Not normally something that would fall within our remit to deal with Hamilton and area but . . . as Vice Admiral Topshee was almost our guest at our annual Battle of the Atlantic dinner, and as he will be coming back to Hamilton on June 16th for his Change of Command.

CANFORGEN 085/26 CMP 038/26 1213022Z MAY 26

Promotions, Appointments, Releases General/Flag Officers 2026

• Rear-Admiral D.A. Charlebois will be promoted Vice-Admiral and appointed Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, in Ottawa, replacing Vice-Admiral A.I. Topshee
• Commodore P.L. Belhumeur will be promoted Rear-Admiral and appointed Commander Maritime Forces Atlantic and Joint Task Forces Atlantic, in Halifax, replacing Rear-Admiral M.T.J. Kurtz
• Commodore J.L. Murray will be promoted Rear-Admiral and appointed Deputy Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy, in Ottawa, replacing Rear-Admiral D.A. Charlebois
• Captain(N) W.B. Bown will be promoted Commodore and appointed Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific, in Esquimalt
• Commodore B. Vallis, promoted to substantive rank
• Vice-Admiral A.I. Topshee will be appointed Vice Chief of the Defence Staff, in Ottawa, replacing Lieutenant-General S.R. Kelsey

Vice Admiral Topshee will relinquish command to the 39th Commander of the RCN, Vice Admiral Dan Charlebois, on Tuesday, 16 June at 10:00 on Pier 8, directly adjacent to HMCS STAR and HMCS HAIDA.

Our Battle of Atlantic dinner held on Friday, May 1st, at LIUNA Station, was a great success. With almost one hundred thirty present, this was the largest naval dinner in Hamilton for forty years. Although Admiral Topshee was not able to be there, Commodore Beth Vallis, Commander Naval Reserve, was an excellent substitute, and even presented us with a gift, a bottle of commemorative rum.

Commander Bob Williamson, former CO of HMCS STAR, presented us with a valuable resource, a photocopy of the log of HMS WOLFE, from June to December 1813, the original of which is the US Archives.

There is a Hamilton connection, however slight, to the sinking of the Iranian light frigate DENA on 4 March. DENA had been in Visakhapatnam in India for the International Naval Review 2026 from 15 to 25 February. One of the Indian ships involved was the sail training ship TARANGINI. After the sinking, TARANGINI responded to assist with search and rescue.

In 2003 and 2004, TARANGINI circumnavigated the world. One of her stops was Hamilton where she stayed for two weeks to get her hull sandblasted and painted at Heddle Marine, now Ontario Shipyards. TARANGINI and HMCS STAR held reciprocal receptions for each other. Some STAR officers ventured carefully up to the maintop while Indian Naval Cadets stood nonchalantly on the yards above us. The ship’s visit left a strong “brotherhood of the sea” feeling!