The warship is in the midst of preparing to deploy on a new mission to the Asia-Pacific in the spring.

Both the commanding officer of one of the Royal Canadian Navy’s frigates as well as his second-in-command have been removed from their positions just months before the warship is set to take on a new mission in the Pacific.

The commanding officer of HMCS Calgary was removed because of problems the warship’s crew were having in preparing for an upcoming deployment into the Asia Pacific.

The second-in-command was relieved of this duties after he was found guilty of misconduct for his actions in disabling the smoke and heat detectors in the ship’s wardroom so he could smoke. The disabling of those safety systems took place less than two weeks after a fire had broken out in the engine room of HMCS Calgary.

It is highly unusual to remove the leadership of a warship which is just months away from going out on new mission.

Cmdr. Alex Barlow has replaced Cmdr. Jonathan Kouwenberg as commander of the frigate based in Victoria, B.C. Kouwenberg had only become commanding officer of HMCS Calgary in July.

“A change of leadership was required to ensure that Calgary could attain the highest level of readiness prior to deploying in spring 2020,” the Royal Canadian Navy noted in a statement sent to this newspaper.

HMCS Calgary recently completed readiness training in preparation for a deployment and was unable to achieve the level of readiness required, the navy added. “It was assessed that new leadership, in the form of the Commanding Officer, would better allow the ship to achieve that level prior to the deployment this summer.”

Barlow is an experienced, high-readiness commander who officially took command on Jan. 20. He was the commanding officer of HMCS Ottawa, which recently returned from a successful deployment in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Commander Kouwenberg is an effective officer who brings great value to the RCN and the CAF,” the navy noted in its statement. “He continues to be employed and developed as a Naval Warfare Officer and no administrative action is warranted for this situation.”

HMCS Calgary’s executive officer, Lt.-Cmdr. John Forbes, was also removed from his position. The Royal Canadian Navy says his removal is unrelated to the decision to replace Kouwenberg.

Forbes was found guilty on three misconduct charges on Jan. 16. The charges were in relation to an event that took place on board HMCS Calgary while in San Diego, CA, on Dec. 13. Forbes disabled the smoke and heat detectors in the warship’s wardroom so he could smoke, according to the military’s charge sheet. Forbes then proceeded to smoke in the wardroom and by virtue of his position he encouraged subordinate officers to smoke as well, the navy noted.

He was fined $3,000 and given a reprimand.

Disabling a smoke detector is seen as a significant safety issue since fires on ships have the potential to cause extensive damage. Just 12 days before, a fire broke out in the engine room of HMCS Calgary. The fire was quickly extinguished and crew members were treated for minor injuries and placed under observation for smoke exposure.

Since October 2018, there have been 10 separate incidents that resulted in fire or smoke in four different Canadian Patrol Frigates.

No news release about the removal of the officers was originally issued. The removal was first reported Friday by the Times Colonist newspaper in Victoria.

The navy says since the removals did not take place during an international operation and criminal charges were not laid in the cases, then there was no need to inform the public. A message was issued to the crew and fleet personnel, which the navy says is an example of its transparency.

The impact to operations of the removal of the officers is anticipated to be minimal, Capt. Jenn Jackson, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Forces noted. “The management of both events will take a few days to finalize, but once the incoming Commanding Officer is installed, operations will resume as scheduled,” she added.

Jackson said in terms of morale and stability, there will be a period of transition. “Building up morale and establishing trust between the command team and crew is therefore of the utmost importance during this time, and one of the top priorities of the incoming Commanding Officer,” she stated.