Charlottetowns
keel was
laid down on 18 December 1993 by
Saint John Shipbuilding Ltd. at
Saint John, New Brunswick. The vessel was
launched on 1 October 1994 and commissioned into the Canadian Forces on 9 September 1995 at Charlottetown, carrying the
hull classification symbol FFH 339. In 1996, the frigate sailed to join
NATO's
Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT) and performed a series of
naval exercises with Eastern European nations. In 1997, after becoming the first Canadian warship to pass beneath the
Confederation Bridge, the vessel participated in US naval exercises. In 1998,
Charlottetown performed another stint with STANAVFORLANT beginning in February, replacing
sister ship .
Charlottetown was incorporated into a US amphibious ready group escorting
United States Marine Corps troop transports near Pakistan.
Mediterranean deployments On 2 March 2011,
Charlottetown left its home port of Halifax to join the NATO-led air-sea
Operation Unified Protector during the
2011 Libyan civil war.
Charlottetown worked in conjunction with an American carrier battle group led by the
aircraft carrier . The stated mission was to help restore peace, evacuate Canadian citizens in Libya and provide humanitarian relief. On 18 March the Canadian government expanded the mission by announcing that HMCS
Charlottetown, in addition to six
CF-18 fighter aircraft and two
CC-177 transport aircraft, would constitute Canada's contribution to the enforcement of
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, aimed to protect Libya's civilian population (
Operation Mobile). By 21 March, the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that
Charlottetown was patrolling the waters off north Libya. On 12 May, the frigate engaged several small boats involved in an attack on the port city of
Misrata. Later that month on 30 May, the frigate came under fire from a dozen
BM-21 rockets while patrolling off the Libyan coast, but no damage or injuries were reported. In July 2011, relieved
Charlottetown, which returned to Halifax.
Charlottetown departed Halifax on 8 January 2012 to join the NATO-led mission
Operation Active Endeavor. The mission was an anti-terrorism deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. At the time of departure Commander Wade Carter said to the media that there were no plans for
Charlottetown to intervene in the
conflict in Syria. The frigate was sent to relieve HMCS
Vancouver.
Maritime security operations Charlottetown transited the
Suez Canal on 23 April 2012 to join
Combined Task Force 150, conducting counter-terrorism operations in the Arabian Sea. She returned to Halifax on 11 September 2012. While on deployment,
Charlottetown was the test ship for the
unmanned aerial vehicle Boeing Insitu ScanEagle. During her service in the Arabian Sea one of the ScanEagle UAVs, which had been deployed from the ship, was lost due to engine failure. The navy later denied that it had been found by Iran, which had captured a ScanEagle drone around the same time. On 27 June 2016
Charlottetown sailed from Halifax to join NATO's
Operation Reassurance in the Mediterranean Sea. While deployed overseas, twenty members of the crew contracted
hand, foot, and mouth disease. In October,
Charlottetown took part in the multinational naval
exercise Joint Warrior off the coast of Scotland. The vessel returned to Canada on 13 January 2017 and conducted a full crew change. During the deployment,
Charlottetown patrolled the Baltic Sea in August taking part in exercise Northern Coast, on completion she transited south taking part in the NATO naval exercise Brilliant Mariner in the Mediterranean Sea in September–October.
Charlottletown returned to Halifax on 19 January 2018, having visited eleven ports during the deployment. In August,
Charlottetown and departed Halifax to take part in
Operation Nanook, travelling to
Iqaluit, Nunavut and
Nuuk, Greenland. In early 2024,
Charlottetown sailed to take part in the NATO military exercise Steadfast Defender, the largest NATO military exercise in 36 years. After returning from Steadfast Defender, the frigate departed in June to become the
flagship of
Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2) in the Mediterranean Sea. In February 2026,
Charlottetown set sail from Halifax to take part in UN Operation Neon, for enforcement of maritime sanctions, as well as CAF Operation Horizon, to promote allied cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. In March, the ship participated in the
Royal Australian Navy's Exercise Kakadu Fleet Review in
Sydney Harbour. ==References==