Damn.

the West Edmonton Mal has more, and newer, submarines than our Navy.

Thank you Canadian Liberal Party. Helicopters that can't fly, submarines that can't float. 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20041006.w3subs1006/BNStory/Front/

By ALLISON DUNFIELD and DARREN YOURK
Globe and Mail Update

Prime Minister Paul Martin has confirmed that one crew member from the stricken submarine HMCS Chicoutimi has died. He identified the crewman as Lieut. Chris Saunders.

"We pay him homage and we make known our deep respect to his family," Mr. Martin said in the Commons.

While a briefing on the submariners' fate is expected later Wednesday evening, Mike Bonin, a spokesman for the Canadian Navy, told globeandmail.com that the remaining airlifted crew members are now at a hospital in the Republic of Ireland receiving treatment.

"We are waiting to contact all next of kin before we can give any further information," he said.

BBC reported that the men are receiving treatment at a hospital in Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland.

Meanwhile, in Ottawa Wednesday, the federal government defended the purchase of the submarine from Britain that caught fire and stranded its crew in the North Atlantic Tuesday, saying the blaze was an isolated setback and the vessel will "serve Canada well" in the long run.

When the fire broke out on HMCS Chicoutimi Tuesday, nine crew members suffered smoke inhalation and the vessel lost power. The submarine remained adrift in the rough waters of the North Atlantic on Wednesday, with officials saying the "major fire" inflicted more damage on the vessel than originally thought, although a British frigate is now alongside it and as soon as seas calm down, it will be towed to port in Scotland.

Prime Minister Paul Martin told the House of Commons earlier Wednesday that he spoke with Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, on Wednesday morning and was assured that the crew has plenty of food and heat .

The submarine was the last of four purchased from Britain by Canada and it was on its maiden voyage from Faslane, Ireland to Halifax.

During Question Period, opposition parties attacked the government for putting its Canadian navy in danger by purchasing the faulty subs.

NDP MP Bill Blaikie asked Defence Minister Bill Graham whether there is "an intention on the part of the government to go after the British government for having sold us this equipment in the first place, [and] go after them for the costs associated with what are obviously inferior submarines?"

Mr. Graham said any considerations of taking legal action come second to the safety and well-being of the crew.

"These are submarines that were acquired by the navy because they are going to serve Canada well in this program. We will be, of course, looking at remedies, but this is not the time to discuss legal action," he said.

Cmdre. Pile told a press conference Wednesday that two fires broke out aboard the Chicoutimi on Tuesday, inflicting enough damage to make restoring propulsion to the vessel unlikely.

"Information received overnight clearly indicates that the damage caused by the fire was more extensive than first thought," Cmdre. Pile said. "We still do not know where the fire started, but it did cause significant damage to the commanding officer's cabin and the electrical equipment room."

The two locations are located on separate decks within the vessel. Cmdre. Pile said most of the submarine's portable fire-fighting equipment had to be used to put it out.

A second smaller fire broke out in one of the Chicoutimi's oxygen generators, but the crew was able to put it out quickly. Cmdre. Pile said the two fires were unrelated.

Two tugs are currently en route to the scene, but difficult weather conditions make Friday the earliest window for the sub to be towed to Faslane, Scotland, for repairs.

"It is becoming apparent that the restoration of propulsion in Chicoutimi is unlikely," Cmdre. Pile said. "The option to tow the boat will be undertaken as soon as conditions permit."

The tow back to port could take as long as three days.

The Chicoutimi, which the British navy launched 18 years ago as the Upholder and then mothballed, was on its maiden voyage under a Canadian flag. The vessel left the British naval base at Faslane, after a renaming ceremony Saturday was due in Halifax on Oct. 18.

Chicoutimi is the last of four former British subs to be turned over to Canada. The British built only the four before London decided to phase them out in a post-Cold-War economic move.

The Liberal government bought them in 1998 for a fraction of the cost of new subs, but the deal has been controversial.

The Victoria-class boats sprang leaks and required expensive refits that delayed their delivery. Defence officials in Ottawa have also said the operating costs are likely to be 25 per cent higher than original estimates.

Mr. Graham said Wednesday that he was assured that HMCS Chicoutimi left port in Canada in appropriate naval condition and that appropriate procedures were followed at all times.

"I am assured by our naval experts that these submarines are being worked in [to the Canadian fleet] to build a better navy for Canada."

He said Tuesday that a naval inquiry will be held, but he expects the subs will continue patrol duty against potential intruders into Canadian waters off the east and west coasts.

Death on the Chicoutimi

The questions: Ottawa struggles to explain how minor problem became major
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20041007/SUBMAIN07/TPFront/TopStories

By JEFF SALLOT
Thursday, October 7, 2004 - Page A1

OTTAWA -- Senior defence officials were at a loss last night to explain how what they originally believed to be a relatively minor fire aboard a Canadian submarine turned to tragedy in which one sailor died and two others were receiving emergency medical treatment at an Irish hospital.

"The situation has developed a little more tragically than we had anticipated," General Ray Henault, the chief of the defence staff, said last night.

Navy Lieutenant Chris Saunders, the submariner who died, had originally been reported as among nine sailors aboard HMCS Chicoutimi to have suffered smoke inhalation fighting an electrical fire.

None of the injuries was life threatening, Defence Minister Bill Graham and other officials said Tuesday, just hours after the fire had been extinguished.

Yesterday, however, "the situation developed very quickly" and Lt. Saunders's medical situation took a turn for the worse, Gen. Henault said in Ottawa.

The cause of death has not yet been determined, he added.

"We're still gathering information about this terrible incident but I wanted you to be aware of this loss as soon as possible."

On Tuesday, officers at Atlantic maritime command in Halifax characterized the fire as a frightening event -- any fire aboard a submarine is cause for concern -- but said the damage was contained in the immediate area of an electrical panel where the fire first erupted.

"A fire at sea . . . is always a very traumatic and dramatic event," Gen. Henault said.

"They [the crew] took the initial steps to bring that fire under control," he said. "That's a credit to their training and also their discipline."

Yesterday, Commodore Tyrone Pile, the chief of the Atlantic command, said the fire caused "extensive damage" to compartments on two separate decks as it spread through the wiring.

It started in the electrical equipment room and then spread to the captain's quarters on the deck below, Cmdre. Pile said. The crew used up almost all of the ship's fire extinguishing chemicals to put the blaze out.

Gen. Henault, Canada's top military officer, said there was no attempt to play down the events on Tuesday. But initial communication with the stricken sub was spotty.

The fire knocked out most of the electrical power and thus the skipper, Captain Luc Pelletier, had to communicate with Halifax using a satellite phone.

Communications improved many hours later, when a British Royal Air Force long-range patrol aircraft arrived and began to circle the stricken sub. The plane acted as a relay of longer and more detailed radio messages to Halifax.

Official public statements by Mr. Graham and other defence officials in Canada on Tuesday were as accurate as was possible on the basis of what limited information was available at the time, Gen. Henault said.

Asked at a news conference whether it can be assumed the rest of the crew is now safe, Gen. Henault was tentative. The danger won't be over until the crew is back in port, he said.

The accident shone an unwelcome spotlight on the government's decision to buy Chicoutimi and three other used British submarines. It was a controversial deal from the start as some defence analysts asserted that a post-Cold War navy did not need submarines to begin with. The controversy grew as the cost of refurbishing the mothballed subs rose, operating costs exceeded estimates, subs sprang leaks, and repairs pushed back the final delivery of the ships by almost three years.

Nevertheless, Gen. Henault and Mr. Graham defended the decision yesterday.

A fire like this can happen aboard even spanking-new ships, Gen. Henault said. "These things happen."

The navy will conduct an inquiry to determine exactly how this accident began and "we'll rectify it," he said.

Gen. Henault said the seriousness of the medical condition of Lt. Saunders and the other eight injured sailors could not be properly assessed until a Royal Navy rescue ship arrived on the scene yesterday and put a doctor and a medical assistant on board Chicoutimi in a difficult manoeuvre in rough seas.

With a crew of only 57, the sub did not have a ship's doctor.

The British military had helicopters on standby in Northern Ireland all through the night Tuesday if a medical emergency evacuation was needed. But it was only with the diagnosis of the doctor yesterday that it became clear three sailors needed hospital treatment, Gen. Henault said.

Earlier in the day, NDP defence critic Bill Blaikie suggested that Ottawa should seek some kind of financial compensation from the British for selling inferior goods.

But Mr. Graham was having none of that. He said he was too busy worrying about the safety of the crew to look at the fine print of the sales contract to determine whether a warranty still applies.

Canadian officials said they were thankful for all of the assistance the British military was providing during the crisis. If Chicoutimi must be towed to port, as now seems likely, the Canadian navy will have to rely on British ships to do the work.

"These things happen."

Oh, okay then.

More powerful American tug takes over towing of stricken Canadian sub

http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=83080226-c311-4ff0-b6b3-9f57f6d04481