or heat-seeking missiles.
Operating 24 hours a day, Trident Fury's focus is air defence and anti-submarine warfare.
The nuclear-powered U.S. sub, one of almost 75 in that country's fleet, is being used because Canada's single West-Coast-based submarine, the HMCS Victoria, is being upgraded and won't be in service for at least a year, said Canadian Forces spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Gerry Pash.
Canada's remaining three subs are based in Halifax.
Trident Fury operations are in the vicinity of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Mariners and airplane pilots have been notified to stay away from the exercise area, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
However, a woman who spotted a newborn orca whale off the San Juan Islands, east of the southern tip of Vancouver Island, about three weeks ago, is concerned what effect Trident Fury will have on marine life.
"This is huge. It sounds like it has the potential to be very disruptive," said Anna Hall, a zoologist who works for a Victoria-based whale-watching business.
The infant orca, and its 25-member J-Pod family, travel great distances and could possibly be in the area.
Migratory grey and humpback whales are also moving through the region, as well as hard-to-see dolphins, porpoises and sea lions, Ms. Hall said.
The noise generated by Trident Fury is the biggest concern, particularly since sounds are five times louder in water than on land, said Ken Wu, Western Canada Wilderness Committee spokesman.
Very loud sounds can cause whales to beach themselves, effect their ability to navigate and cause tissue damage to marine mammals, he said.
An extensive survey of marine life in the exercise area was completed by the Canadian Forces. If animals are seen, either by individuals specifically designated to keep watch during the exercise, or by sonar, operations will cease, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
"If we spot a whale, we take that pretty seriously," he said, adding that every form of life below the surface can't be tracked.
U.S., Canadian navies to sink warship
SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail
May 14, 2007
VICTORIA -- The Canadian warship HMCS Huron is scheduled to be blasted by a barrage of cannon, machine gun and missile fire today before the final, star-spangled torpedo blow is delivered from a U.S. submarine, lurking 100 kilometres west of Vancouver Island.
The sinking is part of Trident Fury, 12 days of thundering Canadian-U.S. war games that will mark the first time that Canadian Forces have been able to fire missiles at an actual vessel within domestic waters, said Lieutenant-Commander Mark MacIntyre, a Maritime Forces Pacific spokesman.
"When you have a real ship, it's a great training opportunity," LCdr. MacIntyre said from the Esquimalt naval base. "There was lots of interest from the U.S."
In fact, U.S. military muscle plays another key role.
Its naval reserve fleet tug USS Navajo will tow the Huron from Esquimalt to the battle scene, a 48-hour journey.
It cost $4.4-million to clean up and prepare the Huron for sinking to 2,000 metres below sea level. The overall cost for the Trident Fury 2007 exercise has not been determined, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
Until this year, Canadian Forces have had to travel to U.S. waters if they wanted to fire missiles, LCdr. MacIntyre said. This year, the Forces were given permission from various Canadian agencies to use a large area of the Pacific, west of Tofino, for a military exercise in which a make-believe Communist dictatorship and a democratic republic battle it out while a third country, sympathetic to the Communists, keeps a watchful eye.
Starting a week ago and continuing until Friday, a U.S. attack sub, eight warships, 40 aircraft (including one Australian fighter jet) and more than 2,000 military personnel will drop bombs, fire cannons and pick off pilotless planes with radar-guided or heat-seeking missiles.
Operating 24 hours a day, Trident Fury's focus is air defence and anti-submarine warfare.
The nuclear-powered U.S. sub, one of almost 75 in that country's fleet, is being used because Canada's single West-Coast-based submarine, the HMCS Victoria, is being upgraded and won't be in service for at least a year, said Canadian Forces spokesman Lieutenant-Commander Gerry Pash.
Canada's remaining three subs are based in Halifax.
Trident Fury operations are in the vicinity of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.
Mariners and airplane pilots have been notified to stay away from the exercise area, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
However, a woman who spotted a newborn orca whale off the San Juan Islands, east of the southern tip of Vancouver Island, about three weeks ago, is concerned what effect Trident Fury will have on marine life.
"This is huge. It sounds like it has the potential to be very disruptive," said Anna Hall, a zoologist who works for a Victoria-based whale-watching business.
The infant orca, and its 25-member J-Pod family, travel great distances and could possibly be in the area.
Migratory grey and humpback whales are also moving through the region, as well as hard-to-see dolphins, porpoises and sea lions, Ms. Hall said.
The noise generated by Trident Fury is the biggest concern, particularly since sounds are five times louder in water than on land, said Ken Wu, Western Canada Wilderness Committee spokesman.
Very loud sounds can cause whales to beach themselves, effect their ability to navigate and cause tissue damage to marine mammals, he said.
An extensive survey of marine life in the exercise area was completed by the Canadian Forces. If animals are seen, either by individuals specifically designated to keep watch during the exercise, or by sonar, operations will cease, LCdr. MacIntyre said.
"If we spot a whale, we take that pretty seriously," he said, adding that every form of life below the surface can't be tracked.