News

Canadian Naval Memorial Project Advances

Halifax, April 16 –The Canadian Naval Memorial Trust has opened a project office and retained Catalyst Engineering Consulting of Halifax to prepare the detailed project brief for concept design of the Canadian Naval Memorial Project and the long-term preservation of HMCS SACKVILLE.

“With the support of the public and private sectors, we are now in a position to engage professional help to advance the Canadian Naval Memorial Project to ensure the preservation and professional operation of the 70 year-old SACKVILLE,” Vice Admiral Hugh MacNeil (ret’d), Chair of the volunteer CNMT said.

Planning for the long-term preservation of HMCS SACKVILLE has involved trustees and other supporters over the years. She is the last of the 269 Allied corvettes that served during World War II and was designated Canada’s Naval Memorial by the Government of Canada in 1985.

Captain (N) Ted Kelly (ret’d), Chair of the Trust’s Memorial Action Committee says the project brief will define the detailed architectural and related elements. The project will be located in the designated Canadian Naval Heritage Area adjacent to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It will include a salt water berth (graving dock) for SACKVILLE within an iconic Naval Memorial Hall and an adjacent Naval Heritage Centre.

The Naval Memorial Project is a multi-year undertaking. Current plans are to have the consultants complete the project brief by the Fall of 2012 and then proceed to the next stage of the project, a national design competition to select an architect. The Trust’s vision is an architecturally-striking, internationally recognized Naval Memorial located in the prime area of the historic waterfront and a pillar of redevelopment of downtown Halifax.

SACKVILLE is owned, maintained and operated by the CNMT. During the summer she welcomes visitors at her berth next to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and in the winter is berthed in HMC Dockyard. Throughout the year the ship supports various naval, community, youth and corporate events/activities.

£50m FOR HMS VICTORY

In a ground-breaking enterprise the Ministry of Defence has decided to transfer the custodianship of HMS Victory, the world’s most iconic ship, to the HMS Victory Preservation Trust, a charitable trust established as part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy to ensure the preservation of Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar for future generations.

The move has been heralded by the announcement of a £25 million capital grant to support the new Trust by the Gosling Foundation, an amount which the Ministry of Defence has agreed to match with a further £25 million. This endowment totaling £50 million, with the opportunity of further charitable donations, will ensure that Victory will remain the centrepiece of the nation’s maritime heritage, continuing as a commissioned ship of the Royal Navy under her Commanding Officer and ship’s company.

Victory will remain the flagship of the Second Sea Lord until, as previously planned, she is made the flagship of the First Sea Lord. This enhancement in Victory’s status will reinforce the ship’s continuing special position within the Royal Navy.

The Second Sea Lord, Vice Admiral Charles Montgomery, said today: “The ship has been at the heart of the Royal Navy for centuries and is symbolic of the fighting ethos and values of the Service. These are as important and relevant in current times, for example in Afghanistan, Libya and the Gulf, as they were at the time of Trafalgar.

“I am absolutely delighted with this initiative. It will significantly enhance the way in which Victory can be preserved for the benefit of the nation and future generations, while retaining her links with the Royal Navy. She will be in the hands of an organisation which will look after her unique status and has all the professional experience that her continued and enhanced preservation requires. On behalf of the Service, I am immensely grateful to Sir Donald Gosling and the Gosling Foundation for their generosity in making this possible.”

“This is fantastic news,” said Admiral Sir Jonathon Band, Chairman of the NMRN. “The National Museum of the Royal Navy is the Navy Board’s adviser on naval heritage and therefore we are the ideal charity to oversee the Trust that will be looking after this world-famous historic warship.

“The Headquarters of the NMRN is adjacent to the ship on a site where there has been a naval museum presence for over 100 years and where the ship lies alongside other heritage jewels such as the Mary Rose and HMS Warrior 1860 in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. The Museum’s mission is both to educate and enhance the experience of the many millions of visitors to HMS Victory by displaying many of the artifacts relating to the ship and the Battle of Trafalgar.”

Talking of the donation by the Foundation in his name, Sir Donald Gosling said: “HMS Victory is a national icon and I feel privileged that the Gosling Foundation is part of this project to ensure its future for the Royal Navy and for the Nation.”

The maintenance of the ship was given a significant boost last October when BAE Systems Surface Ships were awarded a £16 million contract to support HMS Victory. The contract involves the most

extensive restoration since the ship returned from the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and has already provided a greater understanding of the material state of the ship than ever. This work will continue and become the responsibility of the new Trust.

A 100-gun first-rate ship of the line, Victory was launched in Chatham in 1765. Her crowning place in history came 40 years later when she won fame as Vice Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. This resounding triumph for the Royal Navy was instrumental in the defeat of Napoleon; led to Britain’s control of the seas for over 100 years; and provided the basis for much of the prosperity from which we still benefit today.

With the demise of the Navy’s wooden walls, she languished as a training vessel anchored in Portsmouth Harbour. In the 1920s her future was secured for the nation by the Society for Nautical Research when she was brought into dry dock in Portsmouth Naval Base. She was restored to the condition in which she would have fought under Nelson and opened to the public.

The only surviving example of an 18th century ship of the line, Victory has gained international renown and over the decades has been visited by millions of sightseers from Britain and the wider world.

Recent article from “Britain at War”

 

Message from the Chair of the Board Aug 2011

Canadian Naval Memorial Trust/HMCS SACKVILLE Update.
The past year has been an active and most rewarding period for Trustees of the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust as we step up our activities to ensure the long-term preservation and operation of Canada’s Naval Memorial for the benefit of ……

HMCS Sackville Building

15 Trustees of the CNMT attended an event in the Irving Shipyard on Wednesday 09 November, in which a refurbished office building in the Shipyard was named the “HMCS Sackville Building.” The building is being used to administer the Frigate Life Extension (FELEX) refits, in which seven East Coast frigates are being overhauled and their sensors and weapon systems updated or replaced by a multi-billion dollar mid-life refit.

This building is in a very prominent position in the Shipyard, and the Trust is very pleased by this significant honour bestowed by Irving Shipbuilding. As you know, Sackville was built in Saint John, New Brunswick seventy years ago, at the yard which was later acquired by the JK Irving Company.

The HMCS Sackville Building’s ribbon-cutting ceremony was performed by the Defence Minister, the Honourable Peter MacKay. Others speaking at the event were the President of Irving Shipbuilding, Steve Durrell, Rear-Admiral David Gardam, Commander MARLANT, and our Chairman, Vice-Admiral (Ret’d) Hugh MacNeil.
Also present were three past Chairs: Commodore (Ret’d) Charles Westropp, Vice-Admiral (Ret’d) Dusty Miller, and John Jay.

After a light lunch, the Trustees attended a naming ceremony for the first of nine Hero-Class Mid-Shore Patrol Vessels being built by Irving Shipyard. This 42 – metre patrol vessel is named after Private Robertson, VC, a native of Stellarton, NS and hero of the Battle of Passchendaele in World War I. A later vessel in the class will be named after Canadian Army Captain Nicola Goddard, who lost her life in action in Afghanistan several years ago.