HMCS Chicoutimi (SSK 879)
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| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Type: | Fleet submarine (S) |
| Builder: |  VSEL, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | November 1983 |
| Launched: | 2 December 1986 |
| Commissioned: | 2 June 1990 |
| Decommissioned: | 1994 |
| Fate: | transferred to Canada |
| Stricken: | |
| Career (Canada) |  |
| Type: | Hunter-killer submarine (SSK) |
| Acquired: | 1998 |
| Commissioned: | October 2004 |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | in active service - awaiting repair (Dry-docked) |
| Stricken: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2,260 tons surfaced 2,500 tons submerged |
| Length: | 230 ft 7 in (70.3 m) overall |
| Beam: | 23 ft 7 in (7.2 m) |
| Draught: | 24 ft 11 in (7.6 m) |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h) maximum surfaced 20 knots (37 km/h) maximum submerged |
| Complement: | 48 officers and crew, plus 7 trainees |
| Armament: | 6 x 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 18 Mark 48 torpedoes |
HMCS Chicoutimi is a Victoria-class long-range hunter-killer (SSK) submarine of the Canadian Navy, originally operated by the Royal Navy as HMS Upholder. Shortly after being handed over from the UK to Canada she was involved in a partial flooding incident which resulted in a fire at sea. The incident sparked a fierce debate over the value of the purchase of this group of second-hand vessels, as well as the handover inspection process. Despite all the media speculation, this was later proven to be as a result of an error in operational procedure.[1]
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[edit] History
[edit] Decommissioning
This submarine was built for the Royal Navy as HMS Upholder (S40), the lead ship of the Upholder (2400) class of submarines, named after the original Upholder. She was built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL), launched on December 2, 1986 and commissioned on June 2, 1990. Her commissioning was delayed because of a potential problem with the operation of the torpedo tubes.
Following the end of the Cold-War and subsequent cancellation of the programme, along with the other three vessels in the class, she was decommissioned in April 1994, amidst some controversy, as a financial measure. She and her sisters were sold in 1998 to the Canadian Navy and she was recommissioned as HMCS Chicoutimi. She was named for the city of Chicoutimi, Quebec, now a borough of the city of Saguenay.
The actual agreement to buy the Chicoutimi, and the other three vessels of the Upholder-class, was, at the time, considered to be a relative bargain. Canada would allow the use of Canadian bases for training British soldiers, and pay a total of $750 million CAD on a 'lease-to-own' plan for the four submarines that would extend until 2006, and which included a six-year maintenance contract. After the lease period ended, Canada would have the option to purchase the four submarines for only one British pound.
[edit] Repair costs
The Upholder had been mothballed in April of 1994, and by the time the Canadians agreed to purchase her, she had already been laid up for four years. The problems with returning the vessel to service were therefore, perhaps, predictable. When workers set to work restoring the Chicoutimi, some areas of steelwork, but not the hull itself, were discovered to be corroded well beyond a safe extent. Some hull valves were cracked, air turbine pumps were defective, and the Chicoutimi had been looted for usable parts. Ironically, the cannibalization of the Chicoutimi took place to provide parts for her sister ship, HMCS Corner Brook, according to documents acquired by the Halifax Daily News in September of 2004.[2]
The increased cost of preparing the Chicoutimi for active service in the Canadian Forces has drawn considerable scrutiny in Canada, where public scepticism over military spending and hardware has increased. However, some sources cite the cost of four new submarines with capabilities little greater than those of the Victoria-class as high as $2 billion CAD, while even with the overruns, the cost of restoring the Upholder-class could be less than half of that.
Opposition Canadian MP Bill Casey listed a catalogue of problems that the Upholder class have suffered:
- "They have experienced overheating, they have experienced leaks, they have experienced rust," he said.
- "They have had to have the exhaust valves replaced, which is a huge valve in the middle of the boat which redirects the exhaust whether the boat is submerged, partially-submerged or on the surface."
[edit] October 5, 2004 incident
The Chicoutimi was the last of the newly renamed Victoria-class vessels to be delivered, handed over to the Canadians on October 2, 2004 at Faslane Naval Base. Two days later, Chicoutimi set sail for her new home port at CFB Halifax in Nova Scotia.
On October 5, Chicoutimi was apparently surfaced and running through heavy seas 100 miles north-west of County Mayo, Ireland. Both hatches in the bridge fin lockout chamber were left open, in contravention of Standard Operating Procedure, and an estimated 2,000 litres of seawater entered the vessel.
The seawater created electrical shorting and a fire. Nine crewmembers were affected by smoke inhalation and the ship was left drifting without power in heavy seas.[3] Three of these crew members were airlifted to Sligo General Hospital in the Republic of Ireland the next day, with one listed in 'critical' condition. Later, on October 6, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin confirmed that one of the Chicoutimi's crew, Lieutenant(N) Chris Saunders, died in transit to hospital.[4]
The RNLI lifeboat stationed on Achill Island, County Mayo (the "Sam and Ada Moody") was put on standby to assist, but was later stood down. An Irish Naval Service vessel, the LÉ Róisín, attempted to assist the submarine, but was seriously damaged by the rough seas and forced to return to harbour. The only other Irish naval vessels available to help, the LÉ Aoife and LÉ Niamh were patrolling off Ireland's southern coast. At 2 p.m. local time, the Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose and the auxiliary vessel RFA Wave Knight reached the crippled Chicoutimi, with an additional three British ships en route. The LÉ Aoife later reached the area, and took over co-ordination of the rescue and salvage efforts. Other ships dispatched to assist the boat were HMS Marlborough and RFA Argus as-well as a number of specialist vessels to handle the situation. The rough conditions in the North Atlantic were impeding the efforts of the Irish and British navies to rescue the surfaced Chicoutimi, and a former Canadian naval officer said of the Chicoutimi that "[it's] not [a] good surface rider at all. It’s by no means unsafe; it’s just very uncomfortable."[5]
By the evening of October 7 the weather had abated, and the Chicoutimi was taken in tow by the British Coastguard tugboat Anglian Prince to return to Faslane Naval Base in Scotland. Towing was later taken over by the US Submarine Support Vessel MV Carolyn Chouest, which was able to increase the towing speed from three knots (6 km/h) to eight or nine knots (15 or 17 km/h), and reached Faslane on the evening of October 10. Chicoutimi was escorted into the Royal Navy base by HMCS St. John's, a Canadian frigate which rushed across the Atlantic after the navy learned of the fire.
As well as highlighting the problems with the Victoria class, the incident has also sparked debate in Ireland over the country's search and rescue capabilities.
Following claims made in the Canadian media about the cause of the fire, blaming the UK for supplying an unsafe vessel, the situation was further exacerbated by controversial comments made by Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon. He accompanied his condolences for Saunders with a proposal that the Royal Navy would charge Canada for the cost of the rescue while also stating that Canada as the buyer had to beware. In Canada, many World War II veterans were outraged by his comments, considering Canada's sacrifice for the British.[6]
In April 2006, it was announced that repair priorities had shifted; Chicoutimi would remain in drydock until at least 2010, and would likely not be seaworthy again until 2012.[7]
[edit] See also
- HMS Upholder for other ships of the same name
[edit] References
- ^ HMCS Chicoutimi Board of Enquiry website
- ^ Halifax Daily News: Fourth sub delayed by rust :: PEJ News :: Stories, Features, Opinion and Analysis :: Peace, Earth & Justice News
- ^ BBC NEWS | Scotland | Nine hurt on stricken submarine
- ^ Canadian sailor dies in submarine accident
- ^ http://www.hfxnews.com/news.aspx?pname=News&StoryID=22491
- ^ HMCS Chicoutimi Board of Enquiry website
- ^ Fire-damaged sub won't be operational until 2012
[edit] External links
- Official website
- HMCS Chicoutimi Board of Enquiry website
- Canadian Navy fleet
- "U.S. Submarine Support Ship Assists Canadian Submarine", Navy newsstand, October 13, 2004.
- "Three years after Chicoutimi fire, crew members’ health worsening"
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