Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt (CFB Esquimalt) is Canada's Pacific Coast naval base and home port to Maritime Forces Pacific and Joint Task Force Pacific Headquarters. , 4,411 military personnel and 2,762 civilians work at CFB Esquimalt.
Geography
The base occupies approximately at the southern tip of Vancouver Island on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the municipality of Esquimalt, adjacent to the western limit of the provincial capital, Victoria.
Facilities
CFB Esquimalt comprises facilities that include Naden (formerly HMCS Naden), His Majesty's Canadian (HMC) Dockyard Esquimalt, Fleet Maintenance Facility – Cape Breton (FMF CB), a Fire Fighting and Damage Control School, the Naval Officer Training Centre (NOTC) Venture, and extensive housing including 716 personnel married quarters located at nine sites such as Belmont Park, WorkPoint, and Royal Roads.
The present dockyard and dry dock, known as HMC Dockyard Esquimalt, dates to the Royal Navy's Esquimalt Royal Navy Dockyard (1842–1905) and was the Royal Navy's Pacific Station until 1911. Today it serves as the Canadian Naval Headquarters in the Pacific.
Operational and support units
Major units of the base are:
Maritime Forces Pacific
Naval Security Team
Joint Task Force Pacific
Campus Pacific
Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific) 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron Canadian Forces Health Services Centre (Pacific) Naval Provost Marshal (Pacific) 5th (British Columbia) Field Artillery Regiment, RCA The Canadian Scottish Regiment 11 Service Battalion 4th Canadian Rangers Patrol Group Acoustic Data Analysis Centre Regional Cadets (Pacific)
Historic site
Due to their significance in Canadian naval history, four sites at CFB Esquimalt (the Dockyard, the former Royal Navy Hospital, the Veterans' Cemetery, and the Cole Island Magazine) have been designated the Esquimalt Naval Sites National Historic Site of Canada.
Ships
In March 2013, CFB Esquimalt services the following ships assigned to Canadian Fleet Pacific patrol frigates
s
Victoria-class patrol submarines
Auxiliary vessels
, tugboat
, fireboat
s
CFAV Lawrenceville (YTL 590), tugboat
CFAV Parksville (YTL 591), tugboat
tugs
, tugboat
, tugboat
patrol craft training tender
Orca (PCT 55) Raven (PCT 56) Caribou (PCT 57) Renard (PCT 58) Wolf (PCT 59) Grizzly (PCT 60) Cougar (PCT 61) Moose (PCT 62)
Architecture
CFB Esquimalt contains several recognized and classified federal heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.