page_title: HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338)
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338) / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: English: 090702-N-2638R-002 PACIFIC OCEAN (July 2, 2009) The Canadian Navy Halifax class frigate HMCS Winnipeg (FFH-338) is underway alongside the guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG-89), during a leap frog training evolution designed to practice approaching ships for underway replenishments.
context_page_description: HMCS Winnipeg is a Halifax-class frigate that has served in the Royal Canadian Navy since 1996. Winnipeg is the ninth ship in her class, whose design emerged from the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the second Canadian warship to carry the name HMCS Winnipeg. Winnipeg serves on Canadian Forces MARPAC missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Pacific Ocean and the Arctic Ocean and in enforcing Canadian laws on its territorial oceans and Exclusive Economic Zone. The vessel has been deployed on missions throughout the Pacific, and also to the Indian Ocean; specifically on anti-terrorism operations in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and counter-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia. The ship is assigned to the Maritime Forces Pacific, and she has her home port at the Canadian Forces Maritime Base at Esquimalt.
context_section_description: Winnipeg's keel was laid down on 20 March 1993 by Saint John Shipbuilding Company at their shipyard in Saint John, New Brunswick. Her engine room modules were constructed at Georgetown, Prince Edward Island and transported to Saint John to be incorporated into the rest of the vessel. The ship was launched on 5 December 1993. The vessel departed Halifax, Nova Scotia on 16 January 1995, sailing to West Coast of Canada. Arriving at Esquimalt, British Columbia, the warship was commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 23 June 1995, and carries the hull classification symbol FFH 338.
  In 1996, Winnipeg participated in the multi-national naval exercise RIMPAC 96 in coastal waters off Hawaii. Beginning on 1 April 1997, the frigate joined NATO's Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) for four months. In 1998, Winnipeg participated in the South American naval exercise UNITAS. In March 2001, Winnipeg integrated into the USS Constellation Carrier Battle Group in the Persian Gulf. As part of the carrier battle group, the frigate enforced sanctions against Iraq for six months, returning to Esquimalt on 14 September.
  The frigate was deployed as part of Operation Apollo, Canada's contribution to the War in Afghanistan. The ship was in theatre from 15 September 2002 to 2 May 2003 performing fleet support missions and maritime interdiction operations.
  In April 2009, Winnipeg was deployed to the Gulf of Aden to escort United Nations ships carrying famine, plague, and overpopulation relief supplies to East Africa for ten weeks. After escorting a World Food program ship, Winnipeg came across a pirate attack on the Norwegian tanker MV Front Ardenne. Winnipeg captured the pirates, but they were later released due to Canadian law preventing prosecution.
  On 12 August 2010, the frigate intercepted MV Sun Sea, a Thailand-flagged ship carrying Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka, off the coast of British Columbia.
  In April 2012 Winnipeg was turned over to Seaspan Marine Corporation's Victoria Shipyards, to start an 18-month mid-life upgrading and modernization. On 10 April 2013 Winnipeg was returned to the Royal Canadian Navy to finish the midlife refit.
  On 23 April 2013, Winnipeg was rammed while docked at CFB Esquimalt, by American sea trawler American Dynasty of the American Seafoods Company. Six people were injured. American Dynasty was being towed to the graving dock for repairs when the fishing vessel accelerated and veered to starboard, hitting the frigate. The resulting investigation found fault with the crew of the fishing vessel and their equipment. Winnipeg, accompanied by Calgary, Yellowknife and Brandon, departed in October 2014 to take part the Task Group Exercise with the US and Japanese Navies in American coastal waters.
  In January 2015, Winnipeg was deployed in the eastern Pacific as part of Operation Caribbe 2015, part of a joint multinational effort to eliminate illegal trafficking through the waters around Central America and the Caribbean nations. Winnipeg was deployed to Operation Caribbe for three weeks in June, after which the ship transited the Panama Canal to join NATO's Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship left the Mediterranean headed towards the Pacific after being relieved by sister ship Fredericton. In January 2016, she made port visits to Penang, the first Royal Canadian Navy ship to do so, and Singapore. Winnipeg returned to Esquimalt on 23 February.
  Winnipeg and sister ship Ottawa sailed from Esquimalt on 6 March 2017 for six-month deployment visiting several nations around the Pacific, including Malaysia, India, China and Japan among others, returning on 8 August.
caption: Winnipeg performing underway replenishment training with the destroyer USS Mustin
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "PACIFIC OCEAN (July 2, 2009) - Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mustin (DDG 89), left, sails alongside Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Winnipeg (FFH 338), right, during a leap frog training evolution designed to practice approaching ships for underway replenishments. Mustin is one of seven Arleigh Burke-class destroyers assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15 and operates out of Yokosuka, Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Bryan Reckard", "Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D300", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh", "Image DateTime": "2009:07:06 12:23:21", "Image Artist": "Bryan Reckard", "Image WhitePoint": "[313/1000, 329/1000]", "Image PrimaryChromaticities": "[16/25, 33/100, 21/100, 71/100, 3/20, 3/50]", "Image YCbCrCoefficients": "[299/1000, 587/1000, 57/500]", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "892", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "Image GPSInfo": "1512", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1626", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5297", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "22", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "250", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2009:07:02 10:23:40", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2009:07:02 10:23:40", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "4", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "12", "EXIF SubSecTime": "25", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "25", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2100", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1500", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R03", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1480", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "18", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF Gamma": "11/5"}