Royal Navy: Portsmouth engineers help fix Canadian warship inside city's naval base

Teams from defence giant BAE Systems have repaired Royal Canadian Navy ship HMCS Toronto.

The work to carry out an ‘emerging defect’ was carried out on the Halifax-class frigate at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The vessel had recently helped to bodyguard HMS Queen Elizabeth during the Joint Warrior Nato war game, which was also attended by other city warships HMS Defender, HMS Diamond and HMS Kent.

Jon Pearson, warship support director at BAE Systems, said: ‘The support we provided to HMCS Toronto in Portsmouth demonstrates our ability to support allied nations navies with the capabilities we provide daily to the Royal Navy.

‘Not only can we can deploy these services and expertise in the UK, but we can do so in locations around the world from the Middle East to the Caribbean, the south Atlantic, the Far East and North America.’

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As well as carrying out planned maintenance, Portsmouth engineers also refueled and resupplied the warship.

BAE workers even repaired a ‘previously unknown minor maintenance’ issues after one of Toronto’s 240-strong ship’s company pointed it out.

Toronto is now ready to head back out to sea on operations.

She is the third Canadian warships to visit Portsmouth in recent months, following stops by HMCS Ville de Québec and HMCS Halifax.

Both of those vessels had previously accompanied Toronto during Joint Warrior.

The exercise is the Royal Navy-led multinational deployment designed to hone tactics and skills within a war-style setting.

It is seen as a key testing ground to prepare for the deployment of a joint task force led by HMS Queen Elizabeth.

The 65,000-tonne leviathan is due to set sail on her first operational mission in May.

The £1bn warship, accompanied by two squadrons of F-35B stealth jets and a host of British warships – including frigates, destroyers and support vessels – will travel to the Far East.

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