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Royal Canadian Navy - Marine Royale
Canadienne - Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel AOPV 430 HMCS Harry DeWolf |
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Type,
class: Harry DeWolf class Arctic and Offshore Patrol
Vessel / AOPV Builder: Irving Shipbuilding Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada STATUS: Ordered: October 19, 2011 Laid down: March 11, 2016 Launched: September 15, 2018 Commissioned: June 26, 2021 IN SERVICE Homeport: CFB Halifax, Nova Scotia Namesake: Vice Admiral Henry George "Harry" DeWolf (1903-2000) Ship's Motto: VINCIT QUI PATITUR (whoever endures, conquers) Technical Data: see INFO > Harry DeWolf class AOPV |
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                                    BAE Mk.38 Mod.2 (modified) 25mm machine gun system (MGS) - (stabilized, remote controlled with electro-optic fire control system)  BAE Mk.38 Mod.2 (modified) 25mm machine gun system (MGS) |
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HMCS Harry DeWolf (AOPV 430): The order for the Arctic Offshore Patrol Ships was placed on 19 October 2011 with Irving Shipyards of Halifax, Nova Scotia as part of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. The ship was to be constructed in 62 blocks, which would then be pieced together into three larger blocks. These three "mega blocks" would be fitted together to form the hull of the ship. On 18 September 2014, it was announced that the first ship of the class was to be named Harry DeWolf in honour of Rear Admiral Harry DeWolf, a decorated naval officer who served during World War II in European waters and as the Royal Canadian Navy Chief of the Naval Staff during the early Cold War. The ship was given the hull number AOPV 430. On 18 June 2015 it was reported that the construction of test modules for Harry DeWolf was underway. The first sections of keel were placed on 11 March 2016, but the official laying of the keel of Harry DeWolf was held on 9 June 2016, marking the first naval construction in Canada since 1998. On 8 December 2017, the three main sections of Harry DeWolf were fitted into place. Harry DeWolf was launched on 15 September 2018. The vessel was loaded onto the semi-submersible barge Boa Barge 37 and taken out into Halifax Harbour. There, the barge was submerged and the ship floated free, to be towed back to the shipyard. The vessel was officially named at Halifax on 5 October 2018 by sponsor Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the wife of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Harry DeWolf began builders sea trials on 22 November 2019. The ship was delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy on 31 July 2020 and began post-acceptance sea trials. The ship was commissioned on 26 June 2021. Harry DeWolf embarked on its inaugural deployment on 3 August 2021. It participated in Operation Nanook, Canada's annual sovereignty operation and manoeuvre warfare exercise conducted in the Arctic, alongside HMCS Goose Bay and elements of the Canadian Coast Guard and the United States Coast Guard. The ship then proceeded through the Northwest Passage, and docked at CFB Esquimalt on 4 October 2021. Harry DeWolf left CFB Esquimalt on 22 October 2021, and sailed to the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean via the Panama Canal. During this second leg of its journey, it took part in Operation Caribbe - Canada's contribution to the US-led anti-drug smuggling effort Operation Martillo - and seized almost 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb) of cocaine. Harry DeWolf returned to CFB Halifax on 16 December, 2021, becoming the first Canadian naval vessel to circumnavigate North America since HMCS Labrador made a similar voyage in 1954. source: wikipedia |
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Vice Admiral Henry George "Harry" DeWolf CBE, DSO, DSC, CD
(26 June 1903 - 18 December 2000) ... was a Canadian naval officer who was famous as the first commander of HMCS Haida (G 63) during the Second World War. Early years: DeWolf was born in Bedford, Nova Scotia. His father owned and operated DeWolf & Sons, a ship brokerage business. DeWolf entered the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1918 at age 15 when he attended the Royal Naval College of Canada (RNCC) at Esquimalt, British Columbia. The original RNCC had been destroyed in the Halifax Explosion the previous winter. DeWolf graduated from RNCC in 1921 and was sent on an exchange with the Royal Navy to serve on board the battleship HMS Resolution. He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1924 and took a six-month course in gunnery, torpedoes and navigation at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich. Returning to Canada in the summer of 1925, he was posted to one of the RCN's two destroyers, HMCS Patriot. In early 1930, Lieutenant (Navy) DeWolf received his first command, the Battle-class trawler HMCS Festubert at Halifax. In May 1931, he married Gwendolen Gilbert of Somerset, Bermuda, whom he had met while serving aboard HMCS Patriot, which had spent a winter training there several years earlier. In 1932, DeWolf was posted to the destroyer HMCS Vancouver and then in 1933 to the destroyer HMCS Skeena. In July 1935, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and posted to National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa. He was made Assistant Director of Intelligence and Plans and was part of the RCN's negotiation team for acquiring four used destroyers from the Royal Navy. In 1937, DeWolf studied at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, and then served on an exchange with a Royal Navy cruiser squadron in the Mediterranean Sea during the Spanish Civil War. Second World War: HMCS St. Laurent: DeWolf returned to Canada in 1939 and was appointed commanding officer of the destroyer HMCS St. Laurent. St. Laurent was posted to convoy duty out of Halifax. St. Laurent under DeWolf reportedly fired the RCN's first shots of the war as they helped rescue British and French troops escaping from continental Europe during Operation Dynamo after the Fall of France in late May and early June 1940. St. Laurent returned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic, and the following month, in July 1940, DeWolf's ship rescued 859 German and Italian prisoners of war, survivors of Arandora, which had been torpedoed by a U-boat, U-47. DeWolf was promoted to commander in 1940. He and his ship were mentioned in despatches twice during his service on St. Laurent. Years later, he recalled the following incident, which took place while in command of St. Laurent: The mechanism of a live, armed torpedo was being painted by a sailor, who first lifted the safety catch to paint underneath it, and then lifted the firing handle to paint under that. The torpedo fired, naturally, and ran wild on deck," he said. "It slammed into the deck house, bounced off and kept changing around. Everybody, including me, was scared. The decks cleared pretty rapidly. Since we thought we were all going up any second, Petty Officer Ridge and myself decided to try and tame the torpedo. We got astride it. It was as slippery as a greased pig and we thought its propeller might cut our feet off. We rode and guided it over the rail and stuck one leg over the rail to hold it steady. The propeller was making a tremendous racket on the iron deck. We finally managed to release the air cock (the torpedo was driven by compressed air). We still had a live torpedo. When we got to port (in the United Kingdom) we hoisted it on the wall and left it there. I reported to headquarters, but I don't know what became of the torpedo. (The warhead was eventually placed in a North Sea naval mine field.) HMCS Haida: DeWolf took command of HMCS Haida in August 1943. Under DeWolf, Haida earned a reputation as "the Fightingest Ship in the Canadian Navy", and was responsible for sinking 14 enemy ships in just over a year, earning numerous accolades. Haida and DeWolf saw service with convoys to Murmansk as well as operations to secure the English Channel in preparation for Operation Overlord. Most of his more famous battles took place at night in the English Channel, when DeWolf secured his reputation as a fearless and skilful tactician and became known to his crew as "Hard-Over-Harry" for bold manoeuvres off the coast of France. DeWolf earned the Distinguished Service Order for rescuing survivors of HMCS Athabaskan within range of enemy coastal guns on the French coast. DeWolf left Haida and was recalled to Ottawa, where he was promoted to captain in September 1944, becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. Cold War: During the postwar years, DeWolf commanded the aircraft carriers HMCS Warrior and HMCS Magnificent between January 1947 and September 1948, before being promoted to rear admiral. He served as Flag Officer Pacific Coast at Esquimalt from 1948 to 1950, then was recalled to NDHQ where he served as Vice Chief of Naval Staff from 1950 to 1952, then was posted to Washington, D.C. as principal military advisor to the Canadian ambassador from 1952 to 1956. DeWolf was promoted to vice admiral in January 1956 and served as Chief of the Naval Staff before retiring from the RCN on 31 July 1960. Retirement: DeWolf and his wife retired to her home in Bermuda, although they spent their summers in Ottawa, his last RCN posting. DeWolf was an active golfer and fisherman and he was active in the Royal Canadian Navy Benevolent Fund, which raises money for retired sailors down on their luck. On 23 September 1992, the Town of Bedford named a 1.4 hectare waterfront park on the Bedford Basin after DeWolf. The minutes of 28 November 2000 meeting of the Halifax Regional Council reveal that DeWolf had contributed $100,000 to the municipality, presumably as thanks for naming the prominent Admiral Harry DeWolf Park after him. He died in Ottawa on 18 December 2000 at the age of 97 and was buried at sea from HMCS Ville de Québec. source: wikipedia - - - - - another biography: The early years: Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf was born in Bedford, Nova Scotia in 1903 and joined the Royal Canadian Navy as a cadet in 1918 to attend the Royal Naval College of Canada in Esquimalt, British Columbia. From 1921 until 1925, he conducted his training with the Royal Navy on the battleship Her Majesty’s Ship (HMS) Resolution followed by training courses with the Royal Navy, as well as service at sea with the Royal Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN). In 1928, he specialized in navigation, attending the Long Navigation Course at HMS Dryad in England, followed by further seagoing and staff appointments with both the Royal Navy and the RCN. In command of HMCS St. Laurent: In 1939, then Lieutenant Commander DeWolf assumed command of the destroyer Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) St. Laurent and participated in Atlantic convoy escort duties, as well as the evacuation of troops from France in 1940. He was Mentioned in Dispatches twice (a national honour for distinguished service) for his leadership in command. In command of HMCS Haida: In 1943, Commander DeWolf assumed command of the Tribal-class destroyer HMCS Haida, a ship that would come to define his legacy as a warrior. Haida was known as the “Fightingest Ship in the Royal Canadian Navy.” During his 14-month tenure as commanding officer, Haida played a role in the destruction of more than a dozen enemy vessels, including three destroyers and a submarine. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for gallantry, the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for courage and skill in action against German destroyers, and two more Mentions in Dispatches for bravery, courage and determination. A consummate leader both ashore and afloat, his exceptional wartime service was recognized with an appointment as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), and an Officer of both the United States Armed Forces Legion of Merit and the French Legion of Honour. He also received the French Croix de Guerre and the King Haakon VII Liberty Cross from Norway. After the war: Following the war, he continued to excel, commanding the light aircraft carriers HMCS Warrior and HMCS Magnificent. In 1948, he was promoted to Rear-Admiral and in 1952, he was appointed Principal Military Adviser to the Canadian Ambassador to the United States and Chairman Canadian Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. In 1956, upon promotion to the rank of Vice-Admiral, he was appointed Chief of the Naval Staff where he served until his retirement in 1960. Vice-Admiral DeWolf passed away in Ottawa on December 18, 2000 and his ashes were scattered at sea from HMCS Ville de Québec in 2001. source: DND-MDN Canada
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