Heemskerk, Karel A.

He emigrated to Canada with his parents before his first birthday.

He was appointed as an Officer Cadet (ROTP) RCN (With seniority dated 07/08/1970).

In 1970-1974 he served in the Royal Military College of Canada.

He was appointed as an A/Sub-Lieutenant RCN.

He was appointed as a Sub-Lieutenant RCN.

From 1974 to 1977 he commenced Marine Engineering training.

He completed the ashore portion at the Royal Naval Engineering College (RNEC) in England, and the sea portion on HMC Ships Columbia, HMCS Yukon, HMCS Saskatchewan, HMCS Mackenzie and HMCS Annapolis. Upon completion of his training, he served as the Deputy Engineering Officer in HMCS Preserver.

He was appointed as a Lieutenant (N) (MARE) (With seniority dated 01/01/1977).

He returned to RNEC and studied for his Master of Science degree in Marine Engineering, graduating in 1979. Upon returning to Canada, he was the sub-section head for Auxiliary Machinery (Steam) at National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa until 1981.

He was appointed as a Lieutenant-Commander (MARE).

He served in HMCS Margaree as the Marine Systems Engineer Officer (MSEO).

From 1983-1986 he was an Exchange officer with the Royal Navy, posted to the Sea Systems Controllerate in Bath, UK as a Control Systems Specialist.

He helped design the machinery control systems of the Duke Class frigates, the Sandown Class mine-hunters, as well as the Upholder and Trafalgar (Nuclear) Class submarines. While in the UK he became a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Marine Engineers. Subsequently he attended the Royal Naval Staff College in Greenwich, graduating in 1987.

In 1987 he participated in the Nuclear Submarine Option Study, co-authoring the final report, and during this period received a diploma in Nuclear Engineering from RMC. Upon the cancellation of the Canadian (Nuclear) Submarine Acquisition Project in 1989, he initiated the Air Independent Propulsion Research and Development Project (Submarines), where he worked until his posting to the west coast in 1991 as the Marine Systems Engineering Officer at the Naval Engineering Unit (Pacific).

In 1993, he served as the build MSEO of HMCS Regina, staying with her through her coastal transfer, commissioning and first voyage to the Far East in 1995.

He subsequently served as the Naval Engineering Attache in Washington, DC, where he was promoted to Commander. Upon his return to Canada, he was in charge of the National Security Studies Program for the Command and Staff Course (CSC) at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, and made changes to his portion of the CSC program in order to help get it academically accredited as a Masters degree.

In 2001, he went on to serve in Maritime Command Pacific, first as the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) - Formation Technical Officer, and then as DCOS Engineering Operations.

He subsequently served as the Canadian Defence Attache (CDA) in the Netherlands (2004-2007), and then moved to the Protocol and Foreign Liaison Directorate responsible for the Canadian attaches abroad.

He was promoted to Captain (N) (MARE), then appointed as the Canadian Defence Attache to Hungary and the Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Slovenia). (He was retired in 2011.)

He has published several technical papers on Machinery Controls, Submarine Propulsion systems, Mine-Hunter Steering Control Systems and Ship-Board Damage Control.

He was awarded the Special Service Medal in 1994, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2003, and the Canadian Decoration with two clasps.