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| ''Kingston''-class coastal defense vessel |
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| Class Overview |
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| Class Type | Patrol Boat & Minesweeper (MM) |
| Class Name | The City Of Kingston |
| Launched | 1996 – 1998 |
| Preceded By | ''Bay''-class Minesweepers |
| Succeded By | N/A, latest patrol class authorized |
| Ships of the Class: | ''Kingston, Glace Bay, Nanaimo, Edmonton, Shawinigan, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Goose Bay, Moncton, Saskatoon, Brandon, Summerside'' |
The consists of 12 naval
Patrol vessels of
Canadian Forces Maritime Command constructed under the Maritime Coastal Defense Vessel (MCDV) project. The 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. Their main missions are coastal surveillance, sovereignty patrol, route survey and training. They were designed with a
Minesweeping role in mind and are consequently classifed as Mechanical Minesweepers (MM), but this role has been moved away from due to ongoing difficulties with the sweep gear and 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.
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 advanced 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 shiplengths) and the engines are quite powerful and fuel-efficient, the hull shape with a blunt stern 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 sea-going vessels.
The hull is a longitudinally framed structure and has been designed to minimise the steel weight. The design was based on a hard chine hull form. The construction involved initial production of partially outfitted steel block units which were assembled into blocks and the blocks were 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.
The ship is equipped with a Bofors 40mm Model 60 Mk 5C rapid fire gun, and two 12.7mm 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 one either side at the front of the bridge deck. In a depressed position each machine gun fires in an arc of fire of 118°
The ship is equipped with one of three modular mine countermeasures systems which are the deep sea Thales MMS mechanical mine sweeping system, the route survey system and the Sutec remotely operated vehicle (ROV) mine inspection system.
The navigation equipment is a Kelvin Hughes I-band navigation radar and a
Global Positioning System . The surface search radar is the E to F-band Kelvin Hughes 6000. A towed high-frequency sidescan sonar is fitted for minesweeping.
The ship is equipped with four main Wartsila UD 23V12 diesel motors and four alternators and two Jeumont electric motors (600 V DC). The two LIPS Z drive azimuth thrusters are fitted with fixed-pitch reversing propellers. The propulsion system provides 15 knots maximum continuous speed. The range at the economical cruising speed of 9 knots using two engines is 5000 nautical miles with a 20% margin in tank capacity. Mechanical minesweeping is carried out at 8 knots. The crash stop length is 5 ship lengths from a speed of 15 knots
- Propulsion: Dual azimuthing Z-drives with five-bladed propellers ("rudder propellers") driven by two Jeumont DC electric motors powered by four 600VAC Wartsila SACM V12 diesel alternators
- Length: 55.3 m
- Beam: 11.3 m
- Draft: 3.4 m
- Displacement: 970 tonnes (full load)
- Speed: 15+ knots
- Range: 5000nm at 8 knots, or 4500nm at 11 knots
- Complement: Minimum crew of 31 (peacetime cruising), or up to 47 with the accommodations payload embarked
- Armament: 40mm Bofors Mk 1NC Automatic Cannon, 2 x .50 caliber Heavy Machine Guns
- Thales Mechanical Minesweeping System
- Klein and Macdonald-Dettwiler Route Survey Towfish system
- DSIS Deep Sea Intervention System (deep water remotely operated vehicle)
- Phantom Remotely Operated Vehicle
- SUBSAR Submarine Rescue Package
- Diving Support
- Accommodations Payload
Other payloads - including mine hunting gear - are undergoing study and development.
There are twelve ''Kingston''-class ships in Canadian service:
