Kingston-class coastal defence vessel

The Kingston-class consists of 12 coastal defence vessels operated by the Royal Canadian Navy.

The class is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project (MCDV). These multi-role vessels were built and launched from the mid- to late-1990s and are crewed entirely by members of the Naval Reserve, with the exception of two regular-force technicians per crew.

Their main missions are coastal surveillance, sovereignty patrol, route survey, and training. They were designed with a minesweeping role in mind and are consequently classified as Mechanical Minesweepers (MM); however, this role has diminished as a result of the evolving nature of mine warfare. The possibility of acquiring the gear necessary to undertake a more appropriate mine-hunting role continues to be examined.

Design
The Kingston-class patrol vessels have many admirable qualities, including crew comfort and ship manoeuvrability, but they represent some design compromises. The program was conceived to advance the use of commercial, off-the-shelf (COTS) equipment and construction techniques in a ship designed to military specifications.

While the Z-drive thrusters make the Kingston-class vessels extremely manoeuvrable (able to turn within their own shiplength) and the engines are quite powerful and fuel-efficient, the hull shape, with a blunt stern and "hard" chine designed for minesweeping, prevents the ship from achieving a "sprint" speed and the patrol vessels of other nations are considerably faster. However, the Kingstons' top speed is faster than that of most mine warfare vessels and is comparable to most large non-naval seagoing vessels.

The hull is a longitudinally framed structure and has been designed to minimize steel weight. The construction involved initial production of partially outfitted steel modules which were made into sub-assemblies and then integrated into the ship. The decks were assembled upside down with pre-outfitting of the underside of the deck prior to installation on the ship. In contrast to many modern mine warfare vessels, which often have hulls made of non-magnetic glass-reinforced plastic or similar material, the Kingston class have conventional steel hulls. The vessels are, however, equipped with a magnetic degaussing system that allows the ship's magnetic signature to be manipulated in three dimensions to minimize vulnerability to magnetic mines.

Modular payload
Kingston class vessels are designed to carry up to three 20 ft ISO containers with power hookups on the open deck aft in order to embark mission-specific payloads. As of 2009, the available modules included:
 * 2 x Indal Technologies AN/SLQ 38 deep mechanical minesweeping systems
 * 4 x MDA Ltd. AN/SQS 511 heavy-weight high-definition route survey systems
 * 1 x ISE Ltd. Trailblazer 25 bottom object inspection vehicle
 * 1 x ISE Ltd. HYSUB 50 deep seabed intervention system
 * 2 x Fullerton and Sherwood Ltd. 6-man, 2-compartment containerized diving systems
 * 6 x naval engineered 6-person accommodation modules
 * 1 x MDA Ltd. Interim Remote Minehunting and Disposal System

Weapons
The ships are equipped with a Bofors 40 mm Model 60 Mk 5C rapid fire gun, and two 12.7 mm (50 cal) machine guns. The Bofors gun is mounted on the forecastle deck and the arc of fire extends forwards by ±120°. The machine guns are mounted on either side at the front of the bridge deck. In a depressed position each machine gun fires in an 118° arc.

The main armament is a World War II Bofors design that is manually loaded and lacks modern targeting capability.

In October 2006, Maritime Command experimented with mounting a remote controlled heavy machine gun station, the OTO Melara 12.7 mm RCHMG, in place of the 40 mm Bofors cannon aboard HMCS Summerside.

Sensors
The navigation equipment includes a Sperry Marine Bridge Master E I-band navigation radar and a Global Positioning System. The surface search radar is the E to F-band Sperry Marine Bridge Master E. A towed high-frequency sidescan sonar can be fitted for bottom mapping and route surveys.

Propulsion
The ship is equipped with four main Wärtsilä UD 23V12 diesel engines which are coupled to four alternators (600 V AC). Two Jeumont electric motors (±740 V DC) provide power to the two LIPS Z-drive azimuth thrusters which are fitted with fixed-pitch reversing propellers. The propulsion system provides 15 kn maximum continuous speed. The range at the economical cruising speed of 9 kn using two engines is 5000 nmi with a 20% margin in tank capacity. Mechanical minesweeping is carried out at 8 kn. The crash stop length is five ship lengths from a speed of 15 kn.

Deployment and operations
The ships are evenly distributed between the east and west coasts.

One vessel on each coast is maintained for rapid deployment: this responsibility is rotated amongst the ships.

Future of the class
The Royal Canadian Navy is discarding a $100-million mid-life refit plan for the twelve vessels in this class. Instead, MCDVs will be replaced by new vessels to enter service in 2020. It had been intended to retain the "mid-lifed" vessels through 2045–2055; however, the RCN has concluded that the money would be better spent in acquiring a new platform. The RCN review listed low speed and small size as reasons for the MCDV being inadequate for patrol duties (both are factors of the original specification). Notwithstanding the success of the ships in their deployment, critics suggest that patrol and training were tacked onto the mine-countermeasures role and that the platform lacks serious armament for a sovereignty enforcement role.

On May 13, 2010, it was announced that six of the twelve MCDVs would be placed in extended readiness due to lack of funds and the inability of the naval reserve to provide sufficient personnel to man the ships. On May 14 however that order was rescinded.

Ships in class
There are twelve Kingston-class ships in Canadian service:

[[HMCS Kingston (MM 700)]]



 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 12 December 1994
 * Launched: 12 August 1995
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 21 September 1996
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 28 April 1995
 * Launched: 22 January 1996
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 26 October 1996
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:Oto Melara 12.7mm RWS
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Nanaimo (MM 702)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 11 August 1995
 * Launched: 17 May 1996
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 10 May 1997
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Edmonton (MM 703)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 8 December 1995
 * Launched: 31 October 1996
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 21 June 1997
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Shawinigan (MM 704)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 26 April 1996
 * Launched: 15 November 1996
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 14 June 1997
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Whitehorse (MM 705)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 26 July 1996
 * Launched: 24 February 1997
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 17 April 1998
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Yellowknife (MM 706)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 7 November 1996
 * Launched: 5 June 1997
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 18 April 1998
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Goose Bay (MM 707)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 22 February 1997
 * Launched: 4 September 1997
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 26 July 1998
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Moncton (MM 708)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 31 May 1997
 * Launched: 5 December 1997
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 12 July 1998
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Saskatoon (MM 709)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down: 5 September 1997
 * Launched: 30 March 1998
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 5 December 1998
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Brandon (MM 710)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down:
 * Launched:
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 5 June 1999
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations:

[[HMCS Summerside (MM 711)]]

 * Builders: 🇨🇦 Halifax Shipyards Ltd., Halifax
 * Laid down:
 * Launched: 26 Sept. 1998
 * Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
 * Commissioned: 18 July 1999
 * Status: In active service
 * Modifications:
 * Operations: