Ramp ceremony held for Canadian sailor

More than 1,500 Canadian and NATO personnel attended a ramp ceremony early Wednesday to honour a Canadian sailor who was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan.

The body of Petty Officer 2nd class Craig Blake is on its way home

Blake, 37, was killed Monday while working in the Panjwaii district, about 25 kilometres southwest of Kandahar city.

The Simcoe, Ont., native was returning to camp Monday afternoon after successfully disposing of another IED when the blast went off. The married father of two was serving his first tour of duty in Afghanistan and had been in the country only a few weeks when he was killed.

Blake served with the Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic, based in Nova Scotia.

According to navy officials, Blake is the first sailor to die in action since October 2004, when Lt. Chris Saunders was killed aboard a submarine en route to Halifax.

Blake had 10 years of experience working as a clearance diver for the Canadian Forces, said Capt. Stuart Moors, the assistant chief of staff for personnel and training for Maritime Forces Atlantic.

Moors said clearance divers are responsible for defusing explosive devices that are underwater and can be called on to deactivate explosives that have washed up on shore and been found by civilians.

Blake's brother, Chris, said Tuesday that Blake was a sailor first and foremost and was apprehensive about serving in Afghanistan, but knew his bomb disposal expertise meant it was something he had to do.

"When it came to Afghanistan, I don't believe he was totally motivated to get out there and be the first one to volunteer — he was a sailor first," Chris Blake said in an interview from Ottawa.

"[But] being in the ordnance and bomb disposal and everything he was trained for, he also knew that this was part of his calling."

Blake's death brings to 143 the number of Canadian Forces members who have died as part of the eight-year-old Afghan mission.