HMCS Ottawa (FFH 341)

HMCS Ottawa departs Naval Station Pearl Harbor
History
Canada
Name:	Ottawa
Namesake:	Ottawa, Ontario
Builder:	Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd., Saint John
Laid down:	29 April 1995
Launched:	31 May 1996
Commissioned:	28 September 1996
Homeport:	CFB Esquimalt
Identification:	FFH 341
Motto:	Egor Beofor (Ocean Beaver)
Honours and awards:	Atlantic, 1939–1945 Normandy, 1944 English Channel, 1944 Biscay, 1944 Arabian Sea
Status:	in active service
Notes:	Colours:white and red
Badge:	Gules, a bend wavy argent charged with two cotises wavy azure, over all a beaver or, the sinister forepaw resting on a log of silver birch proper.
General characteristics
Class and type:	Halifax-class frigate
Displacement:	3,995 tonnes (light) 4,795 tonnes (operational) 5,032 tonnes (deep load)
Length:	134.2 m (440 ft)
Beam:	16.5 m (54 ft)
Draught:	7.1 m (23 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × LM2500 gas turbines 1 × SEMT Pielstick diesel engine
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range:	9,500 nmi (17,600 km; 10,900 mi)
Complement:	225 (including air detachment)
Armament:	24 × Honeywell Mk 46 torpedoes 16 × Evolved Sea-Sparrow SAM 8 × RGM-84 Harpoon SSM 1 × 57 mm Bofors Mk2 gun 1 × 20 mm Vulcan Phalanx CIWS 6 × .50 caliber machine guns
Aircraft carried:	1 × CH-124 Sea King

HMCS Ottawa is a Royal Canadian Navy Halifax-class frigate. Ottawa is the twelfth and final ship of the Halifax class that were built as part of the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. She is the fourth vessel to carry the designation HMCS Ottawa. The first three were named for the Ottawa River. This ship is the first named for Canada's national capital, the City of Ottawa. She is assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) and is homeported at HMC Dockyard, CFB Esquimalt. Ottawa serves on MARPAC missions protecting Canada's sovereignty in the Pacific Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. Ottawa has also been deployed on missions throughout the Pacific and to the Indian Ocean; specifically the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea on anti-terrorism operations.

The Halifax-class frigate design, emerging from the Canadian Patrol Frigate Project, was ordered by the Canadian Forces in 1977 as a replacement for the aging St. Laurent, Restigouche, Mackenzie, and Annapolis classes of destroyer escorts, which were all tasked with anti-submarine warfare.Ottawa was ordered in December 1987 as part of the second batch of frigates. To reflect the changing long term strategy of the Navy during the 1980s and 1990s, the Halifax-class frigates was designed as a general purpose warship with particular focus on anti-submarine capabilities.