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Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels
The Kingston-class Maritime Coastal Defence Vessels (MCDVs) are multi-role minor war vessels
with a primary mission of coastal surveillance and patrol including general naval operations and
exercises, search and rescue, law enforcement, resource protection and fisheries patrols.
Launched between 1995 and 1998, these ships are very flexible. Several types of mission specific
payloads can be added to allow for rapid role change from one mission type to another such as
a mechanical minesweeping system, a route survey system, and a bottom object inspection
vehicle.The 12 Kingston-class MCDVs are crewed primarily by Naval Reservists and are divided
equally between both coasts.
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| We see these ships every so often in Elliot Bay |
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| Displacement: | 970 t |
| Length: | 55.3 m (181.43 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.3 m (37.07 ft) |
| Draught: | 3.4 m (11.15 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Jeumont DC electric motors
4 × 600VAC Wärtsilä SACM V12 diesel alternators |
| Speed: | 15 kn (27.78 km/h) |
| Range: | 5,000 nmi (9,260.00 km) |
| Capacity: | 47 |
| Complement: | 31 to 47 |
Sensors and
processing systems: | Kelvin Hughes navigation radar (I-band)
Kelvin Hughes 6000 surface search radar (E-F band)
Global Positioning System
A towed high-frequency sidescan sonar
Remote-control Mine Hunting System (RMHS) |
| Armament: | 1 × Bofors 40 mm 60 Mk 5C cannon
2 × M2 Machine Guns |
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| Our guide is Leading Seaman Torkoff, |
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| Bofors 40 mm 60 Mk 5C cannon is a WWII era weapon, I asked our guide what it sounded like when it was fired, he said he had only been assigned to this ship one year and he has not heard or seen the weapon fired yet. So I found this Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65ZewIslLbA |
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| Still Manually operated |
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| but with Hydraulic upgrades |
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| Shell | Complete round: -
L/60 40×311mmR (1.57 in), L/70 40×364mmR |
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| Caliber | 40 mm L/60–70 (actual length varies from 56–70 calibers, based on model) |
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| Carriage | 522 kg (1,151 lb) |
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| Elevation | L/60: -5°/+90° (55°/s)
L/70: -20°/+80° (57°/s) |
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| Traverse | Full 360°
L/60: 50°/s
L/70: 92°/s |
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| Rate of fire | L/60: 120 round/min
L/70: 330 round/min |
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| Muzzle velocity | L/60: 881 m/s (2,890 ft/s)
L/70: 1,021 m/s (3,350 ft/s) |
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| Maximum firing range | L/60: 7,160 m (23,490 ft)
L/70: 12,500 m (41,000 ft) |
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| Lots of anchor road adds many tons to the bow weight, our guide said they never anchor. |
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| The OOW or Oficer on Watch has control over the bridge. |
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| a few exterior tools |
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| Most ships have outdoor helms to assist in close quarters maneuvering like docking. |
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| Same controls as the inside helm. |
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| 50 Caliber stationed on both sides of the bridge. |
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| I always thought these round devices were for ventilation but they actually disperse heat to defog the glass. |
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| The Inside Helm Station which is located behind the ships Positioning system which in this case is the Officer on Watch standing up front operating a complex compass and giving orders to the helmsman. Generally there are three crew operating the bridge. The Captains chair remains empty unless the Captain is on the Bridge. The Captain does not have authority over the bridge till the Officer on watch hands over the watch to him as in " The Captain has the watch" |
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| By way of this compass the Officer on Watch determines the course for the helmsman. |
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| For close encounters |
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| Better not be late. |
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| Bid D likes Ships! |
H.M.C.S. Brandon and Edmonton at Seafair
Two Royal Canadian Navy ships were docked just a few blocks from where we live in Seattle. The Admiral had already scouted out Fleet Week while I was in Texas and knew exactly where to go on our first morning visit to the waterfront. Due to having a Greatest Generation dad I have always enjoyed anything military and since the ordinary citizen has few opportunities to tour Military ships I was excited to learn all about these vessels that we see every now and then cruising South Puget Sound. HMCS stands for Her Majestys Canadian Ship. Do not really understand why the English royalty still has ties to the independent Nation of Canada but I guess a Canadian can explain that to you. Our guide was Leading Seaman Torkoff. I was interested in learning how to determine rank by the insignia these Seaman wore on there sleeves. Fortunately Wikipedia and other sources on the internet are helpful.
Seaman Torkoff mentioned that most of the ships in the Canadian Navy were in the 15-20+ year old range and that he had never served on a "new" ship.He said that they went on exercises with the US Navy and the US Navy had a 10 year old ship they were using as target practice, the Canadian Seaman were sad to be shooting up a ship they would be happy to have in their Navy! He went on to say that the US navy has more ships in the bone yard over in Bremerton than the entire Canadian Navy has in operation. their primary weapon on board is a WWII era 40mm Bofors Cannon. Cool to look at though. I think another reason this Seaman longed for one of the US Navy retired ships is that due to the Hull design of these Coastal Defense Vessels they are not very sea kindly and they sometimes run all they way down the South American Coast on Drug missions so they sometimes experience a rough ride. One piece of technology that he was proud to talk about was the ability of the electronics to "Cloak" the vessel as anything but a Military vessel to other ships in the area like posing as a fishing vessel on the AIS system. these guys were proud to be Canadian Navy men and made subtle references to differentiate themselves from the US NAVY.
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