Posted on 02/10/2008 2:59:43 AM PST by Clive
Canadian frigate quietly patrols troubled waters in ABOARD HMCS CHARLOTTETOWN in the Strait of Hormuz - The so-called Filipino Monkey did not scream abuse on the radio and no Iranian speedboats made menacing approaches when this Halifax-based warship transited the world's most sensitive, maritime battle space this week.
But there was a nerve-wracking complication when a prankster who sailors call a Filipino Monkey briefly hobbled the international emergency distress frequency by playing music as the HMCS Charlottetown sailed within 1,500 metres of Iranian territorial waters.
"The potential for trouble here is high because the strait is a very strategic choke point," said Cmdr. Patrick St. Denis, who has been skippering the Charlottetown on a 65,000-kilometre, six-month cruise to the Middle East as part of the USS Harry Truman carrier strike group.
Tensions, which have been escalating since Iran's Republican Guard kidnapped a Royal Navy boarding party in the Gulf last year, rose again after speedboats operated by Iran's Republican Guard swarmed several U.S. warships early last month. As well, someone who may have been an Iranian Republican Guard radio operator or a Filipino Monkey threatened to attack the ships with a bomb very near to where the Charlottetown was sailing into the Persian Gulf from the Gulf of Oman.
Because of these incidents, which infuriated Downing Street and the White House, the Charlottetown and its 253 sailors were on alert as the ship made a sharp turn to port in the Strait of Hormuz in order to stay in international waters. The manoeuvre, which was performed at dusk, is always difficult because there are as many 130 other vessels and small craft in the area, all moving at different speeds and in different directions, in a tiny area where one-fifth of the world's oil passes every day in dozens of supertankers.
Gunners manning battle stations on the Charlottetown's deck wore combat gear as they always do during the transit. But there were new force protection measures, too. Sailors on the frigate's bridge were ordered to don helmets and flak vests so that, if required, they could instantly go to war.
"This is their backyard and they want to know who is in the strait," the Charlottetown's 38-year-old captain said. "The Iranian navy has been very professional with us when we have exchanged identities on VHF radio. Even so, there would not be a lot of warning time, so we have taken precautions."
There was a formula to this cat-and-mouse game for the Canadians who left Nova Scotia at the end of October. The Iranians have routinely demanded to know the name and position of coalition warships, where they are headed and sometimes more specific questions about what they have on board. However, they were usually only given answers to the most basic questions.
"The big threats are from aircraft and from the surface," said Lieut. Colin Matthews, the Charlottetown's operations officer. "When we are here, it is a training opportunity for the Iranians with live assets. We have not seen anything yet on the surface but Iranian pilots have come out on MARPAT's (maritime patrols) flying very low."
Keeping an eye on the Iran military as it kept an eye on the Charlottetown was only part of the Canadian crew's duties. They were on call earlier to assist thousands of Muslims crossing the Red Sea to make the hajj to Mecca and are always on the lookout for pirates and human smugglers. They have also provided close escort for the Truman, whose warplanes have flown nearly one-third of the recent combat missions over Afghanistan.
"At the end of the day it is all about protecting Canada as far away from our borders as possible. That is the essence of what the Charlottetown is doing," said Lt.-Gen. Michel Gauthier, who heads Canadian Expeditionary Force Command, which is responsible for all military deployments overseas.
While Canada's part in the war in Afghanistan has received far more media attention, deployments such as that of the Charlottetown to the Middle East, where it has been part of a 50-ship armada, were a key part of a complex picture, the CEFCOM commander said.
"They're at sea and it isn't that easy for journalists to get to them so it is harder for our sailors to be in the public eye," he said. "But Canadians should know that our Armed Forces are doing more than just Afghanistan and that we consider this important."
Gauthier, who visited the Charlottetown before flying to Kandahar to see Canadian ground troops there, said that the frigate and 20 other navy ships that Canada had sent to the Middle East since 2001 had two, overlapping missions.
"This is part of the campaign against terrorism and protecting the free flow of commerce," the three-leaf general said. "This is in our self-interest, but it also about being part of an international operation. Canada's security at home starts overseas."
It was a theme that was heard over and over again in all the messes on the Charlottetown. "9-11 changed the world and changed the way we operate as a military," said Chief Petty Officer First Class Mike Gourley, the ship's coxswain and senior enlisted sailor. "The threat is real and I believe that Canadians believe that more and more every day, too."
Gourley has spent more than 30 years at sea, and has been on six NATO cruises in the north Atlantic and Mediterranean as well as two cruises to the Persian Gulf.
To prepare for the mission, St. Denis and his command staff, which includes his coxswain, Gourley, travelled to Ottawa to meet with CEFCOM's political advisers.
"This was done so that we can understand the climate," the captain said. "We have very specific rules of engagement that take into consideration the military and political environment."
With about two months left before beginning the long trek home, the Charlottetown has already been involved in several rescue operations in the Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Oman that probably saved the lives of several dozen Arab and Pakistani sailors whose vessels were adrift without food, water or fuel, including a drifting barge that had been towed by a dhow which had overturned, resulting in the drowning deaths of five sailors.
However, the highlight of the Charlottetown's tour so far occurred two weeks ago when the warship intercepted a dhow ferrying 2,000 cases of whiskey with a street value of $1 million. When the smugglers saw what was coming towards them they abandoned their vessel and its lucrative cargo and fled in motorboats. But they were forced to surrender by the Canadian's ship's Sea King helicopter, which scared them with the wash from its rotors.
"We have been building intelligence which proves that the smuggling of drugs and alcohol has direct links to terrorism and we were able to intercept a vessel that was involved in this," St. Denis said. "What we are doing here could stop an IED in Afghanistan. It's all connected. We are fighting terrorism every day."
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To our brother Dominion, this Aussie says Stand Fast!
Petty Officer Gourley after 30 years at sea.
Many thanks to our Canadian cousins and good neighbours.
Cousins and good neighbours bump!
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