Charlottetown tackles Sea Shield

Polish Navy frigate ORP Gen. Kociuszko follows astern of HMCS Charlottetown in the Black Sea. Photo by Cpl Blaine Sewell, DND

Lt(N) Bill King, HMCS Charlottetown ~

HMCS Charlottetown participated in Exercise Sea Shield in the Black Sea with its Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) consorts, Standing NATO Mine Counter-Measures Group Two (SNMCMG2), and maritime assets from other partner states, July 19 to 22.

More than 14 warships, 10 aircraft, and one submarine from seven NATO countries and one partner state participated in the exercise, which focused on strengthening and developing common procedures for maritime operations including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, and mine clearance operations.

“Exercise Sea Shield was an opportunity for NATO allies and partner state navies to develop proficiency, confidence, and trust during joint operations,” said Commander Andrew Hingston, SNMG2 Task Unit Two Commander, and Commanding Officer of Charlottetown. “There is no substitute for exercising directly with our allies in terms of developing interoperability.”

Charlottetown provided support in all warfare disciplines, but the ship’s most notable contributions were to maritime interdiction operations and anti-submarine warfare.

The ship employed one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s first enhanced naval boarding parties. The highly-trained team of boarding specialists supported a boarding event that included the search and seizure of a merchant vessel.

Charlottetown also participated in several anti-submarine warfare exercises during which the crew demonstrated their proficiency at detecting, tracking, and attacking submarines hidden beneath the ocean.

SNMG2 is an allied task group of high-readiness maritime assets from NATO countries that responds to a variety of operational contingencies in Central and Eastern Europe and around the world.

Charlottetown has been serving with SNMG2 since late June when it replaced HMCS Fredericton.

This exercise was part of Charlottetown’s deployment on Operation Reassurance, Canada’s contribution to NATO assurance and deterrence measures in Central and Eastern Europe.