HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332)

Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship Frigate Warship

Canada | 1994

"HMCS Ville de Quebec became the third of the twelve-strong class of fighting frigates for the Royal Canadian Navy when commissioned in the mid-1990s."

Image from the DVIDS defense network; released to the public.

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one sea-going vessel design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332).

2 x General Electric LM2500 gas turbines developing 47,500 horsepower with 1 x SEMT Pielstick diesel engine developing 8,800 horsepower driving 2 x Shafts under stern; Also 4 x AEG Telefunken generators of 850kW.
Propulsion

30.0 kts
34.5 mph
Surface Speed

9,559 nm
11,000 miles | 17,703 km
Range

Structure
The bow-to-stern, port-to-starboard physical qualities of HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332).

225
Personnel
Complement

440.0 ft
134.11 meters
O/A Length

54.0 ft
16.46 meters
Beam

23.0 ft
7.01 meters
Draught

5,300
tons
Displacement

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332).

1 x 57mm Bofors Mk 2 turreted deck gun.
16 x Evolved Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missile launchers.
8 x RGM-84 Harpoon surface-to-surface/anti-ship missiles in two quad-launchers.
1 x 20mm Vulcan Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS).
6 x 12.7mm heavy machine guns.
24 x Honeywell Mk 46 torpedoes.

Air Arm
Available supported fixed-wing / rotary-wing aircraft featured in the design of HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332).

1 x Sikorsky CH-148 "Cyclone" Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) helicopter). Stern-based helipad and full-service hangar for supporting a single medium-lift helicopter.

ORIGINAL:
1 x Sikorsky CH-124 "Sea King" ASW helicopter.

Ships-in-Class (12)
Notable series variants as part of the HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332) family line as relating to the Halifax-class group.

HMCS Halifax (FFH-330); HMCS Vancouver (FFH-331); HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332); HMCS Toronto (FFH-333); HMCS Regina (FFH-334); HMCS Calgary (FFH-335); HMCS Montreal (FFH-336); HMCS Fredericton (FFH-337); HMCS Winnipeg (FFH-338); HMCS Charlottetown (FFH-339); HMCS St. John's (FFH-340); HMCS Ottawa (FFH-341)

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/27/2023 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

In the early 1990s, the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) began operating the Halifax-class frigate, a group of ultimately twelve-strong, conventionally-powered vessels charged with undertaking various at-sea sorties including both offensive and defensive in nature. Among their number became HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332) which was the third ship of the class. She was built by MIL Davie Shipbuilding of Lauzon, Quebec with her keel laid down on December 16th, 1988 and the warship was launched on May 16th, 1991. Formal commissioning took place on July 14th, 1994 with the assigned homeport of CFB Halifax.

The warship, along with all of her sisters, remains in active service with the RCN as of this writing (2018) and has been progressively updated since commissioning to include greater air defense support.

Background

Maritime defense remains a priority of Canada considering its long-running shorelines at both ends of the country with clear access to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Its commitment to NATO is also at the root of an effective, all-modern naval force and, as such, actions were taken by the government in the late 1970s to build a new fleet of fighting frigates. Origins of HMCS Ville de Quebec begin in a late-1977 initiative to supply the RCN with a new class to feature modest gun (projectile-based) armament with a greater focus on anti-ship and antisubmarine capabilities with helicopter support facilities to boot.

Some twenty ships were initially envisioned as part of the modernization effort and these were to be headed by a first-batch of six warships. The type would be used to succeed an aging line of in-service Blue Water frigates and escort platforms though, as is the case with other optimistic Cold War-era programs, the soon-to-be "Halifax-class" was beset by various design and construction delays to the point that builder contracts were not awarded until the middle of the 1980s. Ultimately twelve ships made up the fleet.

The current fleet is divided between both Canadian coasts: seven are assigned to the all-important Atlantic Theater with the remainder of the group operating in the west.

Structural, Propulsion, and Performance

As completed, HMCS Ville de Quebec features a displacement of 4,000 tons under light load and over 5,000 tons under full load. Dimensions include a running length of 440 feet, a beam of 54 feet, and a draught of 23 feet. Power is from 2 x LM2500 gas turbines with 1 x SEMT Pielstick diesel engine driving power to 2 x Shafts under stern giving the vessel a maximum speed (in ideal conditions) of 30 knots and a range out to 9,500 nautical miles. Of note is that the engines are "raft-mounted" to reduce acoustic signatures.

Aboard is a crew of 225 which includes an air arm as the vessel supports 1 x Sikorsky CH-148 "Cyclone" (or similar) navy helicopter across its stern-located helipad (these were formerly CH-124 "Sea Kings"). Attached is also a full-service hangar facility for at-sea repair and maintenance of said rotary-wing products.

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Armament and Support Systems

The missile portion of the warship's armament suite consists of 16 x Evolved Sea Sparrow medium-ranged, Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAMs), 24 x Honeywell Mk 46 torpedoes, and 8 x RGM-84 "Harpoon" Anti-Ship Missiles (ASMs). Projectile-based weapons include 1 x 57mm Bofors Mk.2 turreted deck gun, 1 x 20mm Phalanx Close-In-Weapon System (CIWS), and up to 8 x 0.50 caliber Browning Heavy Machine Guns (HGMs) for extreme close-in work. The warship's helicopters also come equipped for the anti-ship/anti-submarine role as well as providing an active critical "eye-in-the-sky", over-the-horizon capability. All this is intended to provide the warship with the needed tools to take on most any airborne, sea-based or undersea threat known.

HMCS Ville de Quebec is outfitted with 2 x BAe Systems "Shield" Mk.2 decoy chaff launchers for self-preservation against missile attacks. 2 x Thales SPG-503 are fitted for fire control and the Raytheon AN/SPS-49(V)5 C-/D-band air-search radar is the active tracking installation. Kelvin Hughes provides the Type 1007 I-band navigation unit. The AN/SLQ-25A "Nixie" system serves in the towed decoy role to protect against enemy torpedoes and a bow-mounted sonar unit is used for submarine-hunting. The CAnadian Electronic Warfare System (CANEWS) serves as the Radar Warning Receiver (RWR) component alongside the SLQ-505 jammer suite.

Modernization Notes and Service

Due to her Cold War roots, Ville de Quebec was given a modernization to keep her viable on the changing battlefield. This included upgrade of all major pertinent mission systems including communications, fire control, search-and-tracking, and the EW suite. Modifications were also made to accept the new CH-148 Cyclone helicopter family (this aircraft detailed elsewhere on this site).

Since her time at sea, Ville de Quebec has been actively patrolling vital Atlantic waters to enforce Canadian interests and has undertaken various NATO-related exercises where she has proven her stealth features, seakeeping, and general readiness to deal with multiple threats. She made up part of the blockade force of Yugoslavia during the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and assisted the United States in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Like other Western vessels, Ville de Quebec formed part of the contingent of warships patrolling the Somali coast against local pirates in recent deployments. Another modernization then followed in late-2014, bringing her back online before the end of 2015. A machinery fire in March of 2016 delayed her return in full and her latest recorded actions were in the NATO-sponsored exercise "Trident Juncture".

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Operators
Global operator(s) of the HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national naval warfare listing.

Shipbuilder(s): MIL Davie Shipbuilding - Canada

[ Canada ]

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Image of the HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332)

Image from the DVIDS defense network; released to the public.

Going Further...
HMCS Ville de Quebec (FFH-332) Anti-Submarine / Anti-Ship Frigate Warship appears in the following collections:

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