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Wednesday, Wednesday,January January18, 18,2012 2012 -- OAK OAK BAY BAY NEWS NEWS
Warship’s crew returning with ‘incredible’ tales HMCS Vancouver expected to return to CFB Esquimalt in midFebruary
“At night it’s almost like fireworks. The rocket fire would light up the sky at night and you could see explosions, and even during the day you would see the puffs of black smoke.”
Erin McCracken News staff
Watching the battle for Libya unfold before their eyes won’t be a memory hundreds of military personnel aboard an Esquimaltbased navy warship will soon forget. HMCS Vancouver is now heading home to CFB Esquimalt from the Mediterranean Sea, where it patrolled the Libyan coast with NATO allies last fall, and later hunted for terrorists in the politically fragile region. As rockets fired into the night along Libya’s coast last October, Vancouver’s crew marked the progress made by advancing Libyan interim government forces. Moammar Gadhafi forces finally fell in late October. “A lot of people fortunately don’t see this (type of conflict) every day,” the ship’s captain, Cmdr. Brad Peats, told reporters by phone from aboard Vancouver last week. “At night it’s almost like fireworks. The rocket fire would light up the sky at night and you could see explosions, and even during the day you would see the puffs of black smoke. “We understood the gravity of the situation that was going on there.” The frigate left CFB Esquimalt last July, carrying about 250 people, including an air crew and Sea King helicopter from 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Pat Bay.
– HMCS Vancouver Cmdr. Brad Peats
That operation ended Oct. 31, but the work didn’t. The Canadian government announced it would maintain a presence in the politically charged region until the end of 2012, as part of the counter-terrorism mission, known as Operation Active Endeavour. HMCS Charlottetown, from Halifax, will take up where Vancouver leaves off. Vancouver’s long-term deployment, which touched the four corners of the Mediterranean Canadian Forces photo Sea, cost about $1.4 million a HMCS Vancouver is coming home next month after its mission in the Mediterranean Sea. month. Peats credited his crew for their hard “Being over there, and certainly during “Over three patrols totalling 58 days Vancouver travelled the Libyan coast, from Operation Unified Protector, I’ve no doubt work, and said everyone is now looking forward to seeing loved ones. Tobruk to Tripoli, conducting operations that Vancouver ... saved lives.” “You can see it in the crew’s faces that In fact, the ship’s crew collected intelsuch as escorting mine sweepers, boarding vessels of interest and gathering informa- ligence that, along with data compiled by we’re starting to think of home,” he said. “To tion on Gadhafi forces’ movements,” Peats, other allies, allowed NATO to conduct air say that we’re excited about coming home an Esquimalt resident, said adding that Van- strikes to take out scud-missile launch sites, would be a bit of an understatement.” emccracken@vicnews.com Peats said. couver’s crew boarded three vessels.
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