HMCS Shawinigan and Summerside

Well, today was one of those days where it pays to live in Kingston. We had the great pleasure of going on a tour of a naval ship that was docked in Kingston for one day.

The Commanding Officers and ship's companies of Her Majesty's Canadian Ships (HMCS) Shawinigan and Summerside are visiting Kingston.

The ships arrived September 21 and berthed at Crawford Wharf. The ships are open to visitors Thursday, Sept. 22 from 9 a.m . - noon and 2-5 p.m and depart at 9 a.m. Friday.

The main purpose of the Great Lakes Deployment is to raise awareness among Canadians of their Navy as well as to highlight the many career opportunities in the naval service. The presence of the ship, its officers and crew will serve as a great opportunity for opening dialogue with Canadians who are unfamiliar with the Navy and would enjoy a visit to a warship.

It's not very often that you get to see a warship, let alone go on one. So we took the opportunity to take the boys for a look see. It was pretty disappointing that Lucy was in school the entire time the ship was open for tours and didn't get a chance to see.


When we got to the dock we saw the Island Queen III, which is the ship that does 3 hour tours of the Thousand Islands.

Tours were being held on the Shawinigan and we got there just in time for one to start. Fortunately, we had a lot of rain last night, which made for great puddle jumping while we waited in line.

When I told Max that there were Navy Ships in Kingston for today only he said, "You mean like Battleships?!" And he decided to bring his spotting scope to see if they thought he was a pirate.


We got to tour the Bridge and see the work-out room that they use on board to keep in shape even out at sea.


They have a flag for every letter of the alphabet, number, and symbol you could think of and the reservists have to study to learn what each flag means.

Our tour guide told us that these ships only travel at 15 knots (about 27km/hour) so they're not really fast. They're not used in battle but instead for rescue missions and to patrol fishing waters off the East Coast to ensure proper fishing procedure is being followed. No harpooning endangered animals, etc. There are 6 of these ships on the East Coast and 6 on the West Coast of Canada.

There were many cadets on board as well getting lots of training.

As we got off the boats the boys were given Navy tattoos and Key chains. It was really cool. Max loved it. What a great opportunity.



He really wanted to steer the ship, but we learned that these ships don't use a steering wheel and rudder, but instead use thrusters for more accurate control. Our tour guide told us that as the ships docked yesterday that it was quite the site to behold. They let down anchor and then did the most magnificent parallel parking job anyone has probably ever seen.

Fortunately there was an old-school steering wheel on-land that Max got to check out.


We're so proud of our Canadian Forces!