Submarine Week in Victoria (2)

From Tuesday to Friday last week, August 5th to 8th, submariners from across Canada met in Victoria and environs to celebrate 100 years of Canadian submarines. One of the highlights was the banquet in the wardroom, just outside the gates of the Dockyard. It was a glorious summer evening, with inspiring views from the deck outside.

Here are a few of the attendees, from left to right: author and photographer Julie H. Ferguson, myself, Diane Davie, Nancy Houle, and Ted Davie, submariner. Ted had much to do with the acquisition of the Victoria class (formerly Upholders) from the RN. Thanks to Chief Petty Officer Jens Simonsen of HMCS Chicoutimi for taking the photo.

Navy Woes and Cavalry Stories

Tomorrow, July 30th, will be a busy day for Soldier of the Horse.

The good people at The Early Edition on CBC Vancouver have invited me to attend for an interview at 7:50 am tomorrow (0750 for present and former RCN readers, 0750 hours for all you army types out there). The occasion is a Vancouver Public Library/Royal United Services Institute initiative: the showing of the movie "War Horse" at 1:30 pm, same day, at the VPL. Later, at 7:00 pm I'll be speaking in the library about my father's time in the Canadian cavalry in the Great War and Soldier of the Horse.
My talk is the first of four scheduled in the VPL to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One.

In the meantime, across the Pacific, the huge naval, land, and air exercise RIMPAC 2014 continues. But the Royal Canadian Navy finds itself short of seagoing ships. Our submarine Victoria is there, along with frigate HMCS Calgary and minesweeper HMCS Nanaimo (she is in California waters, as opposed to the central Pacific/Hawaii).
Missing in action are HMCShips Algonquin (destroyer, rusting out),  Protecteur (fire damaged supply ship), and minesweeper Whitehorse (bad behavior by members of the crew). You have to sympathize with navy personnel who in typical Canadian fashion carry on with less. Less money, less fuel, lesser numbers of ships. One has to wonder who will protect Canadian interests at sea in case of need.

Diesel-electrics Doing the Job

Diesel-electric submarines have a long pedigree. In fact, Canada's first diesel-electrics were CC1 and CC2 (shown at left), purchased almost exactly 100 years ago to defend the west coast. And our current boats, HMCS Victoria, Chicoutimi, Corner Brook and Windsor are diesel-electrics. Needless to say, much has changed.

The world's major navies, and some of the less major ones, now have moved on to nuclear boats. The USN and Royal Navies no longer operate any diesels. But that doesn't mean diesel-electrics are outmoded or useless. At times, and in particular during the Cold War, they performed yeoman service. And no navy wants to ever send unprotected surface ships into waters where a hostile diesel-electric could be lurking. As Canada's ongoing use of them indicates, they are effective as deterrents, extensions of sovereignty, and intelligence-gatherers.

For an appreciation of the role of diesel-electrics in the Cold War and elsewhere, Iain Ballantyne, author of Hunter Killers, has written a very informative online article.

HMCS Victoria to headline RIMPAC

RIMPAC 2014, a major international naval exercise, will kick off on June 26th this year and run through August 1st. Once again the RCN will be represented by HMCS Victoria and surface ships. Two years ago, during RIMPAC 2012, Victoria sank a decommissioned American ship with a live and highly successful torpedo firing.

Increased tensions at sea are current challenges for western navies. In the far east, the Peoples Liberation Army Navy is only one part of Chinese aggression toward her neighbours in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, in the Black Sea, Russia has increased its naval grip on the area with its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.

Submarines were a major part of intelligence-gathering during the Cold War. Details of those activities are slowly surfacing, with books (eg Hunter Killers, by Iain Ballantyne) and a recent newspaper article in The Australian about the Royal Australian Navy's "secret submarines".There is no reason to think that submarine intelligence-gathering is no longer taking place.

Here is a look at an earlier post about Victoria's torpedo firing in 2012. Video footage of the target vessel sinking is here. 

Battle of the Atlantic at HMCS Discovery

I was honoured to be the speaker at the Naval Officers Association of British Columbia's annual Battle of the Atlantic dinner held on May 3rd at HMCS Discovery. Discovery is the Canadian navy's reserve division headquarters in Vancouver.
Some sixty-five or so members and guests attended. The attendees enjoyed a fine meal and interesting company, with ship's officers leading the way in impromptu renditions of "Heart of Oak" and "What Shall We do with a Drunken Sailor".

Following the formal parts of the dinner I presented a brief overview of Canadian submarines and submariners, tracing back from the present-day Victorias to CC1 and 2. In the photo above, taken during my talk, it was fortuitous that a new painting of CC1 and CC2 by our very accomplished marine artist, John Horton, was on display. It is visible in the background.

Also present were John Molyneux and his grandson, Philip. John is a long-standing member of the NOA of BC. In the photo they are in front of a painting of HMS Hood during a visit to Vancouver between the wars. John had the distinction of serving in Hood--and the good luck to be drafted off scant weeks before she sailed on her final voyage and her fatal meeting with Germany's Bismarck.

Photos courtesy Mary Horton

HMCS Chicoutimi--Preparing For Action

Royal Canadian Navy submarine personnel must be breathing a sigh of relief as HMCS Chicoutimi completed a camber dive. (RCN photo at left via the Ottawa Citizen.)

The camber dive, which took place recently at Ogden Point in Victoria, is a major step toward getting the boat to operational condition.
It has been a long process. Originally built as one of the last Royal Navy conventional diesel-electric submarines, Chicoutimi started out life as HMS Upholder, the name vessel of the class.

Britain's Ministry of Defence had other plans, however, and tied up the Upholders in favour of going to an all-nuclear submarine force. After years of dithering, the Canadian government purchased the four boats of the class. Only one of them, HMCS Victoria, is currently operational.

In my next blog I'll look at Chicoutimi's hard-luck timeline.

And speaking of timelines, five months from now my cold war submarine thriller, Terror on the Alert, will hit the stands.

Through a Canadian Periscope

Julie H. Ferguson's excellent Through a Canadian Periscope was first published in 1995 by Dundurn Press Limited. At long last they have done an eagerly-anticipated second edition, which is about to hit book stores and is presently available over the internet. The book is at once a history and a personal view, highlighted by Ms. Ferguson's extensive research and comprehensive interviews.
The second edition picks up where the first one left off, with the British totally fed up with the prevarications of the Canadian government over the possibility of purchasing diesel-electric submarines already built and waiting for buyers.
In the decade since, much has happened, both to the Canadian submarine service and the British boats. More comments here soon, but in the meantime, I will defer to Ms. Ferguson, when she speaks of the thread that has held the service together over its hundred year history:
"That thread is dedicated professionalism; for it is the men and women, not the boats, who are the true essence of the Canadian submarine service."

H.M.S. UNSEEN--Fact and Fiction--Part Two of Two

In Part One of this post, I mentioned the historical fact that the Unseen was an actual Royal Navy submarine, and the subject of the novel of the same name by Patrick Robinson. Now owned by the Royal Canadian Navy and renamed HMCS Victoria, the stealthy boat has been tested under realistic conditions, firing a torpedo at and sinking a decommissioned U.S. ship; for an image, click here.

Author Robinson made good use of his expert adviser, the late Admiral Sandy Woodward. He describes in great detail the locale and routine of an RN submarine doing workups in the English Channel, and does a good job of putting the reader on board a modern diesel-electric boat. One of his characters is a retired Royal Navy admiral and former Teacher of the Perisher, the submarine Commanding Officers Qualifying Course. It was not a great surprise that in my mind at least Robinson's "Teacher" bore many similarities to Sandy Woodward.

As a very junior submarine officer on board H.M.C.S. Alderney, I had the honour of seeing the then Commander Woodward in action in his role as Teacher. It is a certainty that no terrorist would have taken one of his boats.

H.M.S. UNSEEN--Fact and Fiction--Part One of Two

Not long ago I picked up a copy of H.M.S. UNSEEN, by Patrick Robinson. Robinson is a prolific bestselling author, and for this book he had expert help from the late Admiral Sir John "Sandy" Woodward, former Perisher Teacher, Flag Officer Submarines, and commander of the Hermes aircraft carrier group in the Falklands in1982.
Robinson's novel is a naval thriller right up there with Tom Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October", stretching the bounds of modern submarine warfare only marginally. What is particularly interesting is that there was a real H.M.S. Unseen. In his Acknowledgments, the author describes the Unseen as "a stealthy Royal Navy submarine, now being leased to an overseas government...". Quite correct as far as it goes. In the novel, the boat is leased to Brazil, highjacked by a middle-eastern terrorist, and the story carries on from there.

Reality is different. H.M.S. Unseen was actually sold to the Royal Canadian Navy, and is now proudly defending Canada as H.M.C.S. Victoria.

Critics of Canada's Submarines "Full of Holes"

It has become an article of faith for many that Canada's Victoria class submarines are lemons at best, and that the British sold us a bill of goods. That was exemplified by a recent article by Michael Byers and Stewart Webb that received wide dissemination in the popular press.
In a paper published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Paul T. Mitchell demolishes many if not all the points made by Byers and Webb. His excellent and though-provoking piece can be seen here.

One of the interesting points he makes is that many Royal Navy submarine officers were very upset when the British government sold the Upholders (Victorias) to Canada.

 HMCS Victoria is shown above in a nonwarlike moment.

Submarines--Here to Stay

There is hardly a week goes by that a letter to the editor or an op-ed column doesn't slam Canada's commitment to its navy and its submarines, and in particular the much-maligned Victorias.

They get more and more sophisticated, like all military hardware, but submarines are still basically steel hulls that can't be seen from the surface and carry a huge wallop. As a trading nation, we can ignore them at our peril.

From our own HMCS Victoria, top, to Iran's eye-catching and singular Sina 7, below, to the latest nuclear-driven hunter-killer in the hands of a superpower, no nation with seaborne commerce can not at least consider getting into the submarine business. Canada is in the submarine business, and we should be figuring out what our next step will be, not arguing in favour of tying up our now-serviceable undersea fleet.

Canadians have served in submarines since 1914, in our own boats and those of our allies. Next year will mark the centenary of the service. Watch for my next historical novel. More details to come!

HMCS Victoria a Potent Warship

The RCN's HMCS Victoria, left, at home in Esquimalt Harbour. Victoria is one of four diesel-electric submarines in the navy, and the only one that has sunk a ship during an exercise. A very persuasive argument in favour of an effective submarine force.
For a glimpse inside this modern SSK, here is a relatively recent YouTube item that provides some glimpses inside the boat.

Submarine Follies--Elsewhere

The popular press loves to jump on the bandwagon and kick the Victoria-class Canadian submarines when they are down--and that happens far too often, I must admit.

HMCS Victoria

 From the time they first appeared in Halifax from England, where they had been allowed to deteriorate in salt water for years, the Victoria, Corner Brook, Windsor and Chicoutimi have had chequered careers. Indeed, Victoria suffered a fatality at sea and has only relatively recently become a reliable member of the fleet. But the Victorias are potent seagoing Canadian assets. For a glimpse of the potential effectiveness and usefulness of the boats, see an earlier posting, here, dealing with a live torpedo firing by Victoria.
Related stories have appeared at times regarding the difficulties and inevitable delays when new construction of ships is undertaken. Thus we see periodic reminders about the ongoing letting of contracts to build naval ships on the east and west coasts. Be that as it may, Canadian ship constructors can wipe their furrowed brows in relief when they see how bad things could be. Here is a story about a Spanish submarine that the most devil-may-care submariner would hesitate to board.

Canadian Submarines—Ninety-nine Years and Counting (Part 1)

HMCS Ojibwa in a calm sea

There is a Canadian underground which only volunteers are eligible to join, and in which not all volunteers are successful. Little known outside the navy, submariners—a small band of men who have served beneath the waves, inherit memories and language from their forerunners.

Officers and men of the Royal Canadian Navy have served in British and American, but primarily Canadian, boats.

Fifteen undersea boats have flown Canada’s flag, first the white ensign up to the 1960’s and most recently the maple leaf. Our earliest boats, C1 and C2, were commissioned in the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1914 as CC1 and CC2. Next up were CH14 and CH15, interestingly enough built for the Royal Navy in the US during the First World War, but transferred to Canada on the Armistice being signed.

Two German U-boats surrendered to the RCN when hostilities ceased in 1945; they didn’t last long, and were never operational in any real sense.

Our close cousins in the United States Navy supplied two diesel-electric boats which became HMCS Grilse and HMCS Rainbow during the cold war. The British influence was re-exerted when Canada purchased three Oberon-class boats, HMC Submarines Ojibwa, Onondaga, and Okanagan. A new generation of formerly British boats has been transformed into the four Victoria-class: Victoria, Chicoutimi, Corner Brook, and Windsor.

Now stationed two on each coast, the Victorias are writing the latest chapters in Canada’s u-boat history. More details forthcoming in subsequent posts.
(Author's note: don't let the fact that Part 1 of this series is coming out after Part 2 throw you off. My mistake!)

Canada's Submarines--the Unknown Service

HMCS CC1

In all likelihood the typical Canadian, if there is such a person, does not know that Canada has a long history in what is often referred to as the "silent service".
Canada has had six main classes of submarines, starting in 1914 with the acquisition of CC1 and CC2. They were replaced by CH14 and CH 15 in 1921. The CH's were in commission only a couple of years between the wars.
Next up were two German U-boats that surrendered in May 1945 on the conclusion of the bloody Battle of the Atlantic. U-889 and U-190 were commissioned in the RCN for a short time.
HMCS Grilse was a former USN Balao class boat; she was leased for a five year period starting in 1961. She was followed by HMCS Rainbow, purchased from the United States in 1968.
Overlapping Rainbow's service on the west coast were Canada's three Oberon-class boats in the Atlantic. Ojibwa was the first, commissioned in September 1965. The O-boats were in service until near the turn of the century.
Canada's four Victoria-class boats are currently serving with two on each coast. The first, HMCS Victoria, was commissioned in the RCN in December 2000; they should be in service for at least another twenty years.
Subsequent posts will deal with each of Canada's classes of boats in more detail.

Canada's Undersea Navy

A recent article in a South African newspaper reported one of the country’s three German-built diesel-electric subs was out of action. She actually joined her two sister boats in that regard, as a result of a groundings, electrical problems, hydraulic failures, etc. All of which will sound familiar to readers of Canadian news stories about our four British-built boats. The South African article also pointed out that the Royal Navy had recently bumped bottom with a nuclear-powered boat, and the Russian navy suffered a fire on board one of their submersibles.

Canada's originally British Upholder-class subs (Victoria-class in Canada), HMCS Victoria, Windsor, Corner Brook and Chicoutimi have been the subject of much derision and negative comment. Some of that has been deserved—it is always hard to explain how, in this day of electronic marvels, a modern warship can accidentally hit bottom. And only recently have the collective Canadian submarines started racking up days at sea on a sustained basis. But—and it’s a big but—there is a lot more to the story of why the Victorias have such a checkered history.

More to come!

Canadian Submarine Sinks a Ship

HMCS Victoria, one of Canada’s four deisel-electric submarines, is currently taking part in RIMPAC 2012, a major multinational military exercise out of Hawaii. As part of her contribution and training, Victoria got to perform a “Sinkex”, which is just what it sounds like—she sank a surface ship.

The victim was the former USNS Concord, 18,000 tons, stripped and prepped for disposal.

For a look at the shocking power of a single torpedo fired by Victoria, see this site and follow the links:

http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/cms/4/4-a_eng.asp?id=912

The video is a brutal reminder that a single submarine has the potential to cause untold havoc on shipping. It is hard to imagine the enormity of the job faced by Allied forces during the Battle of the Atlantic, when the RCN, among others, faced the German U-boat blockade. It is equally hard to imagine the bravery of the men manning unarmed merchant ships in those cruel waters.