Canadian Patrol Frigate Project

The Canadian Patrol Frigate Project (CPFP) was a procurement project undertaken by the Canadian Armed Forces beginning in 1975 to find a replacement for the sclass|Mackenzie|destroyer|0, sclass|Annapolis|destroyer|0, sclass|Restigouche|destroyer|0, and sclass|St. Laurent|destroyer|0 destroyers.

Contract award

In 1983, the federal government approved the budget for the design and construction of the first batch of six new frigates.cite news | first=Jerry | last=Proc | coauthors= | title=RADIOS and SYSTEMS IN HALIFAX CLASS FRIGATES | date=2007-05-27 | publisher= | url =http://jproc.ca/rrp/halifax.html | work =RADIO COMMUNICATIONS AND SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE IN THE RCN | pages = | accessdate = 2008-04-13 | language = ] To reflect the changing long term strategy of Maritime Command during the 1980s and 1990's, the "Halifax"-class frigates was designed to be more of a general purpose warship with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.

The design of the "Halifax" class frigates reflected many advances in ship construction, such as a move to a prefabricated unit construction method, where the ship, is assembled from prefabricated units in a drydock instead of the traditional keel-laying. Furthermore, the design of "Halifax" class frigates incorporated many new technical improvements. For example, these vessels were the first in the world to be equipped with the Integrated Machinery Control System(IMCS), which allows for a very high degree of computer control for the machinery plant.

Detailed design work for the CPFP began in 1985 after the original 6-vessel contract was awarded to Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd. (SJSL). The Department of National Defence requested that SJSL construct 3 vessels and sub-contract 3 vessels to MIL-Davie Shipbuilding. The CPFP was awarded to SJSL despite the fact that there were arguably more qualified overseas shipyards capable of performing the work.Fact|2008|date=June 2008 This was attributed to the Government of Canada's desire for the CPFP to provide industrial and economic benefits to Canada's shipbuilding industry.Fact|2008|date=June 2008

The end of the Cold War before the completion of the CPFP meant that theses vessels' abilities against submarines were less valuable than when they were designed. However they have proved versatile in multiple mission roles and have recently formed an important part of Canada's contribution in anti-terrorism operations.

Construction delays

The CPFP seemed to be too big for SJSL from the outset.Fact|2008|date=June 2008 Delays on the lead ship warship|HMCS|Halifax|FFH 330 immediately set in, and it soon became clear that the original deadlines were not going to be met.Fact|2008|date=June 2008 In response to this, SJSL proposed to build more sections of the ship individually before sending them to its drydock in Saint John; consequently SJSL owner Irving Shipbuilding purchased several smaller shipyards in eastern Canada for constructing CPFP modules with final assembly to take place in Saint John. This modular construction solution reduced costs and led to a higher-quality vesselFact|2008|date=June 2008, however, the amount of engineering required increased drasticallyFact|2008|date=June 2008, and this was used to justify moving the delivery dates of "Halifax" and her sister ship, warship|HMCS|Vancouver|FFH 331 further back. Following the construction assembly improvements and Irving Shipbuilding's investments in acquiring other properties for the project, the Department of National Defence awarded a further 6 vessels exclusively to SJSL in 1988.

Improvements for MARCOM

The CPFP evolved into the sclass|Halifax|frigate|1. The launch of the lead vessel HMCS "Halifax" (FFH 330) in 1988 is credited with providing a new energy to Maritime Command (MARCOM) which was burdened with an antiquated fleet.Fact|2008|date=June 2008 MARCOM's older vessels were sometimes not seaworthyFact|2008|date=June 2008 and only the Iroquois class destroyers were up to any kind of modern standardFact|2008|date=June 2008.

Despite some initial growing pains common to any new class of warships, the "Halifax" class was a potent modern naval platform and established itself as one of the world's premier warships of its typeFact|2008|date=June 2008. These vessels were larger than most frigatesFact|2008|date=June 2008 and despite being initially conceived for anti-submarine warfare, evolved into MARCOM's premiere workhorse for multiple mission rolesFact|2008|date=June 2008. Just as importantly, the commissioning of the "Halifax" relieved pressure on the Iroquois class, which MARCOM modernized under the Tribal Update and Modernization Project (TRUMP) to become anti-aircraft destroyersFact|2008|date=June 2008.

References