Under overcast skies, a cold wind swept across the jetty at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, but there was little that could dampen the mood. Nearly 100 family members and friends gathered Monday morning, waiting for a glimpse of the sailors they had not seen in nearly three months. Among them was Hannah Kruzal, holding her infant daughter Lorelei as the family waited for her father, Kieran Gardiner, to come ashore from HMCS Max Bernays. “She’s just really excited to see her dad. He gets to see that she’s a little gremlin now that he’s home and he gets to play catch up with her and I get a little break,” Kruzal said. For the crew of HMCS Max Bernays, the reunion marked the end of 84 days away from home while carrying out an Arctic deployment. The ship spent much of that time operating in northern waters as part of Operation Latitude, a recurring Canadian Armed Forces mission that helps Canada maintain a presence in the Arctic and keep watch over activity in the region. The deployment also gave the crew an opportunity to put new technology and capabilities to the test. “It feels fantastic,” said Gardiner, who had the honour of being the first sailor to cross the brow and receive a kiss from his wife. “We got to do a lot of really cool things. Go to places that people can’t really go to. But nothing beats the feeling of coming home and getting back to my family.” For Gardiner, being part of the mission meant contributing to a larger effort to understand what was happening in the region and strengthen Canada’s ability to operate alongside its allies. “Everything we did has an outcome that’s greater than I can really describe,” he said. “It was really important that we were up there and got to do what we did. I’m looking forward to going up and doing it again.” For the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Ryan Bell, the deployment was also an opportunity to test new capabilities in some of the most challenging conditions in the country. The crew worked closely with U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. military personnel during the deployment. They also used new systems to gather information from the air and underwater. That included an uncrewed aircraft system capable of conducting long range surveillance, as well as an autonomous underwater vehicle used to collect information from the seabed. Bell said the deployment also produced several milestones for the Royal Canadian Navy, including 19 consecutive days of round the clock icebreaking operations. The crew also carried out extended missions using airborne, underwater and surface sensors in the Arctic. But some of the most important lessons from the deployment were not about setting records. They were about figuring out how to make new technology part of everyday operations. “Because they’re new ships, we’ve only been in commission two years,” Bell said. “Every day you’re going to be doing something that no one’s done, and you’re going to be doing it for the first time.” That meant the crew had to develop procedures as they went, documenting what worked so those lessons could eventually be shared with other ships in the fleet. HMCS Max Bernays is the third of six Harry DeWolf class Arctic offshore patrol ships and the first of the class based on Canada’s West Coast. For Bell, watching his crew adapt to the demands of the deployment was one of the highlights of the mission. “I’ve been so proud of my team,” he said. On Monday, however, the focus shifted away from technology, ice and operations. It was about coming home. For the families gathered on the jetty, the long wait was over. One by one, the sailors stepped ashore and back into the embrace of the people who had been waiting for them.
