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Mechanical defects plague sub
HMCS Victoria's problems caused safety concerns, DND documents show
Brad Badelt and Nicholas Read
CanWest News Service
May 12, 2005
CREDIT: Darren Stone, Times Colonist
Long-range patrol submarine HMCS Victoria passes the Trial Islands lighthouse during maintenance trials conducted last August.
Dozens of mechanical problems have been found on HMCS Victoria, the submarine based at CFB Esquimalt, and several were severe enough to cause safety concerns, Department of National Defence documents show.
An exhaust system malfunction "chased personnel from the engine room coughing and choking . . . and again set off fire alarms throughout the submarine before the engine room door was ever opened," according to a document from Aug. 14, 2004, obtained by the Vancouver Sun through Freedom of Information legislation.
It continued: "In consultation with submarine sea-training personnel this quantity of exhaust water leakage is significantly more than on any other Victoria-class submarine. It poses a clear danger to engine room watch keeping personnel."
HMCS Victoria is one of four submarines -- including the ill-fated HMCS Chicoutimi, which caught fire on its inaugural voyage from Scotland to Halifax last year -- the navy bought from Britain for nearly $900 million in 1998. It also is the only sub based in B.C. The others, including the HMCS Cornerbrook and Windsor, are docked in Halifax.
Another entry from July 9, 2004 reported: "It is unsafe to run the port main engine for extended periods in its present configuration.
"A coolant leak into the engine room creates an unsafe working environment by increasing personnel exposure to harsh chemicals . . . and creates an increased potential for burns to personnel. Already, leaked coolant has entered the starter for the high-pressure bilge pump causing dangerous equipment damage."
A third entry reported problems with the sub's refrigeration unit that resulted in "a complete loss of capability to store fresh or frozen food on board."
The complete repair report on Victoria totalled 312 pages.
As a precautionary measure, the 70-metre-long surveillance sub has been docked at CFB Esquimalt since Oct. 12, 2004, after Chicoutimi caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean, killing one crewman, Lieut. Chris Saunders. Prior to that, Victoria had seen active service for about two months.
Former Canadian navy submarine commander Peter Kavanagh, who resigned his commission last year over safety concerns with the training of submarine personnel, called some of the needed repairs "major," saying he couldn't predict "whether or not we will ever get to a state where defects won't be significant." While he added that maintenance requirements of submarines are "huge," and that defects are not uncommon, he said in an interview Wednesday: "I do not agree with senior leadership statements that (the four subs) are superior submarines. I also don't know anyone who has sailed in them that would agree with that."
Lt.-Cmdr. Hubert Genest, a public affairs officer with Maritime Forces Pacific, said Wednesday that while he couldn't comment directly on the statements made in the document, it was his understanding that most of the repairs have already been done. "They're quite old and most of them have been fixed," he said.
He also said that while Victoria was in active service, the vessel performed "extremely successfully."
"She was proceeding in her operational readiness very quickly," Genest said. "She performed deep-sea dives, and the crew was progressing very quickly in their technical expertise and their handling of the boat."
Genest wasn't able to say how much money has been spent repairing Victoria, but said that according to an announcement made by Admiral Bruce MacLean last week, Victoria would resume operations "within the next few days or weeks."
HMCS Victoria's problems caused safety concerns, DND documents show
Brad Badelt and Nicholas Read
CanWest News Service
May 12, 2005
CREDIT: Darren Stone, Times Colonist
Long-range patrol submarine HMCS Victoria passes the Trial Islands lighthouse during maintenance trials conducted last August.
Dozens of mechanical problems have been found on HMCS Victoria, the submarine based at CFB Esquimalt, and several were severe enough to cause safety concerns, Department of National Defence documents show.
An exhaust system malfunction "chased personnel from the engine room coughing and choking . . . and again set off fire alarms throughout the submarine before the engine room door was ever opened," according to a document from Aug. 14, 2004, obtained by the Vancouver Sun through Freedom of Information legislation.
It continued: "In consultation with submarine sea-training personnel this quantity of exhaust water leakage is significantly more than on any other Victoria-class submarine. It poses a clear danger to engine room watch keeping personnel."
HMCS Victoria is one of four submarines -- including the ill-fated HMCS Chicoutimi, which caught fire on its inaugural voyage from Scotland to Halifax last year -- the navy bought from Britain for nearly $900 million in 1998. It also is the only sub based in B.C. The others, including the HMCS Cornerbrook and Windsor, are docked in Halifax.
Another entry from July 9, 2004 reported: "It is unsafe to run the port main engine for extended periods in its present configuration.
"A coolant leak into the engine room creates an unsafe working environment by increasing personnel exposure to harsh chemicals . . . and creates an increased potential for burns to personnel. Already, leaked coolant has entered the starter for the high-pressure bilge pump causing dangerous equipment damage."
A third entry reported problems with the sub's refrigeration unit that resulted in "a complete loss of capability to store fresh or frozen food on board."
The complete repair report on Victoria totalled 312 pages.
As a precautionary measure, the 70-metre-long surveillance sub has been docked at CFB Esquimalt since Oct. 12, 2004, after Chicoutimi caught fire in the Atlantic Ocean, killing one crewman, Lieut. Chris Saunders. Prior to that, Victoria had seen active service for about two months.
Former Canadian navy submarine commander Peter Kavanagh, who resigned his commission last year over safety concerns with the training of submarine personnel, called some of the needed repairs "major," saying he couldn't predict "whether or not we will ever get to a state where defects won't be significant." While he added that maintenance requirements of submarines are "huge," and that defects are not uncommon, he said in an interview Wednesday: "I do not agree with senior leadership statements that (the four subs) are superior submarines. I also don't know anyone who has sailed in them that would agree with that."
Lt.-Cmdr. Hubert Genest, a public affairs officer with Maritime Forces Pacific, said Wednesday that while he couldn't comment directly on the statements made in the document, it was his understanding that most of the repairs have already been done. "They're quite old and most of them have been fixed," he said.
He also said that while Victoria was in active service, the vessel performed "extremely successfully."
"She was proceeding in her operational readiness very quickly," Genest said. "She performed deep-sea dives, and the crew was progressing very quickly in their technical expertise and their handling of the boat."
Genest wasn't able to say how much money has been spent repairing Victoria, but said that according to an announcement made by Admiral Bruce MacLean last week, Victoria would resume operations "within the next few days or weeks."
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