HALIFAX -- A Canadian warship has returned to its home port in Halifax after a month-long mission delivering aid and rescuing Canadians from two hurricane-ravaged islands in the Caribbean.
The 230 crew members aboard HMCS St. John's had sailed to South Caicos and Dominica, where they cleared debris, made electrical repairs and delivered fresh water produced by two reverse osmosis desalination machines aboard the frigate.
Sea King helicopter crews also rescued a number of Canadians stranded on Dominica, which was left devastated by hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Cmdr. Gord Noseworthy, the ship's commanding officer, says his crew continued to offer help to Dominica until power was fully restored to the island's airport.
Among those greeting the ship as it pulled into port were Howard and Rosemary Shillingford, dual citizens whose retirement home in Dominica was destroyed by hurricane Maria.
The ship's helicopter plucked them from a ball field and took them to a nearby island, where they boarded a Canadian military aircraft and were returned home to Ontario.
