CCGS Leonard J. Cowley country of registry Canada
Service
The ship was constructed by West Coast Manly Shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia with the yard number 590. The vessel was launched in November 1984 and completed in June 1985. The vessel entered service with the Canadian Coast Guard in 1984. The ship was named for Len Cowley, a Newfoundland biologist who served with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans as assistant deputy minister. From 1974 to 1981, Len Cowley was a regional director general for Newfoundland. After being employed by the department for 22 years, Len Cowley died in 1982. The ship is registered in Ottawa, Ontario and homeported at St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.At the height of the Turbot War in June 1994, a dispute between Canada and the European Union over fishing rights, Leonard J. Cowley was tasked with monitoring the European fishing fleet on the Grand Banks. During the arrest of the Spanish fishing vessel Estai for illegal fishing, Leonard J. Cowley was used as the command vessel during the operation and her crew were ordered to fire machine gun bursts across the bow of the Spanish vessel. The operation was successful and the nets from the Spanish fishing vessel were later used to vindicate Canada's actions in the affair.On 10 January 1996 the merchant vessel Amphion was damaged in a storm 485 miles (781 km) southeast of St. John's. The ship began to take on water and requested assistance. Leonard J. Cowley was among the vessels dispatched to the scene, arriving on 11 January. The crew of Amphion were taken off and brought to the fisheries patrol vessel while the merchant vessel was brought to port by the tugboat Tignish Sea.On 22 February 2009, the vessel was instrumental in rescuing the 22-person crew of the Spanish fishing vessel FV Monte Galineiro, which was burning and sinking off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador.Beginning in February 2015, Leonard J. Cowley underwent an $8.5 million refit performed by NEWDOCK St. John's Dockyard Limited in St. John's. This was announced by Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, and Diane Finley, Minister of Public Works and Government Services on 18 February 2015. The refit lasted until October as part of the plan to renew the Coast Guard fleet.
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