Starting its active service in October 2013, the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Captain Goddard M.S.M. is a mid-shore patrol vessel. It is one of nine Hero-class patrol vessels ordered by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans/Canadian Coast Guard, in September 2009. Each of the nine Hero-class patrol vessels will be named for personnel from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP Officers), Canadian Coast Guard (sailors, aircrew), Department of Fisheries and Oceans (fisheries officers) and Canadian Forces (soldiers, sailors, and aircrew) who are credited with performing exceptional or heroic acts during their service.
CCGS Captain Goddard M.S.M. is named in honour of Captain Nichola Kathleen Sarah Goddard, M.S.M., the first Canadian female combat soldier killed in Canadian operations in Afghanistan. Captain Goddard was born in May 1980 to Canadian and British parents in Papua New Guinea, and lived in various locations across Canada. Captain Goddard was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for her exemplary service in Afghanistan from January 2006 until her death on May 17 2006 during the Battle of Bayanzi, a small village on the outskirts of Kandahar City. Acting upon reports that the Taliban would be making a large-scale attack on Kandahar City itself, Canadian and Afghan National Army troops deployed to the Bayanzi area to counter fighters massing in the village. As the only Forward Observation Officer, Captain Goddard performed with distinction throughout that day, calling in artillery fire and support from the US Apache helicopters overhead. Shortly after sunset, the Canadian troops moved into Bayanzi. As the Canadian troops started to turn around in the narrow Bayanzi lanes, two rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) struck Captain Goddard's LAV.
