The many firsts for HMCS Winnipeg
[caption id="attachment_24292" align="aligncenter" width="594"] PO2 Robert Morris and SLt Phil Hopkins play the bagpipes during the ship’s departure sail past on Aug. 6.[/caption]Captain Chelsea Dubeau, HMCS Winnipeg PAO ~HMCS Winnipeg did something that many ships have done before, and many will do again: depart on deployment. But something was new and different with the Aug. 1 deployment. For one, Winnipeg is the first ship on the west coast to deploy on an international operation since the pandemic was declared in March and, due to COVID-19 precautions, its sailors won’t be able to explore the many foreign ports of call that are usually such a big part of the deployment experience. A few days prior to leaving, all members of the ship’s company were tested for COVID-19 in anticipation of their participation in RIMPAC 2020 off Hawaiian waters, and the follow-on deployment on Operation Projection/Neon. The crew of HMCS Regina was tested as well, as they are also participating in RIMPAC. Mass tests for COVID-19 are a first for the Royal Canadian Navy, but are now part of a new standard implemented before putting ships to sea. Winnipeg also has a new weapon in its arsenal: a Biofire. It’s an instrument that can test for and detect bacteria and viruses – including COVID-19 – from samples taken on a ship. “The ship is a confined space and if there is a positive COVID patient it can rapidly spread,” said Master Corporal Junkyu Lee, a laboratory technician on board. “The sooner we can detect the virus, the sooner we can confine and control the situation more efficiently.”The Biofire setup in Winnipeg is the first instrument of its kind on a Halifax-class ship. Another new piece of kit is the Naval Remote Weapons System (NRWS), an upgraded version of the traditional .50 calibre machine guns...