The
Kingston Class is the Canadian Navy's most recent addition to the fleet.
Nine of a planned twelve Kingston Class Coastal Defense Vessels have been
commissioned to date. HMCS Kingston (MM 700), HMCS Glace Bay (MM
701), HMCS Shawinigan (MM 704), HMCS Goose Bay (MM 707), and HMCS Moncton
(MM 708) are based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The remaining ships in
service, HMCS Nanaimo (MM 702), HMCS Edmonton (MM 703), HMCS Whitehorse
(MM 705) and HMCS Yellowknife (MM 706) are based in Esquimalt, British
Columbia.
The Kingston Class is a multipurpose vessel whose primary role is coastal surveillance and patrols. They are equipped with state of the art communications and engineering systems, and have the capability of producing high-quality sidescan sonar imagery that will assist in the detection and classification of mines. They have been constructed using commercial design and construction standards.
The ships are diesel electric with four Wartsila UD 23V12 diesels. They are designed to operate primarily in Canadian waters, and have crews of 36, mainly reservists.
On March 30, 1998, HMCS Saskatoon (MM 709) was launched and begins its trials working up to its commissioning into the fleet which is scheduled for December 5, 1998. HMCS Moncton (MM 708) is also on trials with a planned commissioning set for July, 1998. HMCS Brandon (MM 710) was launched on July 10, 1998, while the final ship in the class, HMCS Summerside which had its keel laid on March 28, 1998, was subsequently launched on September 26, 1998.
Of these ships yet to be commissioned, Moncton and Summerside will eventually be based in Halifax, with Saskatoon and Brandon heading for Esquimalt.
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