HMCS Max Bernays returns to Esquimalt after record-setting Arctic deployment

HMCS Max Bernays is back home in Esquimalt following a three-month Arctic deployment that saw its crew set new milestones for icebreaking and uncrewed aircraft operations.

The Royal Canadian Navy vessel returned to CFB Esquimalt on Monday, September 28th, following operations in the Arctic and northern Pacific as part of Operation LATITUDE.

The recurring Canadian Armed Forces operation focuses on increasing surveillance and awareness in northern waters, including the Bering Sea, while strengthening Canada’s ability to operate alongside the United States in defence of North America’s northern approaches.

During the deployment, Max Bernays operated alongside the United States Navy and US Coast Guard, including through activities under Operation Tundra Merlin.

Those operations included maritime patrols, boarding exercises and air-maritime training in the Bering Sea and Arctic approaches.

Earlier this month, US Northern Command confirmed Max Bernays and the US Coast Guard Cutter Munro conducted a combined sail through the Bering Sea on September 8th and 9th, which included a joint boarding exercise.

According to the Department of National Defence, Max Bernays also completed 19 consecutive days of icebreaking during the deployment—the longest continuous stretch in recent Royal Canadian Navy history.

The crew also tested technology designed to expand the Navy’s ability to monitor the vast Arctic environment, using autonomous underwater vehicles, advanced sensors and uncrewed aerial systems.

Working with Canadian UAVs, the ship operated an Aerosonde Mk. 4.7 uncrewed aircraft beyond the crew’s visual line of sight.

National Defence says it marked the Royal Canadian Navy’s first beyond-visual-line-of-sight drone operations since 2014 and the first time the capability had been used aboard a Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel.

The mission also resulted in the longest continuous uncrewed aerial system flight in Royal Canadian Navy history, according to the military.

“The achievements of HMCS Max Bernays during Operation LATITUDE demonstrate the professionalism, adaptability, and innovation of our sailors operating in one of the world’s most challenging environments,” said Commodore Blair Brown, Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific.

Brown said the ship’s work with uncrewed systems, surveillance technology and icebreaking helped improve Canada’s understanding of its northern approaches.

This isn’t the first time the Esquimalt-based vessel has made history in the Arctic.

In 2025, Max Bernays sailed farther north than any Royal Canadian Navy ship had before, during a four-month deployment that took the crew from the High Arctic into the Indo-Pacific.

This year’s Operation LATITUDE included personnel and assets from the Royal Canadian Navy, Royal Canadian Air Force and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command, along with the Canadian Coast Guard and US forces.

HMCS Robert Hampton Gray continues to support the operation while travelling through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and is expected to join Canada’s Pacific Fleet following its commissioning in Victoria in November.

Max Bernays is the third Harry DeWolf-class Arctic and Offshore Patrol Vessel and normally sails with approximately 75 to 85 Royal Canadian Navy personnel.

The ship was officially delivered to the Navy in September 2022 and is named after Chief Petty Officer Max Bernays, a Canadian naval hero who served aboard HMCS Assiniboine during the Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War.

“The ship’s company of HMCS Max Bernays has every reason to be proud of what they accomplished during this deployment,” said Commander Ryan Bell, the ship’s commanding officer.

“Their accomplishments have advanced our understanding of operating in the North and will help shape future Royal Canadian Navy operations in this increasingly important region.”