CFB Halifax

CFB Halifax - former Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
HMCS Fredericton (FFH 337) docked at CFB Halifax
Type	Naval base
Coordinates	44°39′23.63″N 63°34′44.69″W
In use	1759-present
Controlled by	Canadian Forces
Garrison	Maritime Forces Atlantic

Canadian Forces Base Halifax (CFB Halifax) is Canada's east coast navy base and home port to the Atlantic fleet, known as Maritime Forces Atlantic.

It is the largest Canadian Forces Base in terms of the number of posted personnel and is formed from an amalgamation of military properties situated around the strategic Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia.

Her Majesty's Canadian Dockyard (HMC Dockyard)

HMC Dockyard was acquired by the Canadian government from the Royal Navy following the withdrawal of British military forces from Canada in 1906. Prior to 1906, it was known as Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax and is one of the oldest defence establishments in Canada, having been established by the Royal Navy during the 18th century as HM Dockyard.

HMC Dockyard is located on the western side of Halifax Harbour at the southern end of The Narrows. It hosts the headquarters of Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT), the formal name for the Atlantic Fleet. HMC Dockyard contains berths for Canadian and foreign warships, Formation Supply Facility, Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott, shore-based training facilities as well as operations buildings for MARLANT and other organizations such as Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Halifax (JRCC Halifax).

HMC Dockyard also has an adjunct facility directly across the harbour on the Dartmouth shoreline with jetties and various buildings, including Defence Research and Development Canada - Atlantic.

HMC Dockyard maintains exclusive control of several anchorage areas within the limits of Halifax Harbour and prevents civilian vessels from sailing in the vicinity of military facilities; a floating force protection boom system is currently being constructed to prevent small vessels from unauthorized passage near warships and pierside facilities.

Stadacona

Wellington Barracks - original were built by George Lang (builder)

Stadacona, formerly referred to as HMCS Stadacona (pre-1968) and frequently referred to as "Stad", is an adjunct to HMC Dockyard located west of the waterfront in the North End of the Halifax peninsula. Prior to the arrival of the French, the location that would become Quebec was the home of a small Iroquois village called "Stadacona", after which the base is named. Stadacona contains the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School (with facilities at Herring Cove/York Redoubt, south of Halifax), the Canadian Forces Naval Operations School, the base hospital, the Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre, and various messes. Stadacona is also home to the headquarters of Land Force Atlantic Area and the Maritime Command Museum.

Gravestones for the casualties of the famous HMS Shannon Capture of USS Chesapeake. The USS Chesapeake (left) and HMS Shannon (right), Stadcona, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Stadacona was built as the British Army's Wellington Barracks, later known as the Nelson Barracks, as part of the Halifax Defence Complex. After the departure of British military forces from Canada in 1906, the Royal Canadian Navy appropriated the site and it was transformed into HMCS Stadacona.

Housing

Housing for CFB Halifax is provided to Canadian Forces personnel and their dependants at Windsor Park, a housing area built by the Department of National Defence in the West End of Halifax. Stadacona is home to the Atlantic Block, a barracks for single ratings. Base housing also used to be provided at Shannon Park and Wallis Heights in the North End of Dartmouth, however with defence cutbacks in the 1990s, this area has been sold for civilian use. Housing is available at the 12 Wing Shearwater site, which is part of CFB Halifax. A large number of service personnel own or rent civilian property in the area.

The entrance to the Stadacona facility at CFB Halifax. This building was demolished in March 2013 following staffing changes at the facility.

Historic structures

Admiralty House, Halifax

Almost all the original Royal Navy 18th and 19th century buildings in the Dockyard were demolished in World War II to make way for machine shops, stores buildings and drill halls needed to man and maintain the hundreds of corvettes being commissioned during the crash expansion of the Royal Canadian Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic. Only one residence from 1814 and the Admiral's Residence from 1816 survived. The Admiral's residence (Admiralty House) in now the Maritime Command Museum. The original Naval Yard clock has been restored and moved to the Halifax Ferry Terminal entrance while the original Naval Yard bell is preserved at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax, a museum which also features a large diorama depicting the Naval Yard in 1813 at its height in the Age of Sail.

Battle of Trafalgar mural by William Lionel Wyllie, Juno Tower, CFB Halifax Nova Scotia

The dockyard was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1923, while Admiralty House was designated a National Historic Site in 1978.

CFAD Bedford

The Canadian Forces Ammunition Depot Bedford, informally referred to as the "Bedford Magazine", is a major Canadian Forces property occupying the entire northern shore of Bedford Basin. It houses all of the ordnance for MARLANT vessels and has a loading jetty and several nearby anchorages.

HMCS Trinity

HMCS Trinity is the name of the organization housed at Stadacona which is tasked with maintaining MARLANT communications with vessels and other Canadian Forces and allied units, as well as developing strategic and tactical operational intelligence for unit commanders.

HMCS Trinity operates two remote radio transmitter/receiver stations near Halifax:

• Naval Radio Station Newport Corner
• Naval Radio Station Mill Cove

Shearwater Heliport

Shearwater Heliport is an airfield located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour in the community of Eastern Passage that supports CH-124 Sea King helicopters used on the RCN's warships based at CFB Halifax.

Formerly a separate base known as CFB Shearwater, the airfield was realigned as part of CFB Halifax during the mid-1990s. 12 Wing, a Royal Canadian Air Force unit that reports to 1 Canadian Air Division, is the primary user of the Shearwater Heliport and is headquartered there. DND properties that were formerly aligned to CFB Shearwater, such as the Hartlen Point Golf Course and the Shearwater Jetty, are now part of CFB Halifax.

12 Wing operates out of two locations with four squadrons:

• Shearwater Heliport
  • 406 Maritime Operational Training Squadron is an operational training squadron for training all maritime helicopter aircrew in the Canadian Forces.
  • 423 Maritime Helicopter Squadron is an operational squadron at Shearwater Heliport which provides CH-124 Sea King helicopters for Maritime Forces Atlantic warships.
  • 12 Air Maintenance Squadron provides aircraft maintenance and engineering support to 12 Wing's operational squadrons.
  • Helicopter Operational Evaluation and Test Facility (HOTEF) is responsible for researching and testing state-of-the-art equipment for the CH-124 Sea King to enable crews to operate efficiently, ashore or while deployed.
• Patricia Bay Heliport
  • 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron is an operational squadron which provides CH-124 Sea King helicopters for Maritime Forces Pacific warships.

Comemorations and monuments

• Provo Wallis St. is named after Nova Scotian Provo Wallis
• Stadacona is named after the aboriginal name for Quebec City
• Monuments in the graveyard to the Shannon and Chesapeake
• Wellington Barracks named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, renamed Nelson Barracks named after Horatio Nelson

See also

• Royal Naval Dockyard, Halifax
• Military history of Nova Scotia

External links

• MARLANT - Maritime Forces Atlantic, CFB Halifax