Boatnerd Discussion Forum

It looks like she's officially trapped in Montreal Harbor for the duration of the winter:

https://news.usni.org/2018/01/19/uss-li ... e-montreal

She has been moved twice in the last week or so, first back to the spot she originally occupied for a few weeks after leaving the Seaway, and then to an apparently long term winter lay up berth in the quay next to Pierre-Dupuy Avenue and the Habitat 67 site.

Although other ships routinely visit Montreal in winter (although with icebreaking assistance at times), it would appear her hull/propulsion gear is a bit too fragile for the conditions.

She turned her AIS back on Wednesday January 3rd.

On Thursday the 4th, she moved to a different Montreal area dock, about 1.5 miles north/downriver.

Probably has more to do with the engineering 'hiccup' they had in the Welland than anything else. The crews on these ships are not trained to maintain them beyond routine stuff, the USN relies on 3rd party contractors to keep costs down, so my money is on a vendor doing some onboard work.

wlbblw wrote:Little Rock's hull is steel. It's her superstructure that's Aluminum.

The independence class have aluminum hulls, the freedom class (lcs 9) have steel.

The lcs 2 was laid up in mayport because the alloy is garbage and was rusting at the weld lines

The Port of Montreal is open year round despite how cold the place gets. It is one of Canada's busiest ports.

Therefore, I do not believe it will lay up there for the winter.

Mike

Little Rock's hull is steel. It's her superstructure that's Aluminum.

USS Little Rock has been tied up at the same Port of Montreal dock for nine days now.

Despite a Facebook post during that time about an imminent departure for Halifax, it didn't happen.

On Tuesday January 2nd at about 8 AM, she turned off her AIS, hopefully just descending further into stealth/news blackout mode, rather than her aluminum hull being crushed by the river ice and sinking.

If this keeps up, could this be the first active commissioned US warship to lay-up for the winter in the Great Lakes system in a long, long time (like 200 or so years)?

USS Little Rock has been tied up at the Port of Montreal Section 33 Dock for three days. The Montreal press seems strangely silent about a US warship tied up at a very visible dock, and the crew had not posted anything to their Facebook page since their arrival, until today:

"After a facing a few challenges while sailing through the Welland Canal and St. Lawrence Seaway, the USS Little Rock LCS 9 crew has made it safely to Montreal. Tomorrow they set sail to Halifax where they will refuel, hoping to clear the ice and get to the open ocean by Saturday December 30."

Here are some pictures of their Welland/St Lawrence transit:

https://www.facebook.com/USSLittleRockL ... =3&theater

Here's a link to their main Facebook page which hopefully documents the rest of her journey south:

https://www.facebook.com/USSLittleRockLCS9/

USS Little Rock cleared the last lock on the St.Lawrence Seaway Sunday morning December 24th and tied up at the Port of Montreal dock at the foot of Rue Frontenac.

USS Little Rock got under way downbound again late Saturday afternoon, December 23rd, headed for the Beauharnois Locks.

It looks like she picked up a 2nd escort tug for this part of the trip, the Ocean Jupiter.

After transiting the Welland Canal during the daylight hours of Thursday December 21st, the USS little Rock crossed Lake Ontario that night without an escorting tug (the Ocean A Gauthier let go at Port Weller and headed for Hamilton). She ran at 12-14 knots, apparently maintaining her place in a line of downbound traffic

She picked up another tug (the Ocean George Bain) when entering the St. Lawrence River during the daylight hours of Friday the 22nd.

After transiting the upper three St. Lawrence locks, late Friday afternoon she and the tug tied up on the north east wall of the Snell Lock. They have been there ever since as of 11:30 AM Saturday the 23rd. This seems a little long for just waiting for daylight to negotiate the remaining four St. Lawrence locks on her trip to the ocean.

Unfortunately for boatnerds, the Snell Lock is probably the worst on the St Lawrence for viewing, with no formal public access and no nearby opportunities for even a drive-by glimpse.