Multi-purpose frigate: Charlottetown shows the importance of flexibility

By Lieutenant (Navy) Michael McWhinnie

At sea off Misratah, Libya; 3 May 2011 — The locals call it the sirocco: the southerly wind that blows across the Sahara Desert to the Mediterranean Sea, bringing a load of fine sand to fill the air and cover everything — including HMCS Charlottetown — with a thin layer of beige powder. Everyone aboard struggles with reduced visibility and other effects that influence the mission.

The regional meteorological peculiarity is just one of many factors the crew of HMCS Charlottetown must accept while adapting to the various demands of Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR.

“The mission comprises three main elements: enforcing a “no-fly” zone, implementing an arms embargo, and actions to protect civilians,” said Commander Craig Skjerpen, commanding officer of HMCS Charlottetown. “The embargo is our primary role, but we are also supporting the no-fly zone and finding ways to protect civilians both at sea and ashore.”

NATO is conducting reconnaissance, surveillance and information-gathering operations to identify forces that present a threat to civilians and civilian-populated areas. Under the authority of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, NATO air and maritime units use this information to engage targets on the ground or in the air. As Charlottetown patrols off the coast, the crew employs sensors and intelligence-gathering resources to augment NATO’s surveillance and command-and-control capabilities. 

“Nobody could predict how the crisis in Libya would evolve.  The need for flexibility and the ability to adjust to operational demands has come to define our deployment,” said the frigate’s Executive Officer, Lieutenant-Commander Matthew Coates. “Training conditions people to respond in prescribed ways to predictable situations.  As we confront unanticipated challenges, the ability to analyze, think critically and seek creative solutions is increasingly valuable.”

Since the official launch of the arms embargo on 23 March 2011, Charlottetown has been cast in diverse roles, some familiar, others less so.

“We took the opportunity during the trans-Atlantic crossing to train in anticipation of the mission.  The emphasis was on maritime interdiction operations, including boarding party training.  That has been very useful, but we are also facing a spectrum of other operational demands,” said LCdr Coates.

NATO and coalition ships have conducted naval gunfire support missions, defended against small boat attacks, and cleared mines from the Misratah harbour approaches.

“Our deployment is very different from recent Canadian operations in the region.  As we seek to develop tactics to influence the situation on land we must also incorporate strategies to defend against shore-based threats including missiles and artillery,” said LCdr Coates.  “We even had to consider the chemical weapon threat at one point, when regime forces were reported to be distributing gas masks amongst their troops in Misrata.”

As a multi-purpose frigate with its own helicopter and boarding party, Charlottetown is one of the NATO Task Group’s more operationally flexible and responsive units.  At present, the Task Group enforcing the arms embargo comprises 21 ships and submarines from 12 nations, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Charlottetown belongs to the élite group that also enforces the no-fly zone and taking action to protect civilians.

“Charlottetown’s ability to perform the types of duties you have been assigned is an invaluable resource to the operation,” said the Task Group Commander, Rear Admiral Gualtiero Mattesi, during a recent visit to the Canadian frigate. “While each day is different, the work you have done has been crucial to making a difference, especially to reducing the military threat against the population of Misrata and allowing humanitarian assistance to continue to flow through that port.”