Image source: topwar.ru
The Royal Canadian Navy will soon acquire the fourth patrol ship of the Arctic zone, at the Irving Shipbuilding shipyard in Halifax, a solemn ceremony was held for the launching of the Harry DeWolf-class icebreaker HMCS William Hall (433), built in the interests of the country's Navy.
The ceremony took place last Sunday, November 27, the patrol icebreaker was loaded onto a semi-submersible barge and towed to the Bedford Basin near the Halifax Shipyard, where its completion and retrofitting will take place.
HMCS William Hall (433) is the fourth patrol ship in a series of six ships of the Arctic zone (Arctic Offshore Patrol Ship), after the lead HMCS Harry DeWolf (430), the first and second serial HMCS Margaret Brooke (431) and HMCS Max Bernays (432), which have already joined the Canadian Navy.
The ship is named after Petty Officer William Hall, the first black resident of Nova Scotia and the third Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross for his participation in the siege of Lucknow in India, on November 16, 1857 during the Indian Uprising.
AOPS have a displacement of 6440 tons, their length is 103 m, width is 19 m. Equipped with diesel-electric power plants. Speed up to 17 knots. The range at an average speed of 14 knots is 6800 nautical miles. The ship can overcome ice one meter thick at a speed of three knots. The autonomy of a separate ship in Arctic waters is four months. The crew is 65 people. The main task of such ships is surveillance and reconnaissance, protection of sovereignty, control of the situation in the exclusive economic zone of the state, search and rescue operations.
The ship is armed with a BAE MK38 25 mm automatic cannon and two M2 Browning machine guns. There are places to accommodate the CH-148 helicopter and two boats.
