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Johnson was a fire control technician on board the Charlottetown, and in an interview with an online publication from his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., he described the scene as “extremely stressful.”

Even when you're not on watch, you think of your family

“The first time, we had to get everything electrically safe and unlock missiles so they could be fired if needed,” Johnson told SooToday.com from Halifax, where the Charlottetown recently ended its deployment.

“We had several Russian ships and submarines around us. It’s no secret we were tracking and monitoring where they were going.”

The Canadian and Russian vessels were not in communication at the time, and that Russian fighter aircraft also flew over the NATO force to which the Charlottetown was attached, he added.

“They were very close to us and we didn’t have any communication as to what they were doing in the area, and why they were getting closer,” Johnson said.

“It’s very stressful. Even when you’re not on watch, you think of your family.”

Attempts to reach Johnson on Thursday were unsuccessful.

But Commodore Craig Skjerpen, commander of Maritime Forces Atlantic, painted a very different picture, saying that the Charlottetown’s captain and other senior officers felt the situation was under control.

“It was all professional, and at no time was it at all unsafe,” Skjerpen told The Canadian Press.

“Depending on how experienced you are and what level of training you got, it can be perceived different ways. But from all the senior people on board, those that receive all the specific training, it was not an overly tense situation.”