DAN ENTWISLE

Building work has begun on the first of six new patrol ships for the Royal Canadian Navy. Combining the roles of traditional Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) and Arctic ice patrol ship, Dan Entwisle says the Harry De Wolf Class is attracting controversy long before the first one enters service. The Canadian navy has a tough job to perform. With massive coastlines on two oceans and an ice-bound Arctic maritime area to patrol, its surface ships can expect to be involved in anything

ROYAL NAVY Offshore Patrol Vessel HMS SEVERN is to return to her base in Portsmouth after an eight-month deployment to the Caribbean. The fact that a Royal Navy ship is coming home after a stint in the West Indies isn’t really news. What is newsworthy is that Severn is the first ship of her type to be sent abroad in such a role. Severn is one of four Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) in service with the Royal Navy. Small and lightly armed, she is more commonly seen patrolling ar