CFB Esquimalt--Dockyard (Victoria)

 naval base  Add category

The Royal Canadian Navy's base of operations in the Pacific is here at Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt.

CFB Esquimalt is comprised of several geographically distinct areas. Dockyard is home to the Pacific Fleet and where the majority of logistics and maintenance facilities are located, as well as MARPAC headquarters.

Nearby is Naden, where personnel administration, accommodation, recreation and Canadian Forces Fleet School (CFFSE) training facilities are located. Between the two is Signal Hill, site of accommodation and family resource facilities. Work Point Barracks is home to Naval Officers Training Centre Venture, Pacific Regional Cadets Support Centre, and residential housing. Colwood, on the west side of Esquimalt Harbour, is site of a fuel depot, supply depot, Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), a Nuclear Biological and Chemical Warfare School and a Damage Control Training Facility. Belmont Park is the primary military housing area. Albert Hill and Mary Hill are training areas used by both Regular and Reserve units. The West Coast Ammunition Depot is at Rocky Point. 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron (whose helicopters can be carried on all major combat ships) is based at Victoria International Airport. In Nanaimo is the 748 Communication Squadron and the Nanaimo Rifle Range. Finally, Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental Test Range (CFMETR) is a maritime test facility located at Nanoose Bay.

In 1966, all the above sites and units were incorporated to form CFB Esquimalt as part of the integration of Canadian Forces.

Ships of the Royal Canadian Navy currently based at CFB Esquimalt include:

Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment: HMCS Protecteur (AOR 509)
Destroyer Escort/Command and Control Ship: HMCS Algonquin (DDG 283)
Canadian Patrol Frigates: HMCS Vancouver (FFH 331), HMCS Regina (FFH 334), HMCS Calgary (FFH 335), HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338), HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341)
Maritime Coastal Defense Vessels (MCDV): HMCS Nanaimo (702), HMCS Edmonton (703), HMCS Whitehorse (705), HMCS Yellowknife (706), HMCS Saskatoon (709), HMCS Brandon (710)
Victoria Class Submarines: HMCS Victoria (SSK 876). [ HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879) is at Esqumalt Graving Dock undergoing refit, and HMCS Corner Brook is also temporarily assigned to MARPAC to assist in training HMCS Victoria crews before she also undergoes refit. ]
Orca Class Patrol Craft Training (PCT): Orca (PCT 55), Raven (PCT 56), Caribou (PCT 57), Renard (PCT 58), Wolf (PCT 59), Grizzly (PCT 60), Cougar (PCT 61), Moose (PCT 62).
Sail Training Yacht HMCS Oriole (KC 480)


Various auxiliary vessels including:
Glen Class heavy tugs CFAV Glendyne (YTB 640) and CFAV Glendale (YTB 641) (250 tonnes);
Medium Harbour Tug CFAV Tillicum (YTM 555) (140 tonnes);
Ville Class light tugs CFAV Lawrenceville (YTL 590) and CFAV Parksville (YTL 591)(45 tonnes)
Fireboat/Yard Tractor Tug CFAV Firebrand (YTR 562) (140 tonnes);
Duty Boat CFAV Pegasus;
Dive Tenders YTD 11 and YDT Sooke;
Six YAG 300 Class tenders;
Sechelt Class Torpedo Sound Range Vessels Sechelt (610), Sooke (611), Stikanni (612), Stikine (613).


www.navy.forces.gc.ca/marpac/0/0-w-1_eng.asp


Esquimalt Naval Sites National Historic Site of Canada

Many of the base's buildings have been recognized for their historical value. Esquimalt Naval Sites National Historic Site of Canada (designated in 1995) is a historic district that incorporates four important naval station sites forming a ring around Esquimalt harbour, British Columbia. These are Her Majesty’s Canadian (HMC) Dockyard, the former Royal Navy Hospital, the Veterans’ Cemetery and the Cole Island Magazine.

The Esquimalt Naval Sites were designated a national historic site of Canada in 1995 because:
- they contain a wealth of built resources, unique among Canadian military bases and sites, and they represent a continuum of defence themes, from the Imperial defence period, through the creation of the Royal Canadian Navy, to Canadian naval institutions in wartime and as a member of post-war alliances;
- they are in homogeneous groupings which promote a distinctive sense of place, and the Royal Navy Dockyard compound is a rare surviving, largely intact, example of the many 18th- and 19th-century Admiralty bases which once circled the globe;
- they illustrate the range of facilities required for the operation of an Imperial naval station headquarters and successor operations of the Canadian Navy.

History

HMC Dockyard was established by the British Royal Navy in 1865 and has, since then, been the heart of CFB Esquimalt. Today it has two major sub-areas: the 12 hectares (30 acres) developed by the British Royal Navy before 1906, and a second section developed by the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War era and consistently expanded and rebuilt by the Department of Public Works and the Royal Canadian Navy.