HMCS Saskatoon is a Kingston-class coastal defence vessel delivered to the Canadian Forces in 1998. Saskatoon is the tenth ship of her class and is the second vessel to use the designation HMCSÂ Saskatoon. Named after the Canadian city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, other references to the city are found on the ship with the ships captains desk named Cranberry Flats and a main corridor in the ship named after Idylwyld Drive. Saskatoon is assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) of the Royal Canadian Navy and is homeported at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt.
HMCS Saskatoon (MM 709)
HMCS Nanaimo and Saskatoon off Vancouver Island in 2007
Kingston-class coastal defence vessel
The Kingston class consists of 12 coastal defence vessels operated by the Royal Canadian Navy. The class is the name for the Maritime Coastal Defence Vessel Project (MCDV). These multi-role vessels were built and launched from the mid- to late-1990s and are crewed by a combination of Naval Reserve and Regular Force personnel. The main mission of the vessels is to train reservists, coastal patrol, minesweeping, law enforcement, pollution surveillance and search and rescue duties. The multi-purpose nature of the vessels led to their mixed construction between commercial and naval standards. The Kingston class is split between the east and west coasts of Canada and regularly deploy overseas to West Africa, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean.
HMCS Brandon
The formerly fitted Bofors 40 mm Model 60 Mk 5C rapid fire gun on the forecastle deck of HMCS Nanaimo. One of the two 12.7 mm (.50 cal) machine guns can be seen in the background.
Image: NCSM KINGSTON (MM 700) 1
Image: HMCS Glace Bay (MM 701)