HMCS St. John's (FFH 340)

HMCS St. John's (FFH 340) is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Royal Canadian Navy since her commissioning in 1996. She is the eleventh of twelve ships in her class which is based on the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. St. John's is named after the city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, a port city associated with Canadian naval history and heritage, and is the first ship in the Royal Canadian Navy to bear the name.

She was laid down on 24 August 1994 at Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd., Saint John, New Brunswick, and launched on 26 August 1995. She was officially commissioned into the CF on 26 June 1996 in St. John's, and carries the hull classification symbol 340.

She is assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) and her homeport is in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Service
St. John's serves on Canadian Armed Forces missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and exclusive economic zone. St. John's has been deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic Ocean, to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations, to the north as far as Grise Fjord and to the Caribbean where she played a vital role in helping to stop the flow of illicit drugs to North America.

St. John's in the News

 * http://tridentnews.ca/Home/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1516/Plunging-into-the-2013-GCWCC-kickoff.aspx
 * http://metronews.ca/news/halifax/740707/crew-of-hmcs-st-johns-departs-halifax-to-relieve-crew-of-hmcs-toronto/
 * http://vimeo.com/67738105
 * http://www.childrenswish.ca/en-nf/events/1017/HMCS-St.-John's-Run-the-Rock
 * http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Blog-Article/b/21276/HMCS-St-Johns-supports-counternarcotic-operation

Commanding Officers

 * 27 Jun 12- present: Commander D. Campbell
 * 21 Dec 10- 27 Jun 12: Commander J. Clark
 * 6 Jun 09- 21 Dec 10: Commander R.J. Clark
 * 11 Jul 08- 6 Jun 09: Commander B.A. Costello
 * 3 Jan 07- 11 Jul 08: Commander B.W. Santarpia
 * 19 Jun 04- 3 Jan 07: Commander E.P. Deslauriers
 * 17 Oct 03- 19 Jun 04: Commander I. A. Paterson
 * 14 Jul 03- 17 Oct 03: Commander M. A. G. Norman
 * 7 Dec 01- 14 Jul 03: Commander B. Ryan
 * 24 Jun 00- 7 Dec 01: Commander M. G. Langford
 * 15 Jan 99- 24 Jun 00: Commander C.L. Mofford
 * 7 Jul 97- 15 Jan 99: Commander R. Davidson
 * 12 Dec 95- 7 Jul 97: Commander R.S. Edwards

Coxswain: CPO1 Grégoire Bio
Chief Petty Officer Grégoire grew up in the border towns of Campbellton, New Brunswick and Pointe-à-la Croix, Québec. He enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces on the 01 November 1986 as a Naval Weapons Technician.

He served in HMCS TERRA NOVA, YUKON, MACKENZIE, ANNAPOLIS on the West coast and served East in HMCS FRASER, HALIFAX, VILLE DE QUÉBEC and Sea Training Atlantic. During his sea time, he has conducted the following operational deployments: Op FORWARD ACTION, Op SHARPGUARD, Op APOLLO and Op UNISON.

His shore postings included such duties as Halifax Class equipment instructor, Halifax class senior instructor, Naval Weapon Technician course scheduler, and Naval Weapons Training Chief at the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School. He also served as a Project Technician at Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre (Halifax) and had the privilege of acting as the Deputy Parade Chief for the Consecration of the Queen's Colors held on the 27 June 2009. He is a graduate of the NCM Executive Professional Development Program at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston earning a Certificate in Professional Military education. Chief Petty Officer Grégoire became a member of the Order of Military Merit in 2009. He assumed his present employment as Coxswain of HMCS ST-JOHN’S in the summer of 2013.

Recent activity
In July 2010, St. John's took part in the International Fleet Review at Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Queen Elizabeth II inspected a Guard of Honour on board the ship to mark the centennial anniversary of the Canadian Navy, and as part of Canada Day celebrations.

In August 2011, St. John's participated in the multinational six-week arctic sovereignty Operation Nanook. During the operation, St. John's visited several northern communities and participated in search-and-rescue and disaster response exercises in company with HMCS Summerside (MM 711) and HMCS Moncton (MM 708) as well as American and Danish ships.

St. John's deployed on Operation Caribbe from 3 October to 14 November 2011, Canada’s contribution to an ongoing U.S.-led, multinational effort to interdict drug trafficking in the international waters of the Caribbean Basin and eastern Pacific Ocean. During her deployment, she helped recover a drug cargo from a scuttled self-propelled semi-submersible (SPSS) vessel. The recovery effort included the deployment of the FBI laboratory’s technical dive team, which conducted dive operations on the scuttled SPSS from United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Cypress. More than 6700 kg of cocaine was recovered from the vessel. The drugs, destined for distribution in North America, had an estimated street value of US$180 million.

During St. John's deployment, the Joint Interagency Task Force South based out of Key West, Florida, coordinated the joint efforts in allowing the US Coast Guard to make 38 arrests, and seized a total of 10902 kg of cocaine and 1144 kg of marijuana, equating to more than US$223 million.

In 2012 St. John's again participated in Op Nanook as well as another Op Caribbe in support of JIATF South.

In the summer of 2013 the crew of St. John's conducted a replacement in place of the crew of HMCS Toronto in Kuwait City, Kuwait. Toronto was in the middle of a deployment on Operation ARTEMIS in support of CMF 150. St. John's began her mid-life refit in June 2013.

Deployment history

 * 1997 – NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT)
 * 1998 – Adriatic Operations with NATO's Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED)
 * 2000 – UNITAS
 * 2002 – Operation Apollo in the Gulf of Oman
 * 2008 – Operation Caribbe
 * 2008 - Operation Horatio
 * 2011 – Operation Nanook, Operation Caribbe
 * 2012 - Operation Caribbe, Operation Nanook

Community involvement
St. John's also has a history of supporting local charities and charities in Newfoundland and Labrador. Originating the “Run the Rock” in 1996, members of the ship’s company have raised C$520,000 for the Children’s Wish Foundation of Newfoundland in their annual relay across Newfoundland. In the Run the Rock 2013 fundraiser, crew members raised $75,717.20, the most successful year in the events history.

HMCS St. John's also supports the Janeway Children's Hospital Foundation in St. John's, Newfoundland.