09/09/2026
Ballast Mystery Solved!
Howie Robins – President (September 6, 2026)
For those of you who my have volunteered during the cleaning of the Former HMCS Annapolis, one might recall a most unusual discovery, ballast in one port and one starboard side in of all places the fuel tanks! No other ship scuttled by the ARSBC had this and nobody could offer a reason even when inquiring at CFB Esquimalt.
The discovery was made in the early phases of the project when several inches of water were seen over the fuel tank and was subsequently pumped out.
When the tank lid was opened, some of the braver squeezed down through the small hatch only to find steel ingots placed at the bottom and along side the ships chime wedged between ridged steel frameworks. Row upon row stacked in opposite direction sitting on top one another and feet deep. Now normally, these tanks are expected to be empty and dry as part of the Navy’s hazards material removal process before the ship is transferred to a civilian group. In this case steel ingots were found tightly stacked. I had a picture one time but can’t seem to find it. Still, I can describe them as being on average 30 inches long, 4 inch wide and 4 inches tall each weighing roughly 100 pounds.
We knew this could never pass inspection so an electric hoist was set up, and each steel ingot was placed into a 45-gallon drum that could accommodate 6-8 at a time. the hoist did all the heavy lifting, and each ingot was neatly stacked manually. Eventually, everything was lifted to the main deck for extraction off the ship. It was a dirty messy job and what was left in the tank was a sludge of rust and mostly evaporated fuel. Going back into the tanks with respirators and fans running 24 hours we scooped the remaining sludge out of each cavity. There were hundreds of 5-gallon pails full of this residue but with patients and persistence the job was done, removed from the ship and inspection passed.
With all offending material gone, the tanks were inspected and certified clean and dry. While the extraction of an estimated 50 tons of steel went to recycling for market value, the funds recuperated barely covered the operational cost and at least 3 months was lost in scheduling setting the project timeline back. But the job was done carefully with a credit to all whole helped in the process.
The lingering question for the longest time was why the ballast was there in the first place. During a recent presentation to former Sea King alumni from 443 squadron, I posed the question and the answer was provided to my surprise. Annapolis as it turns out was retrofitted with a hangar and flight deck which required the re-ballasting of the ship trim and stability. Two fuels tanks, one on each side provided that solution. On top of that, (no pun intended) the ship was also refitted from one funnel to two funnels.
There never was any information in any form that indicated the ship had been modified and was assumed to have been originally built that way, at least as far as I recall.
