Former Cadets: Still Leading, Still Inspiring
From small NL towns to the world stage: Sailors on seven-month deployment around the globe By: Capt Christine MacNeil, Telegram Staff - Published by Sept 11, 2025
Two sailors from Newfoundland and Labrador are among the crew of the HMCS Ville de Québec which has set sail for a seven-month deployment taking part in a number of naval operations around the globe. Sailor 1st Class (S1) Dylan Stephen Antle from Burin Bay Arm, and Sailor 1st Class (S1) Joseph White from Catalina say they are proud to be serving.
The HMCS Ville de Québec is a Halifax-class frigate, the first of three of her class built by Marine Industries Ltd. Davies of Lauzon, Quebec, and designated a French Language Unit. HMCS Ville de Québec was floated up on May 16, 1991.
On its current deployment the vessel will be participating in: Operation (Op) AMARNA, which is Canada’s contribution to strengthening peace and security in the Middle East; Op REASSURANCE, the Canadian Armed Force’s largest overseas mission, contributing to NATO deterrence and defence measures in Central and Eastern Europe; and Op HORIZON is Canada’s forward-presence mission to the Indo-Pacific region to promote peace, stability, and the rules-based international order.
The HMCS Ville de Québec will also sail in the UK-led Carrier Strike Group in support of Op HIGHMAST.
COME ALONG WAY
Antle says he has come a long way since graduating Marystown Central High School on the Burin Peninsula. He was a sea cadet in high school, but his path to the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) really started when a retired CAF member visited the high school and spoke about his time in the navy. Antle says the stories intrigued him and he joined the CAF after high school.
“I am very patriotic and proud to be Canadian,” he said. “I wanted to give back to my country.”
Then-Sailor 3rd Class Antle was sent to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, for his Basic Military Qualification course (more familiarly known as Boot Camp).
Upon completion, he was sent to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden to begin his training as a Materiel Management Technician (MMT). He was then posted to Base Logistics in CFB Halifax, where he completed courses in Control and Packaging of Hazardous Materials, Forklift and Forklift Boom operation, and his Naval Environment Training Program. He completed his next MMT Qualification Level back at CFB Borden, and was then posted to his current position on HMCS Ville De Québec.
Antle has been to sea several times, and says some of his most memorable moments come from being at sea.
“Once, I came up to the port boat deck in the middle of the night on my first sail and couldn’t believe all the stars. It was incredible,” he said.
This current mission is Antle’s longest deployment yet.
“Before joining the Navy, I never left Canada, and now I’m going all over the world to some truly breathtaking places I never would have seen otherwise,” he said. “I’m most excited to see the different architecture and cultures from all over the world.”
LOVE FOR THE SEA
White graduated from Discovery Collegiate in nearby Bonavista and says his love for being on the water came early, as both his father and grandfather were fishermen.
White spent plenty of time out on the ocean.
In high school, he joined the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets at the suggestion of his older sister. He says there were “lots of opportunities for adventures, and it was the best part of my youth.”
After high school, White completed the Commercial Safety College’s Straight Truck program and worked various jobs, including IT, mobile tech support, commercial fishing deckhand with his father, home heating, and as a yardman.
In 2020, he says he took stock of his life and realized it was time to return to the water. With his fond memories of working on his father’s boat, and a brother already serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, joining the CAF was an easy decision.
“To see the world from a ship is a unique perspective, and it feels like a privilege that I have a career at sea, just as my father and grandfather had before,” White said.
As Sailor 3rd Class, White graduated his Basic Military Qualification course (boot camp) and was sent to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden to train as a Materiel Management Technician (MMT). He was then posted to CFB Halifax, where he worked in the Main Warehouse – Receipts section.
While in Halifax, he was selected to participate in the Ceremonial Guard for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo; he also had the chance to take part in the Maritime Career Fair recruiting event in Toronto.
“You never know who may come looking for a job opportunity, and it was a pleasure working with the team and meeting the public, sharing stories and passing wisdom,” he said.
White says home is never far from his mind
.
“Home is where the heart is, and while we who’ve left for work have gone on to greener pastures, we’re forever pulled back every once in a while to appreciate where we came from,” he said. “If you see any nice mummers at Christmas time, I could be the one knocking at your door.”
HMCS VILLE DE QUEBEC
HMCS Ville de Québec is the second vessel in the Royal Canadian Navy to carry the name.
According to the Government of Canada website, on May 24, 1942, HMCS Ville de Québec was a Flower-class corvette commissioned at Québec City, Quebec. Late in July that year she was assigned to Western Local Escort Force and used almost exclusively as an escort to convoys between Boston, Massachusetts and Halifax. In September, she participated in Operation TORCH (invasion of North Africa), employed on United Kingdom-Mediterranean convoys.
On Jan. 13, 1943, she sank the submarine U-224 west of Algiers. She returned to Canada in April to join Quebec Force, escorting Quebec-Sydney and Quebec-Labrador convoys. In September, she returned to Halifax and joined Western Local Escort Force.
In 1944, she began an extensive refit and on her return transferred to Plymouth Command, United Kingdom. She served with that group for the balance of the war, returning to Canada late in May 1945 to be paid off on July 6 at Sorel, Quebec. Sold for mercantile use in 1946, she was variously named Despina (1946), Dorothea Paxos (1947), Tanya (1948), and Medex (in Lloyd’s Register until 1952).