Fire breaks out on Canadian submarine Last Updated Tue, 05 Oct 2004 13:08:01 EDT
HALIFAX - A rescue effort is underway off the west coast of Ireland after a Canadian military submarine with 57 people on board issued a distress call Tuesday.
Military officials in Halifax said a fire broke out on HMCS Chicoutimi about 425 kilometres west of Ireland, but has since been extinguished. This is a diesel-electric submarine from the same class as HMCS Chicoutimi (CP photo).
Three submariners inhaled fumes, but there were no serious injuries, said Halifax-based military spokesman Mike Bonin.
"Everybody on board is safe," Bonin said in an interview with the Canadian Press. "There was a small fire on board. It was quickly put out. The sub has surfaced and is awaiting a tug to take it back to somewhere along the European coast."
The sub surfaced and sent out a distress call at about 10:15 EDT. Emergency officials at Clyde responded.
Later the submarine sent out another message saying the fire was out, but the vessel needed a tug to the nearest port.
HMCS Chicoutimi, the latest addition to Canada's submarine fleet, was one of four Victoria-class submarines purchased from the British navy.
Turned over to Canada just this past weekend, it left the Faslane base in Scotland on Saturday and was expected to arrive in Halifax on Oct. 18.
This particular vessel, formerly HMS Upholder, was the oldest of the four British submarines.
The British submarines have been plagued with technical problems during the modernization process at the Halifax naval shipyard, and there have been lengthy delays in getting them into active service.
CANADIAN SUBS
Four Victoria-class submarines are in the Canadian fleet, each named after port cities (their former names in the Royal Navy appear as well): # HMCS Victoria (HMS Unseen) # HMCS Windsor (HMS Unicorn) # HMCS Corner Brook (HMS Ursula) # HMCS Chicoutimi (HMS Upholder)
The Canadian Forces bought the subs in 1998 for $750 million. Victoria operates in the Pacific Ocean out of Esquimalt, B.C. The rest are based in Halifax. Built by the U.K., the subs were mothballed in favour of an all-nuclear fleet. Nearly identical to nuclear subs in design, except for their diesel-electric engines. It is unclear how the fire on board broke out, but the Chicoutimi was forced to surface to vent the smoke.
The Department of National Defence said it was attempting to contact the crew members' families to reassure them that the sailors are safe.
A spokesman described the Chicoutimi as "dead in the water," or unable to move under its own power. However, some electrical power is believed to have remained on board, enabling the crew to maintain radio contact with rescuers.
Neil Smith, a spokesman for the Faslane submarine base on the River Clyde, told the BBC that the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel Wave Knight had been sent to the scene. A Type 23 frigate, HMS Montrose, is being sent from Faslane, accompanied by tug boat support.
"We are doing everything we can to assist them, and at this moment in time my colleagues are working hard to make sure that happens as quickly as possible," said Smith.
Written by CBC News Online staff
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
HMCS Chicoutimi drifts in heavy seas northwest of Ireland on Wednesday after losing power in to a fire. British ships standing by to take it under tow are hampered by six-to-eight-metre seas.
By ALLISON DUNFIELD and DARREN YOURK Globe and Mail Update
The federal government defended the purchase of a submarine from Britain that caught fire and stranded its crew in the North Atlantic, saying the blaze was an isolated setback and the vessel will "serve Canada well" in the long run.
On Tuesday, a fire broke out on HMCS Chicoutimi, nine crew members suffered smoke inhalation and the vessel lost power.
On Wednesday, a helicopter airlifted three injured crewmen to hospital. At least one Canadian crew member may have serious injuries. A spokesman from the Royal Navy said a British helicopter was en route to a hospital in Northern Ireland with three crew members when the condition of one of the Canadians from HMCS Chicoutimi worsened.
Commander Richard Buckland didn't known the extent of the injuries, but said the chopper was diverted to a closer hospital.
Meanwhile, 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 Wednesday that he spoke Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of Canadian Fleet Atlantic, on Wednesday morning and was assured that the crew has plenty of food and heat and those who suffered injuries are being treated.
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.
"While it is an irregular occurrence, this was a minor fire and something that has happened in the submarines in the past," Cmdre. Pile said. "Therefore, we have laid out standard procedures on how to deal with that when it happens.."
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.
With a report from Jeff Sallot and Canadian Press
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
One Cdn. sailor dies from submarine accident
CTV.ca News Staff
A Canadian sailor has died of injuries suffered during a fire on the HMCS Chicoutimi submarine, a sombre House of Commons heard.
Prime Minister Paul Martin said Lieut. Chris Saunders died while being airlifted from the submarine, adrift in the North Atlantic Ocean between Ireland and Scotland.
"We pay him homage and we make known our deep respect to his family," Martin said in the Commons.
Saunders, a combat systems engineer, leaves behind a wife and two children.
The news came as a shock, because reports initially indicated that the three injured sailors who were airlifted from the scene were not suffering from life-threatening injuries.
Later Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that one sailor was in critical condition.
"Regrettably, during the course of the medical evacuation, his condition worsened," Gen. Ray Henault, chief of defence staff, told an Ottawa news conference on Wednesday evening, adding Saunders was taken to hospital in Sligo, Ireland.
A cause of death has yet to be determined, Henault said.
Martin announced Saunder's death around 6 p.m. EDT.
The Chicoutimi has been disabled since Tuesday. It had just left port in Faslane, Scotland and was travelling to Canada.
Originally the fire was reported as a minor event, but on Wednesday, that story had changed when rescue ships arrived.
"Information we have received ... indicates damage was more extensive than first thought," Commodore Tyrone Pile told reporters at a briefing in Halifax, Nova Scotia on Wednesday.
Describing it as a "major fire," the commander of the Canadian Atlantic Fleet said it, "was of sufficient strength that most of the ship's portable firefighting equipment was used to put it out."
The blaze caused, "significant damage to electrical cabling" as well as the commanding officer's cabin and the electrical equipment room one deck below.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
A second fire broke out soon after, Pile added, when the crew tried to start an oxygen generator. As it's a common problem, he said the usual procedures were followed to extinguish it quickly.
Now that the crew of the stranded HMCS Chicoutimi has had more time to assess the extent of the damage, Pile said, "The restoration of propulsion ... is unlikely."
The first report indicated there were three people injured, mainly from smoke inhalation. That was later changed to nine injuries.
A sailor from the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi is put in an ambulance at Sligo Airport, Ireland, on Wednesday.
Canadian Press
Halifax — A British tug pulled alongside HMCS Chicoutimi off Ireland early Thursday as the race began to attach a line to the crippled, fire-damaged Canadian submarine.
A British defence spokesman said weather in the area was expected to improve Friday before deteriorating again on the weekend.
"So there's a very narrow window and it depends very much on how quickly a tow can be attached," Lieutenant-Commander Richard Walley said from the British Defence Ministry in London.
The tug's arrival followed Wednesday's unexpected death of an officer on the sub, which was on its maiden voyage to Canada with a crew of 57 when an electrical fire knocked out power to the boat Tuesday.
About a half dozen people gathered outside a modest home in Halifax's west end to share their grief over the loss of their neighbour, Lieutenant Chris Saunders.
Saunders was one of three crewmen hoisted by a British helicopter off the Chicoutimi and flown to a hospital in Sligo, Ireland.
He died en route.
A spokeswoman at Sligo General Hospital said early Thursday that the condition of another crewman had worsened. She did not elaborate. The two sailors are in the hospital's coronary-care unit.
The sub's crew has apparently restored hydraulics on the boat, allowing them to use the rudder to reduce some of the rolling and battering that the Chicoutimi has received since the incident began. The vessel was still without propulsion, however.
Lt. Saunders's wife, Gwen, is in the house with her parents and sister, and the family said they just wanted to be left alone. In the chilly night air, a Canadian flag hung at the side of their front door.
Nearby, in the city's Military Family Resource Centre, Commodore Tyrone Pile said many military families were grieving.
"As you can well imagine, I'm shocked," he said wearily. "This is huge shock for the submariners' community and everyone in a uniform tonight."
Defence Minister Bill Graham told CBC Newsworld on Thursday that the Canadian frigate St. John's has been dispatched to the scene.
"I'm assured by the commander and the naval staff this morning that weather conditions are calming and we can proceed to get the ship to the jetty. Until that ship is there, we cannot -- you know, speculate on anything. But we are in the best conditions possible under these circumstances."
Mr. Graham said that the families of the crew know that the situation is dangerous.
"This is a profession which carries with it risks. The families know that. They know the types of risks. What we're telling them is that the risks at the moment are those of the normal risks at sea."
The Chicoutimi is one of four used diesel-electric submarines that Canada has leased from the Royal Navy.
The fire, which at first was described as minor, damaged key electrical cables, leaving the sub dead in the water.
By Wednesday, the military had confirmed that the fire, which is believed to have started between the commanding officer's cabin and an electrical room, was more serious than first thought.
"This was a major fire," Cmdre. Pile said. "The fire was of sufficient strength that most of the submarine's portable firefighting equipment was used to put it out."
He said at an afternoon press conference that nine crewmen had suffered smoke inhalation from the fire but that none was seriously injured. By late Wednesday, however, the situation had changed.
Television footage of the arrival of the British helicopter showed two men wheeling a stretcher while a third man applied CPR to a man on a stretcher.
Two other men, apparently Canadian sailors, walked to a car and were driven away.
Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean, head of the navy, said the military knew things could take a turn for the worse.
"We always knew there were three (crew members) . . . that were perhaps in a more difficult situation, but again stable with no immediate requirement to be removed from the submarine," he told a news conference in Ottawa.
General Ray Henault, the chief of the defence staff, said early reports from the scene indicated that there was little to worry about.
"There was no indication from the on-board medical staff there there was any cause for concern other than that they had had smoke inhalation and the situation required additional medical assistance," he said.
"But there was no urgency at that point in time."
Gen. Henault defended the acquisition of the used subs, which have been hit with numerous technical problems, including flooding, bad valves and a big dent in one hull.
"This (fire) is something that can occur on any submarine, indeed any vessel, aircraft or vehicle that we have," he told a news conference.
In the House of Commons, Prime Minister Paul Martin interrupted debate on the speech from the Throne to announce the news of Lt. Saunders's death, and MPs observed a moment of silence.
"We pay him homage and we make known our deep respect to his family," Mr. Martin said. "The circumstances of (Lt. Saunders's) death have yet to be determined."
In a statement, Gov.-Gen. Adrienne Clarkson offered her condolences to the Saunders family.
"On behalf of all Canadians, I offer my profound sympathy to the Saunders family and to the fellow members of the Canadian forces with whom he served."
Navy officials were not sure what caused the fire, which knocked out the main power to the vessel, leaving it stranded in six-metre seas and 60-kilometre winds.
They confirmed that a short time after the fire started, a smaller fire broke out in one of three oxygen generators that are used when the boat submerges.
The two fires were not thought to be related.
The Chicoutimi was to have arrived in Halifax harbour on Oct. 18. Canadian naval officials aren't sure how far that schedule has now been pushed back.
The used vessels were built for the Royal Navy in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The British subs were mothballed in 1994 when Britain decided to stick with an all-nuclear submarine force. A deal to replace Canada's old Oberon-class boats was reached in 1998.
David Rudd, president of the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies, said the political fallout for the government could be serious if it turns out that the Canadian navy didn't do a thorough check of the vessels before taking possession.
"We did sign for that vessel before we took it out. Does that mean we missed something?" he asked.
"I'm sure there'll be red faces in Ottawa, but it's an open question whether or not they're red faces of frustration or embarrassment."
It's hard to believe that Canada, one of the world's largest country, one of the biggest economy (700 billion)if I'm not wrong, keeps buying 2nd hand, outdated equipment, when poor greeks and portuguese order U214. If I'm not wrong the UPHOLDERs were rejected by the portuguese.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Well thats what the government gets for continually trying to get defence on the cheap, its going to blow up in their faces, and cause needless deaths like the Lieutenants. Another Liberal fiasco, the Sea Kings, has probably resulted in the deaths of roughly a dozen airmen, all dead because the government was too cheap to replace the helos.
Since Korea, the factor that has caused most of the CF casualties isn't some Afghan warlord or some Serbian commander, its been our own federal government through is penny-pinching... how sad is that really?
A sailor from the Canadian submarine HMCS Chicoutimi is put in an ambulance at Sligo Airport, Ireland, on Wednesday.
By ALLISON DUNFIELD Globe and Mail Update
The health of a crew member of stricken submarine HMCS Chicoutimi who was in serious condition has worsened and he has been moved to intensive care, the navy said Thursday, a day after one of his mates, Lieutenant Chris Saunders, died.
Also Thursday, a British tugboat was preparing to attach a tow line to HMCS Chicoutimi off the coast of Ireland in order to begin bringing it back to land.
Three crew members were airlifted to hospital Wednesday after a fire aboard the sub in the North Atlantic caused at least nine people to suffer from smoke inhalation. Lt. Saunders died in hospital on Wednesday — a shock to the crew and Canadians, who had originally been told by the Canadian navy that the fire aboard the Chicoutimi was minor and injuries suffered by crew members were minor.
Commodore Tyrone Pile of Canada's Atlantic fleet told reporters Thursday morning in Halifax that the two other men are still being treated at a hospital in Sligo, Ireland.
He said one of the men is in stable condition. Of the other, he said "he is in stable but serious condition and has been moved to the intensive care unit in the hospital and was moved there earlier this morning," Cmdre. Pile said.
Cmdre. Pile said both men were "evidently exhausted and traumatized by the incident, but especially by the loss of their shipmate, Lt. Saunders."
Reporters asked whether Lt. Saunders, who was shown on Irish television Wednesday night being wheeled quickly into an ambulance with breathing apparatus covering his face and several medical officials treating him, had had a heart attack at some point.
"I have no more detail on how he died or what circumstances he was in when he died. That will have to be determined through the medical examination and after the autopsy," Cmdre. Pile said.
The autopsy will not begin until Friday, at the earliest, when a medical officer arrives in Ireland, he said.
He said funeral details are still being worked out and Lt. Saunders's wife, Gwen, who is at their Halifax home with the couple's two children, are still being worked out.
"His sudden passing yesterday came as a shock to all of us," Cmdre. Pile said. He said Lt. Saunders's wife is "overwhelmed by the news of the tragic death of her husband and was very much focused on her family and … very eager to spend some time with her mother and her sister."
The step-father Lt. Saunders says he has yet to receive an explanation from the military about what caused the death of his son.
"Nobody knows just what's what right now," Stuart Sullivan said Thursday from Summerville, N.B., where he lives with Mr. Saunders' mother, Debbie.
"I'm sure when they put it all together properly, they'll let everybody know."
Prime Minister Paul Martin spoke with Ms. Saunders by phone Thursday, he told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
"I've got to say that she's a woman of tremendous courage. I asked her how her children were, and she said they were too young to know and that they would never know their father."
Mr. Martin said Ms. Saunders also expressed concern for the families of the other crew members. He said that he has ordered the Canadian flag to be lowered to half mast at all federal buildings.
The six other crew members who suffered from smoke inhalation are doing fine, Cmdre. Pile said. Despite the situation, he said, spirits aboard the submarine are still positive.
When asked why the incident was first reported Tuesday as only a minor fire with no injuries, then was reported Wednesday as actually two fires — one major — with three crew members having suffered serious injuries, Cmdre. Pile said that the navy was working with information it had been given at the time.
"It was straightforward. We relied on a lot of our information from the operations centre in the United Kingdom, and the initial reports coming out of the boat were that it was a minor fire. …We reported it as such, and obviously after a certain amount of time passed, that assessment changed and we were informed that it was a major fire and we reported that to you yesterday.
"With time and distance and the limited communications that were on board the submarine at the time ... I could certainly understand that not all the right information might not have been able to have been received or dispatched."
Cmdre. Pile said those remaining of the 57 Chicoutimi crew will be taken off the sub Thursday and will board Royal Navy frigates and other ships that have arrived on scene to shower and get a hot meal and possibly contact their families.
The Chicoutimi remains adrift approximately 140 kilometres off the coast of Ireland. Some auxiliary power was restored overnight, meaning that if the submarine is towed back to Faslane, Scotland, by tugboat it will have some steering capability.
The weather in the area has improved significantly from Wednesday, Cmdre. Pile said. He said the crew was not taken off the vessel on Wednesday because conditions were too dangerous.
A decision has still not been made on whether to tow the vessel but if it is towed, it will likely be to Faslane.
Currently, the Royal Navy frigate Montrose is on the scene, as well as another Royal Navy vessel and two tow vessels. A helicopter, HMCS Argus, is en route.
"With respect to the towing operation, it looks like weather conditions are improved significantly enough that they will attempt to secure a towing line to Chicoutimi this afternoon," Cmdre. Pile said.
The Canadian frigate St. John's has also been dispatched to the scene.
Defence Minister Bill Graham told reporters after the Liberal cabinet meeting Thursday that an inquiry into the incident will be held.
"The navy will look at whether or not the fleet should be returned to port, re-examined and looked at or whether or not they're satisfied that their ships are in condition to be at sea at this time."
Mr. Graham said he's confident that the crew of the Chicoutimi took the right series of actions following the fire and considering the dangerous seas at the time.
Cmdre. Pile would not comment on reports that Britain has said that there should be no design problems that would have caused the fire, leaving the cause of the fire to be human error.
"I'm not going to make any comment on the cause or what other people are saying about what might have caused the fire because we need to conduct an investigation," he said.
The Canadian government has been under attack by the opposition since the incident began. It is the latest problem to hit one of four used diesel-electric submarines that Canada leased from the Royal Navy in 1998. For instance, they sprang leaks and required expensive refits that delayed their delivery.
"The equipment has been suspect for some time and, as a result, you are seeing soldiers, sailors, airmen and women being put in very, very precarious situations," Conservative Party deputy leader Peter MacKay told CTV Newsnet Thursday.
If the timing works out, Mr. Martin is considering making a detour to visit Faslane during an eight-day visit with the leaders of Russia, Hungary and France. He is to leave on the trip Friday.
The Canadian plan of National Defense is getting out of hand, i am not sure what the Government is doing but i know they are not even doing the bare minimum.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
It's hard to believe that Canada, one of the world's largest country, one of the biggest economy (700 billion)if I'm not wrong, keeps buying 2nd hand, outdated equipment, when poor greeks and portuguese order U214. If I'm not wrong the UPHOLDERs were rejected by the portuguese.
In Canada's case, it's not a lack of wealth but rather a lack of political will that is the problem. If there was political will then the military would have many more funds due to (a) forced efficiencies, and (b) more willingness to increase the military budget. The HMCS Chicoutimi was essentially rebuilt because of extensive corrosion and degrading of virtually all sub-systems. And yes, you are correct in stating that a U212 purchase would have been a million times better.
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
An ex-submariner is claiming readiness may have been sacrificed for political expediency with Canada's troubled used subs.
"It is my personal belief that we knew that these problems were going to come up but the crisis was that day," Peter Kavanagh told CTV's Question Period on Sunday. "Get the submarines and then worry about the spares and the parts and the training another day."
Canada purchased the four diesel-electric submarines from Britain in 1998. The HMCS Chicoutimi, which experienced a disastrous electrical fire on Oct. 5, was the last such sub acquired and was being sailed back to Canada. Of the 57 crew members, one died and two others were hospitalized because of smoke inhalation.
Kavanagh, a former commander who retired from the navy two years ago, said critical training was cut back to meeting arbitrary deadlines set by headquarters.
"We called it the great dolphin give-away," he said. A dolphin is equivalent to a pilot's wings -- a symbol of earned proficiency. Usually it takes six months of training including sea time, but Kavanagh said some were getting their dolphins after five or six days of sea time -- and in some cases, without any.
However, he didn't think it ended up being unsafe.
The navy hotly denies any such allegations.
"... We have full confidence in the training programs and the manner that we train the submarines and get them ready to deploy and that is not an issue at all, said Captain Kelly Williams, the man in charge of strategic planning for the Canadian navy, on Question Period.
"In fact, we've been criticized for the delays in the program and it's the delays in the program that are a result of us making sure that we've taken every possible action to make sure that they're safe," he said.
Kavanagh maintains there were "considerable training issues" while he was in the navy, but adds he thinks things are getting better.
He also said there were communication problems between the government and the navy.
"At one point, in 2001, I think it was, the Maritime Command Atlantic just arbitrarily ordered the Windsor into an international exercise with the Americans," Kavanagh explains. "I found out about it at the same time the captain of the submarine found out about it."
"You had to go over somebody's head to get this exercise stopped?" host Craig Oliver asked Kavanagh.
"Yeah, I did, yeah," he said.
Kavanagh says there was no political leadership from the government "so the only way they could maintain a submarine service was to tell the government what they needed to hear to approve that purchase."
Williams says one only needs to look at Canada's record to see the submarine program works. "We've been operating Royal Navy submarines or British-built submarines for over 40 years. This is the first accident of this nature that we've had. So that's an incredible safety record."
The government is saying it will keep the other three ex-British submarines in the water while the Chicoutimi's fire is investigated.
There will be at least two inquiries to do that.
Peter MacKay, deputy leader of the Conservative Party, told ATV News a full Parliamentary inquiry is warranted.
"I think Parliament is going to have to look at this issues as well as look at all of the circumstances around the purchase ... around the efforts to reactivate these submarines after 14 years. Was it sufficient? Were those subs ready to leave port?"
Gordon O'Connor, the Conservative defence critic, told CTV News: "All the submarines should stay in port until we know whether it's systemic," referring to the cause of the electrical fire on the Chicoutimi.
"If it's systemic, then corrective action has to be taken on all vessels."
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
Recovering in Glasgow, Scotland, HMCS Chicoutimi Commander Luc Pelletier says sending his crew back to sea tomorrow would be "pushing it."
"It will take a little while for them to get to grips with everything that has happened and accept it and be able to process it and carry on," Cmdr. Pelletier told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.
He was captain of the HMCS Chicoutimi on October 5, when the submarine's maidens voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia was cut short by a fire on board.
Now resting with his crew at the Hilton hotel in Glasgow, Pelletier spoke publicly about the harrowing events on Monday.
It was "probably one of the worst nightmares you can have as a submariner," he told reporters, recalling that his crew had very little time to react when the fire broke out.
"I will say that in a very short period of time, probably within two or three seconds at the most ... it was very, very thick and it happened in a very quick fashion."
Dark and filling with smoke, the sub pitched 20 to 30 degrees in the North Atlantic as the crew struggled to find air-purifying masks and portable extinguishers to fight the fire.
One of the nine crew members to suffer from the effects of smoke inhalation said he's surprised he made it.
"I took about two or three gulps of bad air before I got a mask and there was one point when I thought: 'I'm not going to get another breath of air out before I find one,'" Lieut-Cmdr. Douglas Renken said. "There was a fleeting moment when I questioned whether this was going to be it.''
Three submariners were eventually airlifted to a hospital in Ireland. One of them, Lieut. Chris Saunders, died after that airlift.
Pelletier was emotional as he described Saunders' final hours.
"He was in pain, of course, but he was still cognizant and we were able to talk to him,'' he said. "We had to remain optimistic ... we were definitely hoping that everything was going to turn out well.''
The father of two had only joined HMCS Chicoutimi two weeks earlier.
A memorial service will be held in Saunders' honour in a chapel at the Royal Navy base in Faslane on Wednesday.
Graham awaits inquiries
After touring the disabled sub in Faslane, Scotland, Defence Minister Bill Graham said, "The situation on board was horrific."
"When you hear the accounts, I can only say that if it wasn't for the courage and determination of the crew of the Chicoutimi, this could have been much worse," he said.
"Canadians will be very proud when they hear the story."
As for what the details of that story might be, Graham told reporters in London that it's too early to tell.
"Let's see what happened before we talk about speculation," Graham said, referring to the two separate Canadian navy inquiries into Saunders' death and the fire.
Reporting from Glasgow, where she talked to several of HMCS Chicoutimi's crew, CTV's Lisa LaFlamme said they are bound by the board of inquiry as to what they can reveal publicly.
"But they were very specific on the fact that they heard loud pops -- one person describing two explosions seconds apart -- a series of sparks... and then absolutely black smoke and soot."
It is believed the flames originated in a control room digital display panel beside the captain's cabin and above an "electrical space."
The Chicoutimi was the last of four diesel-electric subs bought from Britain in 1998 to be handed over to Canada. All four are said to have had problems.
Having met with his British counterpart, Geoffrey Hoon, Graham was asked several times whether Canada would sue Britain if it's discovered that the submarines were faulty.
"When we know the cause, I'm confident that relations between Britain and Canada, with our friendship ... we'll work this out," he said, insisting there was no talk of lawsuits between himself and the British Minister of Defense.
Instead, there was "talk of gratitude for the support of a close ally and friend in a very difficult situation."
Speaking in Moscow on Monday, Prime Minister Paul Martin said he'll raise the submarine disaster with British Prime Minister Tony Blair later this week when the two meet at a governance summit in Hungary.
With reports from CTV News and The Canadian Press
Scoring disabled. You must be logged in to score posts.
By MARK MacKINNON AND CAMPBELL CLARK From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Balatonoszud, Hungary and Ottawa — Prime Minister Paul Martin told British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday that Canada may seek compensation from the British government if the inquiry into the HMCS Chicoutimi tragedy concludes that Canada was sold damaged goods.
In a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of a progressive-governance summit in a Hungarian lakeside resort, Mr. Martin told Mr. Blair that while he was still waiting for the results of an inquiry to determine exactly what happened to the submarine, Canada might hold the British government liable if it were discovered that the submarine itself was to blame.
Britain sold Canada four Upholder-class diesel submarines for $750-million in a lease-to-own contract. The fire that killed Lieutenant Chris Saunders and injured several others occurred on Chicoutimi's first voyage since then.
"I pointed out to Mr. Blair that there were costs, liabilities that could obviously arise, but that in fact we should await the results of the inquiry. He agreed that would be the case," Mr. Martin said.
Mr. Martin said he also complained about British Defence Minister Geoffrey Hoon's recent comments about the rust-ridden Chicoutimi to Mr. Blair. Days after the tragedy, Mr. Hoon suggested that Canadian officials had ample opportunity to assess the seaworthiness of the submarines and that Britain couldn't be blamed. He told the BBC that it had been a case of "buyer beware."
"This was not the time for intemperate or unfortunate remarks," Mr. Martin said. "I certainly don't think that they were the kind of remarks that should have been made under these particular circumstances."
In Ottawa, Defence Minister Bill Graham said the government was well aware of the long series of glitches plaguing Chicoutimi when it was under British command.
"Absolutely. The government was aware, and the navy particularly, as it was their responsibility to make sure that the sub was seaworthy," Mr. Graham said.
"We knew about those issues. We were assured, and that's why it took so long. ..... It takes time to get to the bottom of these, and the time was taken to make sure that we addressed those issues. That's why this sub was delivered somewhat later than what was originally speculated or thought."
The four Upholder class submarines have been plagued with problems since they were bought, including cracked valves on Chicoutimi and a dent found in HMCS Victoria.
The British had the subs in service only three years before they decided to dock them to concentrate on developing a nuclear sub fleet.
A report by Australia's parliamentary research branch that reviewed submarine programs around the world panned the Upholder program, concluding it was delayed by design flaws.
"The British [submarine program] suffered a three-year delay, largely due to faulty torpedo tube hatches and safety concerns with the power plant," the study concluded.
