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Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship AOPS

i said higher end merchant ships, the various fleets run the gambit that goes from death trap to Starship. merchants try to avoid storms, but they have routes and timetables they must meet. They spend a lot of time at sea. I would agree that they are not as particular as we are in regards to the environment.
true I suppose but it is very apparent that many have been well maintain above the water line and show a lot of wear and tear below. That applies to even the well maintained ones. The primary exceptions being the cruise lines of course
 
I can’t remember where I heard this, but I thought that due to environmental regs (especially in the US and Canada), you can’t paint ship while underway.
Environmental regs aside, your shouldn't paint generally unless you properlly prep and have good conditions. Otherwise you lock in salt to the coating and create rust, and the paint doesn't stick anyway or cure properly.

Steel ships rust in salt water, people just need to give their nuts a tug. Doesn't actually take much to get a few streaks like that off a tiny chip somewhere that flash rusts instantly and runs with a bit of water, so unless they stop outside somewhere and scrub it off the morning of there will be rust somewheres.

This looks particularly unsightly because the vast majority of the coating is still shiny and new, on a CPF most of that would blend in to the general rust patina.
 
Back in the 90's on the CCG vessels, if you had no buoy work or training, you were chipping and painting all the time. The level of prep also depends on the type of paint.
 
Question - why doesn't the RCN simply provide a team to man the armaments/radar aspects of the AOPS, include a 2nd in Command to the ship and turn them ALL over to the CCG. In times of military need/crisis, the RCN 2nd in Command takes over the control of the ship.
To answer your question in a more relevant location, there is a few layers to the question.

1.) Operating a ship with a split crew between military and non-military/non-law enforcement organizations is a messy affair and would likely please neither party.

2.) The CCG does not want these vessels and nor do they want to operate them, the variants they are being given are heavily modified to suit their different roles and even then, the CCG are being forced to take the pair by the Feds. The armed constabulary mission given to the AOPS does not sit with the CCG generally, forcing them to operate 6 vessels of this type would be a fight. Missions abroad that AOPS can undertake as well are far better performed by the RCN than the CCG.

3.) Painting the AOPS in RCN colors and having it fly an ensign provides it with more authority to its presence, something important towards its goals domestically and abroad.
 
To answer your question in a more relevant location, there is a few layers to the question.

1.) Operating a ship with a split crew between military and non-military/non-law enforcement organizations is a messy affair and would likely please neither party.

2.) The CCG does not want these vessels and nor do they want to operate them, the variants they are being given are heavily modified to suit their different roles and even then, the CCG are being forced to take the pair by the Feds. The armed constabulary mission given to the AOPS does not sit with the CCG generally, forcing them to operate 6 vessels of this type would be a fight. Missions abroad that AOPS can undertake as well are far better performed by the RCN than the CCG.

3.) Painting the AOPS in RCN colors and having it fly an ensign provides it with more authority to its presence, something important towards its goals domestically and abroad.
4. The CCG has a very different mission than the USCG, which @Czech_pivo seems to be describing.
 
Plus a very, very different mindset in the CCG. For the Navaids crews, think construction workers at sea. For the SAR types, think firefighters. Fisheries research, think fisherman.

Personally I think all the major CCG vessel should carry a couple of .50cals The purpose of that is to support boarding parties provided by other agencies. Training the crews would be easy and could be done during regular crewing cycles. Getting the Captains to take on the responsibility to actually use them when required would be the hard part.
 
Plus a very, very different mindset in the CCG. For the Navaids crews, think construction workers at sea. For the SAR types, think firefighters. Fisheries research, think fisherman.

Personally I think all the major CCG vessel should carry a couple of .50cals The purpose of that is to support boarding parties provided by other agencies. Training the crews would be easy and could be done during regular crewing cycles. Getting the Captains to take on the responsibility to actually use them when required would be the hard part.

Could you convert a Service Battalion with Wreckers, MRTs and POL Tankers into an Infantry Battalion? Amd why would you?

The real problem in Canada, as always, is money. There is a need for the "highways maintenance" guys of the CCG. There is a need for Blue Water patrols (and that is what the Canadian Patrol Frigates are about - patrolling the high seas). But there is also a need for inshore patrols just as there is a need for highway patrols and that is the bit that everyone seems to choke on.

Highway Patrols are about presence. One constable in an expensive car, well connected to the world at large and the intelligence stream but lightly armed. The defining characteristic is that there are lots of them - at least there are enough of them that people are encouraged to obey the laws because they know there is a fair chance of encountering them.

That is the missing bit in terms of managing our inshore waters, IMO.

CCG

4x Offshore Patrol Vessels
9x Midshore Patrol Vessels
58x SAR Lifeboats (that could also be used for local patrols)

RCMP

3x Patrol Vessels (BC)?

RCN

8x Orca Patrol/Training Vessels
12x Kingston MCDV (co-opted for international operations)

....

This recent article calling for more inter-departmental work in the Maritime Arctic with the RCMP


"Arctic sovereignty is well defined on the land and inland waterways," says Sergeant Jean-Luc Bédard, Arctic manager with Federal Policing Criminal Operations (FPCO)'s Border Integrity Program. "But, there is a gap in the maritime environment. What better way to fill it than to partner and engage with other government departments?"


....

What is wrong with building on this structure?

Mounties on Coast Guard Patrol Vessels in the Great Lakes and St Laurence.


Why not turn all 8 of the AOPS, together with the CCG Midshore and Offshore vessels, over to the Maritime Security Enforcement Team? And do the SAR Lifeboats need to be tied to the dock or can they function effectively while patrolling?
 
Orca's are restricted to protected waters and will be needed to train up the crews.
They really should only be thought of as training vessels anyway; they were used short term for the Olympics but they do get used hard for that training purpose. We need sea days to train people, and they are a very cheap and useful training platform to give you some sea days that is a critical roadblock to get people to OFP. The normal crew is 6ish crew and 18ish trainees per ship, and the whole time they are there is just focused on getting OJTs done. Trying to shoehorn that same thing into a big ship takes way more support, and also takes much longer to get through the OJT.

Redirecting them to operational ships will only hamper rebuilding further. Retention wise, they are also a genuinely fun go for a first at sea experience, so is a great way to give people a positive experience at the start, which can only help keep them in.

If they want a dedicated protected waters patrol boats there are more effective and cheaper options that don't take away from training capacity.
 
What I would expect to see come a conflict requiring everything, is the Hero Class CCG turned over to the RCN with as many CCG volunteers as they can get. They would likley get some .50cal RWS's and some sort hang off the side underwater sensing equipment.
 
Meanwhile Australia, a country you don't think about when you think Icebreakers. This ship is PC 3 which is a very serious icebreaker.
 
Meanwhile Australia, a country you don't think about when you think Icebreakers. This ship is PC 3 which is a very serious icebreaker.
They have an Antarctic presence, supported by the RAAF. I totally understand why they would have that.
 
Meanwhile Australia, a country you don't think about when you think Icebreakers. This ship is PC 3 which is a very serious icebreaker.
I saw an interesting graphic on another forum showing Melbourne closer to Antarctica than Darwin.
 
To answer your question in a more relevant location, there is a few layers to the question.

1.) Operating a ship with a split crew between military and non-military/non-law enforcement organizations is a messy affair and would likely please neither party.

2.) The CCG does not want these vessels and nor do they want to operate them, the variants they are being given are heavily modified to suit their different roles and even then, the CCG are being forced to take the pair by the Feds. The armed constabulary mission given to the AOPS does not sit with the CCG generally, forcing them to operate 6 vessels of this type would be a fight. Missions abroad that AOPS can undertake as well are far better performed by the RCN than the CCG.

3.) Painting the AOPS in RCN colors and having it fly an ensign provides it with more authority to its presence, something important towards its goals domestically and abroad.
PA: We're going to close on the enemy ship'.

Checks Union booklet.

Putting a gun on a civilian ship doesn't make it a military ship.
 
Why not turn all 8 of the AOPS, together with the CCG Midshore and Offshore vessels, over to the Maritime Security Enforcement Team? And do the SAR Lifeboats need to be tied to the dock or can they function effectively while patrolling?
Because the people who operate the vessels for the Maritime Security Enforcement Teams are........the Canadian Coast Guard. The enforcement is done by RCMP and DFO personnel aboard, this just gets back to the issues above about why the CCG doesn't want to deal with armed duties. It would be even more of a mess trying to get the CCG to operate 6 more AOPS built to Navy specs with RCMP/DFO trying to manage the weapons systems required for its duties.
 
Because the people who operate the vessels for the Maritime Security Enforcement Teams are........the Canadian Coast Guard. The enforcement is done by RCMP and DFO personnel aboard, this just gets back to the issues above about why the CCG doesn't want to deal with armed duties. It would be even more of a mess trying to get the CCG to operate 6 more AOPS built to Navy specs with RCMP/DFO trying to manage the weapons systems required for its duties.
The answer is really simple: reestablish a robust RCMP Marine Division.

Remember that the origin of the AOPS lies with Stephe harper who, when first elected, wanted to reinvigorate John Diefenbaker's 'Arctic Vision' and play a little anti-American domestic politics at the same time. He didn't care who crewed his ships - but he, pretty clearly, had constabulary vessels in mind and that's how the Navy actually described them at the time.

If we are going to have a constabulary fleet then it ought to be part of a constabulary service.
 
Because the people who operate the vessels for the Maritime Security Enforcement Teams are........the Canadian Coast Guard. The enforcement is done by RCMP and DFO personnel aboard, this just gets back to the issues above about why the CCG doesn't want to deal with armed duties. It would be even more of a mess trying to get the CCG to operate 6 more AOPS built to Navy specs with RCMP/DFO trying to manage the weapons systems required for its duties.
Not to mention the navy AOP's are ill-suited for all of the CCG other missions like navaid work.
 
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