Yes, let her serve!
The symbol of the problems that the Victoria-class diesel-electric submarine Corner Brook is once again returning to service for the Canadian naval fleet... The key phrase here is "once again."
Officials from the Canadian Navy said that the Corner Brook was taken out of the stationary dock, brought into the transport "Seaspan Careen" and transported to the shipyard of Halifax, where the boat will be fueled with everything necessary and go for testing.
In case of successful completion of which "Corner Brook" will return to the ranks of warships.
And the Canadian Navy will once again operate all four diesel-electric submarines.
These submarines were purchased from the UK. In the 90s of the last century, the Royal Navy, following the US Navy, decided to abandon diesel-electric submarines in favor of nuclear submarines. Therefore, the production program for the Upholder submarine was reduced from the construction of 12 submarines to four already built. The fleet refused the rest.
The already built four boats also had to be adapted somewhere, that is, sold. Naturally, the first to receive "an offer from which it is impossible to refuse) members of the British Commonwealth. And the Canadians decided it would be a beautiful and rewarding deal.
Four submarines within four years, from 2000 to 2004, underwent pre-sale training and were delivered to Canada.
The boats were originally leased for eight years, for which Canada paid the UK $ 427 million. After trying the boats, the Canadians came to the conclusion that everything was in order. Then a deal was made to acquire four submarines for one British pound sterling each.
Well, for the refurbishment and overhaul, another $ 98 million had to be paid.
The components of the fire control system from the boats of the previous series "Oberon" were installed, Canadian radars BAE Type 2007, hydroacoustic stations Type 2046, sonar with a towed antenna CANTASS. Plus, the periscopes were replaced by "our" ones, from Pilkington Optronics, and a launcher was installed for shooting radio-electronic means SSE and AR 900 ESM.
Not a bad deal overall. 105 million dollars for an almost new submarine (the boats were built in the interval from 1990 to 1993), and the "Upholders" served from one to three years, that is, the wear is practically minimal - it is inexpensive. For comparison, "Varshavyanka" costs customers $ 300 million. So it's very inexpensive.
The boats were purchased, refitted to meet Canadian requirements and renamed Victoria class.
And the military service began, which at Corner Brook did not work out at all.
As such, the boat is almost innocent. Today we can say with confidence that the human factor is to blame.
At the beginning of operation, constantly flowing and erupting pipelines became the scourge of all four submarines.
Even during the refurbishment in 2006, a catastrophic lead content in the air was discovered. An investigation was carried out, the culprit turned out to be ballast lead bricks, which got salt water. The ballast was replaced.
In the summer of 2011, during maneuvers off Vancouver Island, the Corner Brook crashed into the seabed at a depth of 45 meters and received a two-meter hole in the bow. Two submariners were injured.
The crew was able to seal the compartment, surface and call for help. The ship was towed to dry dock, and there it turned out that the damage to the hull was so serious that the option of decommissioning the ship was considered.
But greed (almost a new boat!) Won out, and in 2014 the repair and simultaneous modernization of the Corner Brook began. The work was supposed to be completed in 2017, but the restoration was delayed, and the deadlines, as we say, were "slightly shifted to the right." Not quite lightly, because already in 2019 a fire broke out on the boat that was docked.
The fire, however, was very quickly extinguished, and representatives of the press service of the fleet assured everyone that the damage was minimal, but we know how much you can believe such statements. The renovation continued.
In March 2020, when everything seemed to be coming to an end, there was an explosion. One of the ballast tanks burst during pressure testing, where during the tests some kind of incredible pressure was applied.
We fixed it too. So it becomes clear that the Canadians can, when they want, in terms of repair and restoration of ships. But it would be better not to spoil it.
And in 2021, it seems, the boat will have to finish its protracted repairs. I just want to say, well, let her serve her and for a well-deserved rest! Do not repair!
Although you know if you look at history all boats of the "Victoria" class, there is no less emergency than the "Corner Brook".
"Chikutimi", the former first boat of the series, "Upholder", did not want to serve in Canada. Therefore, it caught fire during the transition to Canada in 2004. This cost the life of one crew member and eight were injured.
"Victoria" (formerly "Anseen") was put on the stones in 2000, and put on repairs, started a fire, as a result of which the electrical wiring was seriously damaged. The reports referred to "catastrophic damage" to the ship's electrical system. And "Victoria" returned to the fleet only last year.
And what is the bottom line? As a result, the Canadian submarine forces cannot boast of any decent performance. Yes, from time to time, submarines of the Canadian Navy participated in maneuvers and operations, but these participation were very symbolic.
And 2019 became an epic, when the number of days spent by boats at sea was zero. Someone was repaired, someone was serviced as planned. But the result is this.
But 2021 should become a kind of Rubicon, when three boats will still return to service.
The only question is how important it is for the country, because the program for extending the service life of boats until 2040 is estimated at about $ 1,5 billion. This is a lot. Considering that the entire military budget of Canada is estimated at $ 26,5 billion, then 5% only for submarines is not very prudent. However, we can count other people's money, right?
But over the past 20 years, Canada has already invested about a billion dollars in support and maintenance of submarines. The whole question is, was the return comparable to the cost?
Most probably not.
But Canada is prone to this unpleasant disease - the urge to shake weapons... Hence the attempts to equip the submarine fleet, here is the story of the acquisition of new fighters.
The French have such a saying as "Noblesse oblige", the position obliges. But what is the real position of Canada in the world, and what does it oblige?
American experts from The National Interest and The Drive believe that everything is correct. Canada, as a full member of NATO, is simply obliged to respond to the growing activity of Russian submarines in the North Atlantic and Arctic.
But the Royal Canadian Navy, to put it mildly, is unable to provide adequate countermeasures to the so-called "Russian submarine threat" if only because 12 frigates and 12 patrol ships are too few. And 4 diesel-electric submarines will have little to oppose to Russian nuclear missile carriers. This is a fact that is difficult to dismiss.
Therefore, even if all four diesel-electric submarines of the KVMF of Canada are in working order, given the sea border in the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic oceans, this is extremely small.
That Canada is willing to invest in its fleet is evident when you look at its ambitious plans to build next-generation frigates. The basis was the British Type 26 frigates, which, although they are one of the best representatives of their class in the world, there are doubts that the Canadians will be able to build them en masse.
And here, in the same way, the question of what the Canadians will do in terms of increasing the size of their patrol submarine fleet remains unanswered. But today "Victoria", despite the fact that the boats are quite problematic, the only submarines in Canada, capable of performing real combat missions.
And since there has been no talk of acquiring new boats yet, the Viktorias will serve until the end of their service life. If the crews don't kill them earlier.
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