Unalaska, AK – Dutch Harbor played host to a military ship from a different country this weekend. The HMCS Ottawa, a Canadian Navy frigate, stopped in Unalaska on Friday.

The Ottawa was on its way home to Victoria from a six-month deployment in the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia, where it was part of an expeditionary strike group led by the U.S. Navy's USS Boxer.

Lieutenant Commander Brian Costello, the Ottawa's executive officer, said the ship was mostly involved in maritime security operations, which he described as the naval equivalent of a cop walking a beat.

If you saw the Ottawa's crew around town over the weekend, you probably noticed that they were wearing distinctive sheepskin hats with the name of their home country on them. Those aren't actually part of the Canadian naval uniform--they're the hats that the Canadian Olympic team wore in 2006, and were part of a care package that was sent to the Ottawa's crew a few months ago. Costello says that they weren't much use in the blistering heat of the Persian Gulf, but when the Ottawa was diverted from Hawaii to icy Unalaska on its way home, they came in handy for crew members who didn't have much cold weather clothing with them.

"They had no idea what they were going to do with [the hats], and now they're their best friends," Costello said.