Busy time on F Jetty

A view of Colwood’s crowded ‘F’ Jetty on Dec. 6. The western end of Esquimalt Harbour was home to five commissioned ships of the Royal Canadian Navy with Halifax-class frigates HMCS Winnipeg and HMCS Regina to the left, and to the right of the Jetty Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels HMC Ships Brandon, Edmonton, and Yellowknife. A fuel barge from the Auxilliary Fleet is in the foreground. Photo by Peter Mallett, Lookout

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

It was a rare full house of Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships at Colwood’s F Jetty for a few days last week, with five commissioned vessels of the Royal Canadian Navy berthed there.

The tenants were Halifax-Class frigates HMCS Winnipeg and HMCS Regina joined by Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels HMC Ships Edmonton, Brandon, and Yellowknife from Dec. 6 to Dec. 8.

It’s the first time in decades this many commissioned vessels have been alongside at the western end of Esquimalt Harbour, says Ian Wiggs Harbour Control Officer for Port Operations and Emergency Services Branch. Wiggs is one of the people who directs ship traffic through his two-way radio and has a bird’s eye view of the entire harbour from the control room in dockyard’s Queen’s Harbour Master building.

“I am a former naval reservist and began my time here at CFB Esquimalt back in 1981,” says Wiggs. “I and a few others around the department have been racking our brains and we honestly can’t recall another moment when there were that many ships at F Jetty. Although, the five Bay Class Minesweepers did berth at D Jetty on a regular basis.”

On Dec. 5, Regina defueled some fuel to F Jetty and Winnipeg fuelled the rest of Regina’s fuel the next day. The Colwood-side of the base is also home to the fuel farm and refuelling and defueling operations are regularly done from this location.

Starting Dec. 13, all five MCDVs will occupy F jetty south until early January to ensure that one duty watch of four personnel, instead of eight personnel looking after two nests of ships, can maintain duty watches during the holiday season.