Two Canadian warships, HMCS Algonquin and HMCS Protecteur returned to Esquimalt harbour Saturday afternoon following a collision with one another on August 30 at approximately 11 a.m. PST while conducting exercise manoeuvres en route to Hawaii. There were no reported injuries.
“The Royal Canadian Navy will be conducting an investigation into this unfortunate incident in order to determine exactly what happened,” said Commodore Bob Auchterlonie, Commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific.
The two warships were conducting towing exercises, which require close-quarters manoeuvring, when the incident occurred.
HMCS Algonquin sustained significant damage to her hangar on her port side while HMCS Protecteur sustained damage of a lesser degree to her bow. While the full impact on the ships’ future sailing schedules has yet to be determined, HMCS Algonquin will no longer deploy to Asia Pacific region as planned.
“A Board of Inquiry will be convened to further investigate the incident and circumstances surrounding it, and will make recommendations as to how to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future. More information about the incident itself will be released when available,” Canadian Department of Defence announced.
[mappress] Press Release, September 3, 2013; Image: Royal Canadian Navy