HMCS Halifax returns to its home port after six-month tour in the Mediterranean

HALIFAX -- The Canadian warship HMCS Halifax has returned to its namesake port after a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.

Hundreds of friends and relatives gathered at HMC Dockyard to welcome sailors home on Friday.

The frigate, with about 250 crew members aboard, took part in Operation Reassurance, a NATO-led mission aimed at deterring Russian aggression in the region.

The vessel also carried a CH-148 Cyclone from 12 Wing in nearby Shearwater, N.S. -- the third such deployment for the maritime helicopter.

Operation Reassurance started in April 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine.

The frigate HMCS Fredericton left Halifax on Monday to take part in the ongoing mission.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 24, 2020.

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  HMCS Halifax returns to its namesake port on Jan. 24, 2020, after a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.