Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship St. John’s sails to Operation REASSURANCE.

Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) St. John’s, and her crew of 240 personnel of all ranks, officially joined Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) on Jan. 11.

The ship is on its way to the Mediterranean Sea as part of Canada’s commitment to NATO’s assurance and deference measures in Central and Eastern Europe under Operation REASSURANCE.

“I am confident that HMCS St. John’s will continue to build upon HMCS Charlottetown’s accomplishments by providing a highly versatile and robust ship capable of full spectrum operations. Our highly skilled and professional ship’s company are ready and eager to work with our NATO allies to strengthen international and regional stability,” stated Commander Sheldon Gillis, Commander HMCS St. John’s in a statement.

HMCS St. John’s travels with its Enhanced Naval Boarding Party and a CH-124 Sea King helicopter air detachment.

“The deployment of HMCS St. John’s demonstrates Canada’s continued leadership on the world stage by making meaningful and enduring contributions to NATO by performing different tasks ranging from participating in exercises to intervening in operational missions, throughout the region,” according to a press release from the Department of National Defence/ Canadian Armed Forces.

The ship is replacing HMCS Charlottetown, which is returning to home port, Halifax, on Jan. 13 after a six-month deployment to Operation REASSURANCE.

During the course of its deployment, the HMCS Charlottetown travelled 35,907 nautical miles, visited 17 ports in 10 countries and further developed its interoperability with 14 NATO navies.

Featured image: Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) St. John’s departs jetty NB for OP REASSURANCE on 09 January, 2017 at Halifax Dockyard, Canadian Forces Base Halifax, Nova Scotia.©DND 2017 Photo: LS Peter Frew, Formation Imaging Services Halifax HS04-2017-0001-013