Families were lined up at CFB Esquimalt today, ready to welcome back the crews of Her Majesty’s Canadian (HMC) Ships Winnipeg and Ottawa after they returned from a five-month deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific.
There were two marriage proposals to go along with the many hugs and kisses that highlighted hundreds of family reunions. Both crews had been taking part in exercises with other navies at sea and other key events and engagements in ports across the region.
“I am extremely proud to welcome home the more than four-hundred sailors, soldiers and aviators of HMCS Winnipeg and HMCS Ottawa after their highly productive deployment to the Asia-Pacific region,” said Vice-Admiral Ron Lloyd, Commander Royal Canadian Navy.
“Through their impressive and professional efforts they have reinforced Canada’s commitment to our regional friends and partners as we strengthen our mutual understanding and interoperability to ensure our collective success in the future.”
Crew members worked with regional partners including the Royal Australian Navy, the Chilean Navy, the People’s Liberation Army (Navy), the French Navy, the Indian Navy, the Indonesian Navy, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the Republic of Korea Navy, the Royal Malaysian Navy, the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Pakistan Navy, the Philippine Navy, the Russian Navy, the Republic of Singapore Navy, the Sri Lankan Navy, the United States Navy and the Vietnam People’s Navy.
They visited 14 different ports in 10 countries during their deployment, including:
- China
- Guam
- India
- Japan
- Malaysia
- the Philippines
- Singapore
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- and the United States.
More to come…
