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More than a hundred naval personnel joined city officials at the Windsor riverfront Tuesday morning to greet and honour HMCS Harry DeWolf, one of Canada’s newest naval vessels.
Part of a month-long deployment in Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, the ship docked at Dieppe Gardens on Monday and will be opening its decks to the public on the weekend.
“It’s always an exciting time when a ship, like a new warship, gets a chance to go to a city we haven’t been to before,” HMCS DeWolf commander Jon Nicholson told reporters following Tuesday’s ceremony.
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“This is the first time that any ship in this class has had an opportunity to go into Lake Erie, let alone Windsor.”
The arctic and offshore patrol vessel (AOPV), measuring 103 metres long with a 19-metre beam, loomed over Dieppe Gardens. It carries up to 87 crew members and is capable of reaching speeds of 17 knots — equivalent to about 31 kilometres per hour.
Mainly used to conduct sovereignty and surveillance operations in Canadian waters on all three ocean coasts, the vessel embarks on a counter-narcotics mission in the Caribbean early next year.
Ahead of its journey through the Great Lakes — with stops in Kingston, Toronto, and Hamilton before reaching Windsor — the naval vessel carried out a successful Arctic search and rescue mission.
“It was very special to us to be able to render assistance like that,” said Lt.-Cmdr. Lisa Jensen — the ship’s second-in-line — who began her naval career at HMCS Hunter in Windsor about 25 years ago.
During that mission, Jensen said the HMCS Harry DeWolf crew rescued four Canadian and four Japanese citizens who were stranded in the Northwest Passage.
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As one of the vessel’s three crew members hailing from the Windsor area, Jensen described the visit by her current ship as a “full circle” moment.
“It’s really special for me to be able to give some of my close friends and people at HMCS Hunter and Windsor a chance to see the ship, tour the ship, and ask us questions about what we do,” she said.
The vessel is the first in its class of ship to be named after a prominent Canadian naval figure.
Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf, a native of Bedford, N.S., was decorated for outstanding service throughout his naval career, which included wartime command of HMCS St. Laurent from 1939-40 and later his 1943-44 command of HMCS Haida, known as the “Fightingest Ship in the RCN.”
“HMCS Harry DeWolf is named after a naval hero,” said Nicholson.
“That man eventually went on to become commander in the Royal Canadian Navy. I think there was no better man they could have named the first of this great class of heroes.”
HMCS Hunter is the Windsor division of the Canadian naval reserve, which celebrated its centennial in 2023. One of 24 naval reserve divisions in Canada, HMCS Hunter currently has about 130 members. The majority train or work as reservists for the navy in the evenings, weekends and summer in preparation to deploy or respond to emergencies at home or abroad.
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On Wednesday, a citizenship ceremony will be held aboard the HMCS Harry DeWolf from 10 a.m. to noon.
The HMCS Harry DeWolf’s Windsor stop also aims to connect visitors with recruitment opportunities with the Royal Canadian Navy.
“We get to see the world,” said Jensen.
“I’ve been all over the Mediterranean. I’ve been to Europe, I’ve been to Central and South America, and of course, through the Great Lakes and into the Arctic. I think its an incredible experience.
“We get to not only train sailors and work towards our naval commitments, but on occasion, we get to actually make what I feel is a really big difference.”
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Public tours of the HMCS Harry DeWolf are scheduled this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The ship’s visit coincides with the 2024 Marine Careers Expo, Friday and Saturday at the HMCS Hunter naval reserve building at 90 Mill St.
The ship is scheduled to sail for Leamington on Sunday at 2 p.m.
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