A nighttime transit through the Taiwan Strait is a test of nerves, seamanship and political awareness in an environment where a slight miscalculation could potentially lead to an international conflict. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s the first night in November. It\u2019s dark \u2013 ink black before the moonrise \u2013 and Royal Canadian Navy Cmdr. Sam Patchell is taking that test. <\/p>\n
His 4,800-ton warship, the frigate HMCS Ottawa, weaves and dodges between dozens of commercial fishing boats and merchant vessels at speeds of up to 24 mph, all the while tasked with staying outside boundaries dictated by international law, including the recognized territorial waters of China. <\/p>\n
The Ottawa\u2019s radar tracks Chinese warships, which, as they try to keep up with the Canadian frigate, are also weaving in and around the red and green lights of\u00a0the commercial vessels plying their trade in one of the world\u2019s most crowded waterways. <\/p>\n
As the captain of a Royal Canadian Navy frigate, Patchell keeps a lawyer and a public affairs officer by his side, because, for Canada \u2013 and other Western allies of the United States \u2013 this is all about upholding the \u201crules-based international order,\u201d and if the Canadian ship violates the law of the sea by intruding in territorial waters, or gives adversaries a chance to spin Ottawa\u2019s course as \u201cprovocative,\u201d Patchell\u2019s 12-hour cruise would swiftly become an international incident. <\/p>\n
And he\u2019s not just acting for himself. A mile behind the Ottawa, a US Navy destroyer follows Patchell\u2019s lead. That oncoming fishing boat might miss Ottawa, but if he leaves too little space for it to maneuver then it will be the US destroyer that could run into trouble. <\/p>\n
There are live-fire exercises, with the guns of three navies trying to blast a speedboat drone to smithereens. <\/p>\n
There are nail-biting refuelings at sea, during which the 440-foot-long Ottawa slices through the waves less than 200 feet away for supply ships as big as 680-feet long (that\u2019s longer than two football fields). <\/p>\n
And there are Chinese warships, almost always on the horizon, looking shadowy as they move in and out of the rain showers that so frequently occur across the warm waters of the South China Sea. <\/p>\n
Other times, the Chinese presence is in the air, and it can be threatening as the crew of the Ottawa\u2019s helicopter discovered when it was twice intercepted by Chinese fighter jets over international waters. The Chinese jets executed maneuvers that \u201cput the safety of all personnel involved at unnecessary risk,\u201d Canada\u2019s Defense Ministry said. <\/p>\n
But it isn\u2019t all tension. There are also barbecues, burgers and beers, a Halloween movie night, and an outrageous crossing-the-equator ceremony, complete with a homemade wooden dunking tub and sentences handed down by King Neptune. <\/p>\n
The Taiwan Strait, the 110-mile wide waterway separating mainland China from the democratically-ruled island of Taiwan, is considered one of the most potentially volatile portions of sea in the world. <\/p>\n
While conflict rages in Gaza and Ukraine, many analysts fear that these waters could be the next arena for war. <\/p>\n
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has vowed to take control of Taiwan, which the Chinese Communist Party considers part of its territory \u2013 despite never having ruled it \u2013 and by force if necessary. <\/p>\n
But the United States is committed to providing the island the means to defend itself, and Washington has been regularly sending warships through the strait to demonstrate that ships have the right of free passage through it under the international law of the sea. <\/p>\n
The November 1 transit of USS Rafael Peralta is the sixth this year by US Navy or Coast Guard ships, according to a database kept by Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. <\/p>\n
Beijing calls these sailings a provocation and a violation of Chinese territory.
The Royal Canadian Navy has joined the US Navy on some of sailings, including one last June during which a Chinese warship came dangerously close to the American vessel\u00a0USS Chung-hoon \u2013 so close that the US captain had to take action to avoid a collision. <\/p>\n
That\u00a0incident is on the mind of the commander of HMCS Ottawa as his ship enters the strait from the south in the early evening of November 1 with the Rafael Peralta close behind. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to get through here safely,\u201d Patchell, the Ottawa\u2019s captain, says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chung-hoon incident is something I\u2019m thinking about.\u201d <\/p>\n
Patchell explains his plan for the 12-hour strait crossing. He\u2019ll stick as close as possible to a line that keeps his ship at least 24 nautical miles from the coasts of both mainland China and Taiwan. <\/p>\n
Although the internationally recognized limit for territorial waters is 12 nautical miles, there\u2019s another 12 outside of that called the \u201ccontiguous zone.\u201d It\u2019s a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d to allow mainland China or Taiwan, in this case, to warn ships away from their territorial waters, he says, but passing ships have every right to be in it. <\/p>\n
Still, the Ottawa\u2019s course prompts a warning from Taiwan\u2019s military, which has ships in the strait monitoring the progress of the Ottawa and Rafael Peralta. A voice over the radio advises Patchell to alter course to avoid Taiwan\u2019s zone. <\/p>\n
But he says his bigger concern are the\u00a0 green-and-red-lit commercial fishing boats that keep popping up in front of the Ottawa. Avoiding a collision with them is Patchell\u2019s most immediate priority. <\/p>\n
He instructs the crew on minor course changes to weave Ottawa\u2019s way between the lights. And as if he were playing chess, he tries to think several moves ahead. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be careful not to solve one navigation problem and then create three more,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Throughout the night, as the Ottawa weaves, Patchell does all he can to prevent his ship\u2019s bow from pointing in the direction of China. That can send the wrong message, he says. <\/p>\n
And as day breaks, and the Ottawa heads into the East China Sea at the north end of the strait, Patchell\u2019s navigation plan has worked. Chinese warships have stayed well away \u2013 and haven\u2019t even hailed the Ottawa by radio. <\/p>\n
There is no Chung-hoon repeat on this November night. <\/p>\n
Though the People\u2019s Liberation Army Navy doesn\u2019t hail HMCS Ottawa\u00a0this time, they are always watching, visible on radar if unseen by the naked eye in the dark of night. <\/p>\n
In fact, the PLA Navy seems to have at least one shadow on the Ottawa almost constantly after the fourth day of the cruise, after the Canadian ship approaches the Spratly Islands, a chain in the southern portion of the South China Sea where Beijing has built military installations on manmade islands in contested territories \u2013 despite Xi\u2019s pledge not to do so and disregarding the ruling of a United Nations tribunal that some of these territories don\u2019t even belong to China. <\/p>\n
China claims almost all of the 1.3 million-square-mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory. But portions of it are also claimed by governments in Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. <\/p>\n
None of those governments make claims as sweeping as Beijing\u2019s. <\/p>\n
And Beijing has no shortage of ships to assert its claims. Xi has overseen a naval construction boom that has seen China\u2019s navy surpass the US as the world\u2019s largest. <\/p>\n
The crew of Ottawa is kept keenly aware of the Chinese presence. Each morning at 7 a.m., a wakeup\/breakfast call over the ship\u2019s loudspeakers is followed by a report on the ship\u2019s situation. <\/p>\n
The type and hull number of the Chinese warships tracking Ottawa are part of that situation report. <\/p>\n
There are other reminders, too. For much of the trip, especially in the vicinity of Chinese-held islands, cell phones are not allowed on the ship\u2019s open decks, in case they become hacking targets. A paper sign on hatches leading to the outside reminds crew members not to take their devices outside. <\/p>\n
In daylight hours in the South China Sea, from Ottawa\u2019s flight deck or outdoor bridge wings, Chinese warships are often visible to the naked eye. At dusk, their silhouettes sometimes give them away against the setting sun. <\/p>\n
On October 29, things take a potentially dangerous turn, one that could have cost lives and ratcheted up tensions in the South China Sea to new levels. <\/p>\n
While searching for a previously noted submarine contact east of the Chinese-claimed Paracel Islands, the Ottawa\u2019s helicopter, with its crew of four, reports two close encounters with Chinese fighter jets, the latter coming within 100 feet of the Canadian helicopter and, on the second occasion, releasing flares in front of it that could have caused it to crash, Canadian officials said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe risk to a helicopter in that instance is the flares moving into the rotor blades or the engines, so this was categorized as both unsafe and non-standard, unprofessional,\u201d says Maj. Rob Millen, air officer aboard the Ottawa. <\/p>\n
The incident is far from rare. US defense officials said in October they\u2019d seen almost 200 \u201ccoercive and risky\u201d examples of Chinese flying in the previous two years over the South and East China seas. <\/p>\n
The Canadians see it also. Just two weeks earlier, a Royal Canadian Air Force patrol plane reported an unsafe intercept by a Chinese jet. <\/p>\n
Beijing has pushed back, accusing Canada of \u201csmearing China\u201d in the chopper episode and\u00a0lecturing Washington on the location of such close encounters. <\/p>\n
\u201c(They) were in the waters and airspace around China, not in the Gulf of Mexico or off the US West Coast.\u201d said a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman on October 26. \u201cHow can the Chinese military intercept the US aircraft and warships if they don\u2019t come?\u201d <\/p>\n
Two radar operators in the cabin of the copter look for warship contacts on their instruments while in the cockpit two pilots search for the long wakes that are an indication of ships moving at high speeds. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat looks warshippy,\u201d they say when spotting something suspicious. <\/p>\n
Day four of the 12-day journey sees Ottawa in the southern portion of the South China Sea, in a warship troika with USS Rafael Peralta and the Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane. <\/p>\n
The three surface combatants line up with Peralta leading and Ottawa trailing for a chance to test their big guns, five-inch weapons on the bigger Peralta and Brisbane and a 57mm-gun on Ottawa. <\/p>\n
But Ottawa has the star player of the exercise, the Hammerhead target drone, otherwise known as an unmanned surface vehicle \u2013 target (USV-T). <\/p>\n
It\u2019s essentially a 16-foot remote controlled speedboat capable of speeds up to 40 mph. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hammerhead USV-T replicates high-speed naval tactics and a variety of operational guidance plans including straight-on high-speed attacks, crossing patterns, zig zag patterns, and other evasive maneuvers,\u201d the UK-based manufacturer Qinetiq says on its website. <\/p>\n
Radio operators aboard Ottawa announce over international frequencies that the drill is about to start, and they repeat the warning at 15-minute intervals as it takes place. <\/p>\n
They identify themselves as \u201ccoalition warship 341\u201d \u2013 that\u2019s Ottawa\u2019s hull number as seen just behind its bow \u2013 and remark how strange it is not to call themselves \u201cCanadian warship 341\u201d as would be standard practice. <\/p>\n
But it\u2019s a reflection of the cooperation being fostered in the region by Washington and its allies and partners. <\/p>\n
The live-fire drill is part of exercise \u201cNoble Caribou,\u201d which\u00a0involves ships and aircraft from five countries \u2013 the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand. <\/p>\n
Units from each of the five move in and out of the exercises depending upon daily priorities. Only Canada, the US and Australia are participating in the live-fire drill. <\/p>\n
As Peralta, then Brisbane and finally Ottawa test their big guns with smoke bursts out over the open water of the South China Sea, the Hammerhead gets ready to make simulated attack runs at them. <\/p>\n
Peralta fires first at the speeding boat, shooting off rounds to test the destroyer\u2019s aim but not necessarily sink or disable the Hammerhead. After a few shots, the US ship\u2019s gun misfires. <\/p>\n
Controllers on the Ottawa start the Hammerhead on a run at Brisbane and the Australian destroyer\u2019s gunners are honed in. An explosive shell disables the remote-controlled speedboat in a puff of black smoke and large splashes of shrapnel. <\/p>\n
But the Hammerhead isn\u2019t sunk and for safety\u2019s sake \u2013 it could be a navigational hazard to other ships if left on the surface \u2013 it must be sent to the bottom. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s Ottawa\u2019s job, but the commanding officer, Cmdr. Patchell, doesn\u2019t want to use shells from the ship\u2019s main gun, which cost more than $7,000 each, to do the job. Ammo from the .50-caliber machine gun on the ship\u2019s bridge wing should be able to sink the Hammerhead much more cheaply. <\/p>\n
After a few bursts, flames pour from the 16-foot drone, quickly consuming it as leaking fuel burns on top of the water.\u00a0 Hammerhead\u2019s bow rises up and it slips beneath the surface, leaving fuel and oil burning for a minute or two. <\/p>\n
Lt. Sean Milley, operations officer on the Ottawa, says the live-fire drill was a success. <\/p>\n
The Americans don\u2019t have drones like the Hammerhead, he says, so US gunners love the chance to be tested by the Canadian drone in exercises like these. <\/p>\n
Ottawa has a range of almost 11,000 miles (17,600 kilometers). That is more than enough to cover the distance it will travel during the voyage from Singapore to Okinawa on this trip. <\/p>\n
But the ship must constantly be ready for all eventualities, says Lt. Cmdr. Christine Hurov, the Ottawa\u2019s public affairs officer. <\/p>\n
So, it keeps fuel tanks for its two gas-turbine and single diesel engines topped up through replenishments at sea, known as RAS to the crew. <\/p>\n
Ottawa takes on average about 40,000 gallons (150,000 liters) of fuel in an RAS event. That\u2019s about a quarter of the capacity of its fuel tanks. It does four refuelings during the trip from Singapore to Okinawa, one from a New Zealand supply vessel, two from an American one, and onee from an Australian one. <\/p>\n
The refuelings are tests of nerves, seamanship, communications and coordination for the crews of both the supply ships and the frigate. <\/p>\n
During the first RAS, with the New Zealand Navy\u2019s largest ship ever, HMNZS Aotearoa, Cmdr. Patchell cautiously moves his ship alongside HMNZS Aotearoa, which at 24,000 tons is about five times Ottawa\u2019s size. <\/p>\n
The Ottawa\u2019s crew crouches for cover behind anything solid as the supply ship fires lines across that will carry fuel hoses and distance markers. <\/p>\n
Once the fuel hose is locked into the receptacle for Ottawa\u2019s tanks, Patchell and his crew try to maintain a constant 16 mph speed with the supply ship and hold the distance at between 160 feet to 200 feet. <\/p>\n
Patchell and his ship drivers are also fighting physics. The rushing, turbulent seas between the two ships are real-life applications of what is known as Bernouli\u2019s principle \u2013 pressure changes due to the speed of the waters could pull Ottawa into the much larger tanker. <\/p>\n
Patchell issues course corrections of one or two degrees to keep Ottawa lined up and the fuel hoses connected. <\/p>\n
The refueling takes about 90 minutes, and when the fuel lines have been drained and the connection is broken, it\u2019s celebrated, as all RAS are aboard Ottawa, with blaring music, on this occasion from Canadian artist the Weeknd, with \u201cBlinding Lights.\u201d <\/p>\n
A later RAS, on a Saturday with the American ship USNS Wally Schirra, is appropriately ended with Loverboy\u2019s \u201cWorking for the Weekend.\u201d <\/p>\n
But the crew of Australia\u2019s HMAS Stalwart probably get the award for music during the Ottawa\u2019s 11-day cruise. <\/p>\n
Midway through a nighttime refueling in the East China Sea, the Australian vessel began blaring \u201cOh Canada\u201d (not the Canadian national anthem) from rapper Classified across the waves as the opener of a set of tunes. Coupled with the glow sticks that help illuminate the work areas on Ottawa, it makes\u00a0the ocean seem more like a dance party than a military maneuver. <\/p>\n
Like the Australians, the Canadians try to make sure there\u2019s a balance to what they do in these contested waters. <\/p>\n
So there is a beer, burger and hotdog barbecue on the rear flight deck.\u00a0For Halloween there are decorations, costumes and a movie night featuring a scary flick on a big screen watched from personal lawn chairs under an almost full moon (and the watchful eyes of a Chinese warship). <\/p>\n
But the highlight of this voyage for many aboard the Canadian frigate is a \u201ccrossing the line\u201d ceremony, an event that marks the first time a sailor crosses the equator. <\/p>\n
Dozens aboard Ottawa earned their spot in the ceremony when the frigate dipped into\u00a0the Southern Hemisphere to the south of Malaysia and Singapore earlier in its Pacific deployment. <\/p>\n
The ritual involves soakings, eating unappetizing food, a court presided over by King Neptune, god of the sea, and eventually a dunking in a specially constructed \u201chot tub\u201d on the rear flight deck of Ottawa. <\/p>\n
At the end, first-time crossers are issued cards to prove their status that they will treasure for the rest of their sea-going days, lest they be sentenced by Neptune\u2019s court again. <\/p>\n
One enlisted crewman describes getting the card as Christmas come early with the best present ever. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s the kind of thing Patchell wants to hear from his crew. <\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t want his crew wound too tight, and he also wants to show that what Ottawa is doing is routine, moving through international waters in ways allowed by international laws and norms. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t have what\u2019s called freedom of navigation operations,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
He goes over Ottawa\u2019s planned route. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s international waters, and we want to go in that direction. We\u2019ll go in that direction, as we\u2019re allowed to do,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t make it a thing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
A nighttime transit through the Taiwan Strait is a test of nerves, seamanship and political awareness in an environment where a slight miscalculation could potentially lead to an international conflict. It\u2019s the first night in November. It\u2019s dark \u2013 ink black before the moonrise \u2013 and Royal Canadian Navy Cmdr. Sam Patchell is taking that <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12435,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-12434","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}