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Hmcs Chicoutimi (Ss 879) | colspan="2" align="center" | | | style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;" | Career | style="background:navy;align:right;" | RCN Jack | | Ordered: | | | Laid down: | | | Launched: | 2 December 1986 | | Commissioned (RN): | 2 June 1990 | | Decommissioned (RN): | April 1995 | | Commissioned (CF): | mid-late 2004 | | Fate: | in active service | | colspan="2" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy no-repeat scroll top left;" | 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: | Six x 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes at bow for 18 torpedoes | HMCS ''Chicoutimi is a Victoria''-class long-range patrol submarine of the Canadian Forces Maritime Command. Shortly after being handed over from Britain to Canada she suffered a fire at sea, which sparked a fierce debate over the value of the purchase of this group of second-hand vessels, as well as the handover inspection process. History Decommissioning This submarine was built for the Royal Navy as HMS Upholder (S40), the lead ship of the Upholder (2400) class of submarines, and served in that capacity from 1990 to 1994. 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 CDN$750 million 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. 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, the hull was discovered to be corroded well beyond a safe extent. Hull valves were cracked, air turbine pumps were defective, and the Chicoutimi had been looted for useable 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.http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=643 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 CDN$2 billion, 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."
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 Halifax, Nova Scotia and on October 5, a fire broke out on board while she was some 100 miles north-west of Ireland. Nine crewmembers were affected by smoke inhalation and the ship was left drifting without power in heavy seas.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3717906.stm 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.http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/06/newhmcschicoutimi041006.html An Irish Naval Service vessel, the L Risn, 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 L Aoife and L 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 L 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 Royal and Irish 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." http://www.hfxnews.com/news.aspx?pname=News&StoryID=22491 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. 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. See also External links * "U.S. Submarine Support Ship Assists Canadian Submarine", Navy Newstand, October 13, 2004.
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