According to information published by the Canadian DoD on April 23, 2024, the Halifax class frigate HMCS Regina has returned to operational status following a prolonged period of dockside maintenance.
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Halifax class frigate HMCS Regina. (Picture source: Canadian DoD)
The HMCS Regina, a Halifax-class frigate, has been a vital asset to the Canadian Forces and the Royal Canadian Navy since its commissioning in 1993. Named after the city of Regina, it is the second vessel to carry this title and the fifth of its class, part of the broader Canadian Patrol Frigate Project. Assigned to Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC), its home port is CFB Esquimalt.
The construction of Regina began on October 6, 1989, at Marine Industries in Sorel, Quebec, and the vessel was launched on October 25, 1991. Following sea trials, it was provisionally accepted by the navy on March 2, 1994, and officially commissioned on September 30, 1994, bearing the hull classification symbol FFH 334.
Regina's early operational history includes participating in a deployment to Southeast Asia in May 1995 alongside its sister ship, Vancouver. The following year, it joined a task group including the auxiliary ship Protecteur, the destroyer Algonquin, and the frigate Winnipeg, traveling to the Eastern Pacific for further exercises.
This deployment marked a historic visit to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — the first by a North American warship since the Vietnam War. The task group also took part in the RIMPAC naval exercise near Hawaii.
In 1997, Regina was deployed to the Persian Gulf to join a U.S. Navy carrier battle group as part of efforts to enforce trade sanctions on Iraq. It returned to the Persian Gulf in 1999 with the USS Constellation carrier battle group to continue sanction enforcement duties.
In 2003, as part of Operation Apollo, Regina was deployed to the Indian Ocean to support coalition efforts in the War in Afghanistan. It returned to its duties in the Arabian Sea in July 2012, joining Combined Task Force 150, and completed its mission there in March 2013.
Regina continued its active service with visits and deployments, including a goodwill visit to Manila, Philippines in 2013, and operations off the coast of Somalia in 2014 as part of Operation Artemis. In response to the crisis in Ukraine, it was dispatched to assist in NATO operations in 2014.
After undergoing a FELEX refit, Regina resumed service in April 2016. In 2019, alongside the supply ship Asterix, it set out from Esquimalt for operations in the Pacific. During this deployment, Regina participated in multiple drug interdictions in the Indian Ocean, seizing significant quantities of hashish and heroin.
It also engaged in freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and contributed to enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea as part of its extensive operational commitments.
