Irving Shipbuilding has launched its third in a series of Royal Canadian Navy Arctic patrol ships.
The future HMCS Max Bernays set sail in the Bedford Basin on Saturday.
It’s set to join the navy in 2022.
The float-off for the Future HCMS Max Bernays is underway in the Bedford Basin! #ShipsForCanada pic.twitter.com/DWrQyMNhFZ
— Irving Shipbuilding (@IrvingShipbuild) October 23, 2021
The vessel was built in Halifax under the federal government’s multibillion-dollar shipbuilding plan to help with Arctic military operations.
Irving Shipbuilding first started cutting steel on the project to build six icebreaking warships for the navy and two for the Canadian Coast Guard in 2015 with HMCS Harry DeWolf.
DeWolf was delivered to the navy in 2020.
The second ship, HMCS Margaret Brooke, launched this summer.
The Future HMCS Max Bernays has successfully been rolled onto the barge and is preparing for launch! Later today, Max will make her way to the Bedford Basin. If you’re passing by and capture a photo, feel free to tag us! #ShipsForCanada pic.twitter.com/F6CZ2nJJyJ
— Irving Shipbuilding (@IrvingShipbuild) October 22, 2021
The third Arctic patrol vessel is named after Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays who is considered a Canadian naval hero for his role in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War.
Bernays was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal for his actions aboard HMCS Assiniboine on Aug. 6, 1942.
He steered the ship during an attack against a German submarine, carrying out the work of two telegraphers to execute the helm orders so the Assiniboine could ram and sink the U-boat.
