The Navy patrol ship Canada HMCS Margaret Brooke robbery on the morning of Friday, June 14 in the bay of Havanaclose to where the Russian military flotilla that arrived last Wednesday is located, and which consists of the frigate Almirante Gorshkov and the nuclear-powered submarine Kazán, plus two support vessels.
The arrival of the Canadian ship, previously announced by the Cuban Revolutionary War Navy, occurred just hours after the US announced the arrival at the Guantanamo Naval Base of a fast attack submarine.
A dozen warships and planes from the US and Canada, both members of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO), remain off the coast of Cubaaccording to satellite tracking sites consulted by DIARIO DE CUBA, after following the Russian flotilla on its journey to the Island.
The US destroyers Traxtan and Donald Cook, as well as the Royal Canadian Navy frigate Ville de Quebec, participate in this deployment. Included in the deployment are the US Navy’s P-8 Poseidon anti-submarine aircraft and the Royal Canadian Air Force’s CP-140 Aurora patrol aircraft.
Canada’s Joint Operations Command called the Margaret Brooke’s arrival in Cuba “a port visit (…) in recognition of the long-standing bilateral relationship between Canada and Cuba.”
For its part, The Revolutionary Navy defined it as a visit that “highlights bilateral collaboration to contribute to peace in our region.”
The Canadian patrol boat, which arrived in Cuba after spending several days in Key West, Florida, will be in Havana until June 17, the same day the Russian flotilla must depart, presumably bound for Venezuela.
An unnamed Canadian diplomat told Reuters that The arrival of the Margaret Brooke is “routine and part of the long-standing cooperation between our two countries”adding that “it is not related to the presence of the Russian ships.”
Margaret Brooke, delivered in 2021 and commissioned in 2022, is the Royal Canadian Navy’s second Harry DeWolf-class seagoing vessel, and is designed primarily for patrol and surveillance support in the Arctic regions. from that country, although in 2023 and 2024 it carried out operations in the Caribbean.
With a crew of 65 sailors and accommodation for 85 people, the ship is armed with a BAE Mk 38 25 millimeters (0.98 in) cannon and two M2 Browning machine guns. She also has a hangar on board and a flight deck for medium-sized helicopters.
In August 2022, The Margaret Brooke was one of Canada’s ships deployed to the Arctic as part of the multinational military exercise Operation Nanookand the following month he participated in support of first responders after the devastating impact of Hurricane Fiona in Newfoundland, in the north of that nation.
In February 2024, the ship supported the interception of a drug smuggling operation, in which it seized 510 kilograms of cocaine in the central Caribbean Sea, during a deployment in collaboration with the United States.
