HMCS Montréal (FFH 336)

The Halifax-class frigate design, emerging from the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project, was ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1977 as a replacement for the aging St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie, and Annapolis classes of destroyer escorts, which were all tasked with anti-submarine warfare.[4] Montréal was ordered in December 1987 as part of the second batch of frigates.[5][6] To reflect the changing long-term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the Halifax-class frigates were designed as general purpose warships with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.[4]

As built, the Halifax-class vessels displaced 4,750 long tons (4,830 t) and were 134.65 metres (441 ft 9 in) long overall and 124.49 metres (408 ft 5 in) between perpendiculars with a beam of 16.36 metres (53 ft 8 in) and a draught of 4.98 metres (16 ft 4 in).[5][7] That made them slightly larger than the Iroquois-class destroyers.[5] The vessels are propelled by two shafts with Escher Wyss controllable pitch propellers driven by a CODOG system of two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, generating 47,500 shaft horsepower (35,400 kW) and one SEMT Pielstick 20 PA6 V 280 diesel engine, generating 8,800 shaft horsepower (6,600 kW).[7]

This gives the frigates a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph) and a range of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) while using their diesel engines.[5][7] Using their gas turbines, the ships have a range of 3,930 nautical miles (7,280 km; 4,520 mi) at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph). The Halifax class have a complement of 198 naval personnel of which 17 are officers and 17 aircrew of which 8 are officers.[7]

Montréal was laid down on 8 February 1991 by Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd. at Saint John and launched on 28 February 1992. She was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 21 July 1994 by Francine St-Pierre and carries the hull classification symbol FFH 336.[3] In January 1995 Montréal joined the NATO mission in the Adriatic Sea enforcing the United Nations blockade of Yugoslavia.[3][10] Twice she acted as the flagship of the force before returning to Canada on 19 July 2005. In 1997 as part of an experiment to reduce noise, the warship had 12,500 anechoic tiles added to her hull. The experiment was not successful. As part of a NATO fleet in 1998, Montréal sailed to Saint Petersburg, Russia as part of celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. The frigate represented Canada in the Millennium International Fleet Review in New York City.[3]

In July 2000, the American merchant ship GTS Katie refused to bring its Canadian military cargo into port, claiming unpaid fees. On 30 July, the Canadian Forces sent the destroyer HMCS Athabaskan to maintain contact with the rogue ship and deployed Montréal the following day. As part of Operation Megaphone, a detachment of personnel was sent over by CH-124 Sea King to board Katie. The crew of the merchant ship offered no resistance and the ship was escorted into port.[11] The captain of the ship later claimed that the ship had been attacked and the boarding had been "dangerous".[11][12] The Canadian Defence Minister later rebuffed those charges, claiming the boarding had been necessary.[13]

In 2002, Montréal sailed to take part in Operation Apollo,[14][15] Canada's naval contribution to the War in Afghanistan. Arriving on 9 September the frigate remained in theatre until 25 April 2003.[16] The warship had remained longer than usual in theatre due to a crash of a CH-124 Sea King aboard her replacement, the destroyer HMCS Iroquois.[17] In 2004, the frigate sailed to the Arctic, becoming the first major Canadian warship to visit the region since 1982.[18] In January 2005, Montréal deployed as part of a NATO rapid reaction force.[17] On 8 February 2005 a crewmember was lost overboard and subsequently pronounced dead.[19]

The warship participated in Operation Nanook in 2010.[20] In 2010 Montréal engaged in acceptance trials for the new CH-148 Cyclone maritime helicopter. Several modifications had to be made for the trials to the ship, including adding night-vision friendly green filters to the flight deck landing lights and reinforcing the flight deck due to the Cyclone being heavier than the CH-124 Sea King.[21] Montréal successfully completed the tests which included routine flying operations as well as responding to some critical situations.

Montréal with USCGC Eagle in 2011

On 3 July 2011, as part of their national Canadian tour, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge embarked on the vessel which conveyed them from Montréal to Quebec City.[22] In August, Montréal sailed up the St. Lawrence Seaway into Lake Ontario as part of Great Lakes Deployment 11 where she visited multiple cities including Toronto, Hamilton, Montréal, and Trois-Rivières.[23] On 5 July 2012, Montréal was turned over to Irving Shipbuilding's Halifax Shipyards, to start an 18-month mid-life upgrading and modernization (HCM/FELEX). Montréal re-joined the fleet after completing the Halifax Class Modernization refit on 26 September 2013.[24] Subsequently, Montréal conducted sea trials for her new combat and weapons systems.[25] Montréal achieved Restricted Readiness on 9 May 2014. After further Sea Acceptance Trials and Work Ups, Montréal assumed Normal Readiness on 9 March 2015, being the fifth post-refit frigate to achieve this milestone.

Trois-Rivières port, Mauricie, May 2017. The crew of HMCS Montréal were deployed to participate in flood relief efforts.

In late 2015, Montréal deployed for a large NATO naval exercise, Joint Warrior. On completion of this exercise, Montréal participated in "At Sea Demonstration 2015" (ASD 2015), a multinational exercise that took place off the Hebrides Islands of Scotland in October 2015. The exercise was conducted under the Maritime Theater Missile Defence Forum (MTMD), an international group that aims to improve maritime integrated air and missile defence capabilities within a coalition context.[26] While on exercise during a port visit in Faslane, Scotland, Montréal hosted an official royal visit by Prince Charles who was recently appointed as Commodore in Chief of the Royal Canadian Navy's Atlantic Fleet. Montréal returned to Halifax on 27 November 2015.[27]

The ship participated in further sea trials with the CH-148 Cyclone helicopters off the coast of Nova Scotia in March 2016.[28] In April it was announced that Montréal and sister ship Fredericton would be the test ships for the Royal Canadian Navy's planned reduced crew size trials.[29] On 24 October 2016, Montréal began her first deployment after conversion to an experimental ship.[30] In May 2017, 120 of the crew were deployed in the Mauricie region of Quebec to participate in flood relief efforts.[31] In August 2017, Montréal and the Kingston-class coastal defence vessels HMCS Kingston and HMCS Moncton departed Halifax to take part in the Operation Nanook in Canada's northern waters.[32]

On 19 January 2022, Montréal left Halifax to join SNMG2 as part of Operation Reassurance.[33] She returned to Halifax following the completion of her deployment on 15 July 2022.[34] On 26 March 2023, the frigate and the supply ship Asterix left Halifax on a deployment to the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific region.[35] On 3 June, the People's Liberation Army Navy warship Suzhou cut across the bow of USS Chung-Hoon while the American destroyer was transiting the Taiwan Strait together with Montréal; the closest point of approach was 140 metres (150 yd).[36]

First of Name
Shore establishment
Naval Reserve Division, Montreal, Quebec
Commissioned as a tender to HMCS Hochelaga II 1 November 1941
Recommissioned as an independent shore establishment 1 September 1942
Paid off 26 October 1943 and redesignated HMCS Donnacona[1]

Second of Name
HMCS Montreal (K319)
Frigate, River Class
Commissioned 12 November 1943
Paid off 15 October 1945[1]

Third of Name
This is the current ship with the name Montréal

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