Fact Sheet
Royal Canadian Navy Submarines: Fleet Status
RCN FS 12.001 - February 17, 2012
Victoria-class Achievements
The Canadian Victoria-class submarine fleet has been actively sailing since 2003 and has accumulated approximately 900 days at sea, participating in exercises at home and overseas, patrolling our coastal areas including the Arctic and participating in international operations. Highlights of the Victoria-class achievements are as follows:
Both HMC Submarines Windsor and Corner Brook have participated in multiple personnel and team training activities.
HMCS Windsor sailed from June 2005 to December 2006 and spent 146 days at sea in 2006 alone. The boat participated in a number of large US-Canadian exercises and advanced and improved special operations forces capabilities, while training with Canadian ships in essential warfare skills. Windsor participated in the first-ever parachute rendezvous at sea practiced with Canada's Patrol Pathfinders (Canadian Army paratroopers). The boat also conducted several sovereignty patrols off Canada's east coast for intelligence gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance.
HMCS Corner Brook spent 463 days at sea between October 2006 and mid-June 2011. The boat participated in various NATO and Canada/U.S. exercises where she received high praise for her contribution as a simulated enemy to assist in the training of NATO and US surface and air forces. Corner Brook deployed to the Arctic in support of Operation NANOOK in August 2007 and again in August 2009, where she participated in a counter-narcotics exercise and conducted covert surveillance patrols in the vicinity of Baffin Island. In March 2008 and again in 2011, the boat also deployed as part of Operation CARIBBE, a US-led, multi-national effort to interdict drug trafficking in the waters of the Caribbean Basin and the Eastern Pacific.
Submarine Fleet Status
Canada’s submarine fleet is scheduled to achieve full operational capability in 2013; at which point Canada will have three of four submarines available for operations including a high readiness submarine available in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. As part of the ongoing submarine operational cycle, the fourth submarine will rotate into an Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP). An EDWP is a deep maintenance period that provides the submarines’ 200-plus systems with the repairs, maintenance, and upgrades needed to enable six years of effective operation. The current status of the Victoria-class fleet is as follows:
HMCS Chicoutimi
Chicoutimi is currently in an EDWP. This work is being conducted under the Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC) at Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd. in Esquimalt, B.C. The work is scheduled to be complete in time for the submarine to be available for operations in 2013.
HMCS Corner Brook
In spring 2011, Corner Brook transited from CFB Halifax to CFB Esquimalt to prepare for the submarine’s VISSC EDWP, to be conducted at Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd in Esquimalt, B.C. by Babcock Canada Inc.
On June 4, 2011, Corner Brook ran aground while conducting submerged manoeuvres during submarine officer training in the vicinity of Nootka Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
On June 10, 2011, a Board of Inquiry (BOI) was convened to gain a clear understanding of the circumstances surrounding the grounding of Corner Brook. The mandate of the BOI was to investigate the cause and contributing factors that may have led to the grounding of Corner Brook, and to identify preventative measures, if any.
A schematic of HMCS Corner Brook.
Additional information about the Corner Brook grounding incident and BOI is accessible here (news release) and here (BOI Executive Summary).
The full extent of the damage to Corner Brook will be assessed during her ongoing Extended Limited Maintenance Period (ELMP). This period of minimal maintenance is programmed to primarily arrest system degradation while the submarine awaits her turn in deep maintenance known as an Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP). The actual repairs to the submarine will occur during the scheduled EDWP at Victoria Shipyards Co. Ltd, which is to commence in January 2013.
Due to contractual and program management reasons relating to DND's In-Service Support Contract, only one submarine at a time is to be in deep maintenance. Corner Brookwill therefore be maintained at the minimum level necessary, as she awaits her scheduled EDWP, which will occur upon completion of Chicoutimi’s EDWP.
HMCS Victoria
Victoria was undocked on April 18, 2011 and began a series of in-harbour tests and trials which included training to conduct operational torpedo firings. Concurrently, the submarine’s crew conducted personnel training and exercises.
In November 2011, Victoria officially completed its VISSC EDWP at DND Fleet Maintenance Facility (FMF) Cape Breton in Esquimalt, B.C. Victoria’s EDWP was the first refit and maintenance activity of this type and intensity ever undertaken on a Victoria-class submarine. The valuable lessons learned from this first EDWP are being applied to subsequent activities. A previous dent located in Victoria’s hull was repaired during her EDWP and there are no diving restrictions on the submarine.
In December 2011, Victoria proceeded to sea to conduct equipment trials and crew training during which she successfully completed the Surfaced Safety phase of her readiness certification.
In January 2012, Victoria conducted the first dive of this operational cycle as well as the submarine’s Dived Safety phase of her workups. Concurrently, the submarine conducted additional post-EDWP sea acceptance trials.
Current planning would see Victoria authorized to fire torpedoes, the crew certified, and both being declared fully operational in 2012. This process is known as a Tiered Readiness Program or TRP for short.
HMCS Windsor
Windsor’s EDWP is expected to be complete in 2012. The work is being performed at Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott in Halifax, NS. HMCS Windsor would then follow a Tiered Readiness Program similar to that of Victoria and be declared fully operational in 2013.
The following table provides a general overview of the current status of Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Victoria-class submarines:
Submarines EDWP (Extended Docking Work Period) Ready for operational employment Next Scheduled EDWP
(Extended Docking Work Period)
HMCS
VICTORIA 2005 - 2011 2012 2016 - 2018
HMCS
WINDSOR 2007 - 2012 2013 2018 - 2020
HMCS
CHICOUTIMI 2010 - 2012 2013 2020 - 2022
HMCS
CORNER BROOK 2013 - 2015 2016 2022 - 2024
Information about the above table
All dates are approximate as schedules can change according to the needs of the RCN.
A Victoria-class submarine is considered to have achieved operational status when it has been materially certified (successful completion of alongside tests and trials); manned with a qualified & experienced crew; and has been deemed safe to sail, conduct trials and execute operations in accordance with their readiness status.
The extent of a submarine’s capability is fundamentally a product of the states of personnel, materiel and collective team training resident within it. Once operational, a Victoria-class submarine will undergo a period of sea training to either achieve Standard Readiness (i.e. capable of conducting core naval training and executing assigned CF continental and expeditionary missions that do not entail the possibility of high intensity, full spectrum combat) or High Readiness (capable of conducting the full-spectrum of combat operations).
Victoria In-Service Support Contract (VISSC)
In 2008, Treasury Board approved the expenditure of up to $1.5 billion over a period of up to 15 years for the in-service support for the Victoria-class submarines. DND is currently in the first five year option of this support, contracted to the Canadian Submarine Management Group, now renamed Babcock Canada Inc. All Victoria-class EDWP's during this in-service support contract will be funded and managed through VISSC.
Given that submarines are amongst the most highly complex machines that exist, maintaining them can be a costly process. Highly rigorous and regularly scheduled maintenance periods are an essential element of the operational cycle of any class of submarine.