In today’s Royal Canadian Navy, life brings modern conveniences, old rituals and hardships far from home

After almost a decade in the Navy, including tours in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific Oceans, Lieutenant Andrew Pink has experienced most everything about life on a ship. He’s handled stormy waters and the monotony of long ocean crossings. He’s overseen drills and exercises, including firing a missile at a drone during war games off Hawaii.

But Lt. Pink, like many on board HMCS Vancouver, a Halifax-class frigate that has spent much of this year patrolling the Western Pacific, is a tadpole – a sailor who has never transited the equator. Shellbacks are sailors who have and they oversaw the Crossing the Line ceremony as the ship made its way from Guam to Darwin, Australia.

Such ceremonies date back centuries and are one of many ways in which life on board the Vancouver still resembles that experienced in the Royal Canadian Navy when the service was founded more than a century ago. Marine technician Matt Jones crossed the line during a previous deployment on board the HMCS Calgary in 2021. He wouldn’t share much about the ceremony except to say, “it’s definitely nice to be on the other side.”

Mr. Jones joined the Navy in 2018. A mechanical specialist, he helps keep the Vancouver afloat and on the move, working in the engine rooms in the bowels of the ship. “Three deck and below is not for everyone,” he said. “But there’s a pride in the belief that we have one of the hardest jobs on the ship, and there’s a huge diversity of work that we do.”

The mental stimulation of solving engineering problems helps break up the long months at sea, working seven days a week and living in close proximity with a dozen shipmates. Mr. Jones’s wife was six months pregnant when he spoke to The Globe and Mail, and he was due to leave the ship early to get back to her.

Only a few years ago, Mr. Jones would have been limited to weekly updates on his wife’s condition, but today, common areas of the Vancouver are equipped with Starlink WiFi.

“WiFi has been a game changer,” said the ship’s second-in-command, Executive Officer Mallory Aubrey, describing it as one of the biggest shifts in her 18 years in the Navy.

Other things have changed a lot too: crews are far more diverse (around 22 per cent of naval officers and 20 per cent of lower ranks are female), they’re more highly educated, ships are faster, safer and better equipped. At times, as The Globe experienced during a week on board the Vancouver earlier this year, naval jobs don’t seem that dissimilar to those on land – lots of meetings, PowerPoints and e-mails – but with the additional stress of being a long way from home, particularly in the Pacific.

Such sacrifices are one reason the Navy is struggling with recruitment, Commander Tyson Bergmann said. “It’s no secret the Navy is short of manpower, and it’s not just us, it’s not just other navies even, but the whole maritime industry,” Cdr. Bergmann said, adding the Navy has tried to adapt by making the service more inclusive, and more responsive to the needs of those on board.

“People don’t join the Navy to get rich, they join to make a difference,” he said. “During Fleet Staff discussions on force generation, we talked about do we just keep ships closer to port? But then why would somebody want to join if they’re not actually going out to accomplish something?”

It was this sense of adventure that attracted Lieutenant Warren Moczulski to the service, even though his first deployment, on board the HMCS Winnipeg, was curtailed because of the pandemic. Like many on board, Lt. Moczulski emphasized the difference in operating in the Pacific, where Canada is expanding its naval presence. “It’s just so vast,” he said. “In the time you cross the entire Atlantic, we’ve barely made it to Hawaii.”

The scale of crossings also places a greater onus on the crew to be able to solve any problems that might arise. In 2014, a fire broke out on board the HMCS Protecteur while the ship was more than 600 kilometres from Hawaii. The crew had to fight the blaze for 11 hours, and 20 suffered minor injuries, before help arrived and the crippled ship could be towed to port.

Cdr. Bergmann said the isolation of the Pacific undoubtedly had an effect on morale, but he felt it “can also have a positive impact, where you know we all really have to rely on each other.”

The ship’s chaplain, Captain Robert Schweyer, is more aware than most of the toll his crew mates feel during long stints at sea. Occupying what was once primarily a religious role, the “padre” as he’s known, is now more like a counsellor, or human resources rep, helping crew with issues both spiritual and practical. “It’s the best job ever,” the former Baptist minister said. “When you’re with someone who’s been a member of the military for 15 or 20 years, and you’re sitting together and see them let their guard down, it’s a sacred space.”

Cpt. Schweyer endeavours to make himself available, taking manual duties like serving food during meal times, the high quality of which is often a shock to both civilians and members of other militaries when visiting Canadian ships. “We rely on the cooks to help maintain morale, so food has always been pretty good in the Canadian Navy,” Cdr. Bergmann said.

James Griffiths spent seven days onboard the HMCS Vancouver in August and September 2024, during which he was subject to a Media Embedding and Ground Rules Agreement with the Canadian Navy. The Navy did not review this article.