Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG 1) is one of NATO’s standing naval maritime immediate reaction forces. SNMG 1 consists of four to six destroyers and frigates. Its role is to provide NATO with an immediate operational response capability.
On Sunday 19th February, 2006 a SNMG1 Squadron called to Malta with the flagship as DDH 282 HMCS ATHABASKAN berthing at Pinto Wharf 2, Valletta. (By that time Valletta Cruise Port was VISET ).
She was an Iroquois Class Destroyer , laid down on 1st June 1969 at Davie Shipbuilding, Lauzon and was launched on 27 November 1970. She was officially commissioned on 30 September 1972 and served in the Royal Canadian Navy until 2017.
During June 1994 she completed a refit known as the Tribal Update and Modernization Project (TRUMP) . She was assigned to Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) missions protecting Canada’s sovereignty in the Atlantic Ocean and enforcing Canadian laws in its territorial sea and Exclusive Economic Zone. She was also deployed on missions throughout the Atlantic and to the Indian Ocean; specifically, the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea after Iraq occupied Kuwait.
On 11th February 2006 she left Halifax for a six month deployment to join the Standing NATO Response Force Maritime Group One (SNMG 1) in Kiel.
She left Valletta on Friday 24th February, 2006 bound to sea of which on Wednesday 8th March, 2006 she lead the SNMG 1 group into Malaga, Spain.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
Published – Monday 10th February 2020
