Tag Archives: Submarine

Trident: Lib Dems consider end to continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent

Leave a reply

Trident nuclear submarine

The future of Britain’s Trident nuclear programme has split the coalition

The Liberal Democrats are considering calling for Britain to give up its permanent at-sea nuclear deterrent within the next few years.

They are expected to use a review of Trident to say some of the UK’s four nuclear submarines should not be replaced after they are decommissioned.

But senior figures are now pushing to end Britain’s continuous at-sea deterrent even earlier, from 2016.

A decision about the future of Trident has to be made by that point.

This would mean that some of the existing Vanguard submarines would be confined to port with skeleton crews and used for spare parts to keep the remaining boats operational.

The hope among Lib Dems is that this would not just save billions of pounds but would also send a signal that it is possible for a nuclear state to reduce its arsenal while keeping some kind of a deterrent.

‘Kept in port’

This was hinted at last week when Lib Dem Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said it was time “to move on from the Cold War postures of the past” with a credible deterrent that “can play a role in supporting disarmament in future”.

One senior Lib Dem MP said: “We are looking at ending continuous at-sea deterrent even earlier. We don’t have to wait until the subs need replacing. We could just keep them in port now.”

Another Lib Dem MP said: “If you thought that you could sustain a meaningful deterrent with two boats, then nothing would prevent you using the existing boats on the same principle.

“It would be reckless to scrap them but you could cannibalise them for parts.

The proposal is contained in an internal party policy paper on defence which is said to be at a “pretty late stage of development” and will be put to the Lib Dem conference in September.

Mr Alexander has chaired the government’s review of Trident which is sitting on David Cameron’s and Nick Clegg’s desks and will be published shortly.

It is expected to say that some of the potential alternative ways of delivering nuclear weapons – from land or from air – are either too expensive or too impractical. But the review is expected to consider the option of scaling back the current submarine-launched system.

Most military experts agree that it would be impossible to provide a continuous, around-the-clock nuclear deterrent with less than four Vanguard submarines. With training and repairs, there is frequently only one submarine on duty at sea.

‘Credible’

The Conservatives are committed to a like-for-like replacement of Trident which is estimated to cost as much as £20bn. But many Lib Dems believe that Trident is too expensive and distorts the defence budget.

They hope to argue that it would be better to spend the money on troops and kit.

Last week Mr Alexander told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme that the review was seeking to answer whether like-for-like replacement was “the only way to protect our country in future”.

“And while the review doesn’t come to any conclusions, I think when we publish the results in a few weeks time people will see that there are choices available to this country, there are alternatives where we can move on from the Cold War postures of the past and try and set out a new future for this country with a deterrent that is credible but where this country can play a role in supporting disarmament in future.”

A Lib Dem spokesman said: “The Cabinet Office-led review into alternatives to Trident has now been submitted to the prime minister and deputy prime minister.

“The review’s findings will now be considered and an unclassified version will be published in due course.”

A senior Conservative source said: “Abandoning our continuous at sea deterrence, which has been the ultimate safeguard of our national security for more than 45 years, would be a reckless gamble.

“And leaving our nuclear-armed submarines rusting in port, and then seeking to deploy them at a time of crisis would not only put Britain’s security at risk, but would also risk escalating global tensions.

“Conservative policy is clear: we will safeguard Britain’s national security and maintain our continuous at sea deterrent.”

John Woodcock, Labour MP for Barrow and Furness, said: “Unilaterally ending the commitment to keeping at least one nuclear submarine operational at all times will make no meaningful contribution to global non-proliferation, in fact it could have the opposite result by unsettling other countries who are currently under NATO’s umbrella of protection.

“The Liberal Democrats are finally admitting there is no alternative mini-deterrent that could save billions, but few will be taken in by their latest fallacy that a part-time deterrent could save lots of money and protect Britain adequately in the event of a threat in future decades.”

Source – BBC News

UK – MPs back submarine building in Barrow

Leave a reply

Workers at Barrow’s BAE Systems plant in front of an Astute class submarine

MPs and members of the House of Lords met to show their support for the UK’s submarine building industry, a key employer in the North West.

Politicians met with key figures in the industry and representatives of the supply chain and trade unions, who wanted to illustrate the chain of jobs that sten form submarine construction in areas like Barrow.

The event was supported by BAE Systems and the Keep Our Future Afloat Campaign, a trade union organisation which campaigns to keep high-tech jobs in the North West and across the UK.

Philip Dunne MP, minister for defence equipment, and Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Labour’s shadow secretary of state, were among those who spoke at the event to show their strong support for Britain’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent.

All the speakers paid tribute to the cutting edge work of the firms forming the supply chain for the Astute-class submarines, currently under construction in Barrow, and stressed the importance for these firms of the Vanguard replacement programme.

John Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, who hosted the event said:

“It was fantastic to see so many MPs and peers from every corner of the country and all political parties coming to meet representatives of the firms and workers who form the supply chain for Britain’s cutting edge submarines. They will have been left in no doubt of the importance of the submarine programme to supporting British manufacturing and rebalancing the economy, as well as to securing Britain’s security – I hope they will bear this in mind when the time comes in 2016 to make a decision on renewing our at-sea nuclear deterrent.

“I am particularly grateful for the strong political support given to the submarine programme by government and opposition frontbenchers, Philip Dunne and Jim Murphy, in their speeches – the 1,200 firms in the supply chain will have taken heart from what they both said.”

Source – ITV News

US – Former Navy leader Adm. Frank Kelso dies in Norfolk

1 Reply

Adm. Frank Kelso, who died Sunday, was chief of naval operations from 1990 to 1994.

Adm. Frank Kelso, who died Sunday, was chief of naval operations from 1990 to 1994.

In the place where he was born and where he retired, he was known as a hometown hero who made it all the way to chief of naval operations, influenced men of power and maintained the humility of an ordinary guy next door.

In Norfolk, where he served pivotal years in his 38-year career, Adm. Frank Kelso was a senior regional commander who helped run operations at the end of the Cold War and during heated years in the Middle East before being tapped to run the entire Navy.

Kelso, 79, died Sunday after suffering a fall, according to Navy officials. He was in Hampton Roads visiting his son Robert, a Navy captain who was chief of staff of Navy Cyber Forces until this year. Kelso attended the high school graduation of his grandson, Robbie Kelso, who, following in his grandfather’s footsteps, will go to the Naval Academy in the fall.

“As CNO, he led our Navy through the Gulf War and the uncharted early days of the post-Cold War era with skills and dedication,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a statement. “Adm. Kelso was a submariner, an accomplished commander and an unmatched leader known for his intelligence and integrity.”

Kelso spent nearly four decades building a career from his days as a submariner to his place at the Navy’s helm. He led forces in strikes against Libya, helped rescue hostages of Palestinian hijackers, and oversaw a difficult drawdown of the Navy at the end of the Cold War. During that period, he realigned the Navy to work more closely with the other services.

But he told a historian that despite his career of nearly four decades, he feared his name would always be tied to the 1991 Tailhook scandal, in which dozens of women were sexually assaulted during a convention of Navy and Marine Corps aviation officers in Las Vegas.

“He lamented… that for many people, that may be the only thing people will remember about him – and he did so much,” said Paul Stillwell, who conducted 37 hours of oral interviews with Kelso as the director of the U.S. Naval Institute’s history division.

The scandal marked the end of numerous officer careers and ultimately led Kelso to retire early. He said he had become “a lightning rod” and hoped his stepping down would shift the focus forward.

Kelso was accused of witnessing abusive acts and turning a blind eye, something he vehemently denied, Stillwell said.

“My assessment was that was not something he would stand for, nor would he lie about it,” Stillwell said. “He was just an individual for whom I had great admiration. He was unpretentious, down to earth, and for someone who accomplished as much as he did, that was very refreshing.”

Kelso’s two sons both served in the Navy, and two weeks ago he attended the graduation of a grandson who is headed into the Navy.

Kelso led the Navy’s 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea during the 1980s, leading the operation to capture hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship and the subsequent air strikes on Libya in response to state-sponsored terrorism.

He served in Norfolk from 1986 until 1990, first as commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet and then as NATO’s supreme allied commander, Atlantic and as commander in chief of U.S. Atlantic Command.

Retired Vice Adm. Robert Dunn, who commanded Naval Air Force Atlantic in those years, said he never saw Kelso fall short of his duties as a leader.

“He always had a kind word for everyone,” Dunn said. “Good people just naturally flocked to him.”

Kelso became chief of naval operations in 1990 and served until his retirement in 1994. He oversaw the Navy in the Gulf War even as he managed severe budget cuts. Kelso realigned the Navy to meet new, tighter demands. He also supported the integration of women into more wide-ranging roles and command, particularly in the wake of Tailhook.

In Fayetteville, Tenn., where Kelso is to be buried Saturday, businesses lowered flags to half-staff for a man described as a lifelong friend and active community leader, said Ann Hatcher, associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church.

“He was a remarkable man and what has always impressed me so much about him was his humility,” said Hatcher, who knew Kelso from the time she was a young girl.

“He was probably the most important person I would ever meet in my lifetime, but it was never about him. It was always about someone else.”

Source – PilotOnline.com

Russian submarines heading to NZ waters

Leave a reply

The Russians are coming, again, in submarines to waters near New Zealand.

The state-run Itar-Tass agency says Russia will send submarines armed with nuclear ballistic missiles to the South Pacific and the Southern Ocean.

“The revival of nuclear-submarine patrols will allow us to fulfil the tasks of strategic deterrence not only across the North Pole but also the South Pole,” an unnamed official in the military General Staff was quoted as saying.

Given that the South Pole is 1500 kilometres from the sea, it suggests the new Borei-class submarines, with 16 long-range nuclear missiles, might end up in the Ross Sea.

“As the Russian Navy receive the Borei-class missile submarines, they will not only continue to patrol the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, but will resume execution of combat missions in those regions of the world’s ocean, where in the late 90s of the last century used to be the Soviet Navy, and where they have ceased to appear following the collapse of the Soviet Union,” the report said.

It echoes the Soviet days and in 1982, when a Russian submarine was photographed by the Royal New Zealand Air Force east of New Zealand.

The air force still has submarine-hunting capacity in the form of its six P3 Orions, but it seldom practises finding them now.

In 1972, the navy was ordered to sea as intelligence suggested a Soviet submarine was near New Zealand.

Several ships and the air force were well out to sea when they heard, on what was then the NZBC, that a Soviet hydrographic submarine had docked in Suva that morning.

Just before Christmas in 1982, the diesel-powered Soviet Foxtrot submarine Regul was spotted on the surface near Tahiti sailing with a research vessel.

It continued towards the South Island and was last seen near the Chatham Islands. The Soviets said they were doing oceanographic work.

Three years later, there were headlines and claims that the French submarine Rubis was in the Waitemata Harbour, supporting the agents bombing the Rainbow Warrior. It was never proved.

German and Japanese submarines operated near New Zealand during World War II.

U862 captain Heinrich Timm claimed later that while they were off Hawke’s Bay, crew landed to get fresh milk from the dairy herd they saw.

In the 1870s, New Zealand built 17 harbour forts around the country, fearing that Tsarist Russia, in the wake of the Crimean War, might invade. It was never clear why it wanted Auckland.

Source – Stuff.co.nz

Plymouth Submariner surfaces to collect MBE

Leave a reply

A MARINE Engineering Officer who had the “relentless” task of keeping a nuclear submarine at sea for 11 months has been awarded an MBE.

Lieutenant Commander Andy Sharp was deployed aboard HMS Triumph in 2011 and 2012 when the boat was sent to the Gulf and Libya.

Lieutenant Commander Andy Sharp was deployed aboard HMS Triumph in 2011 and 2012 when the boat was sent to the Gulf and Libya.

 

Servicemean Andy Sharp receives his MBE, accompanied by his fiancee Kay Talbot

The 45-year-old regularly faced repairing the ageing Trafalgar-Class boat but each and every time ensured HMS Triumph and her crew remained tightly on schedule.

The citation explained how the boat remained on station for Operations Ellamy and Unified Protector for more than 100 days providing vital intelligence to NATO and as the UK’s strategic strike capability.​

mbe

It continued: “Throughout that time Andy led his department with selfless dedication, tenacity and resourcefulness as they kept the submarine in a first class state of repair through what was, at the time, the longest ever operational SSN deployment.

“By the time she returned to the UK, HMS Triumph had spent over 14 of the previous months away from home and that achievement was due in no small part to Andy.”

Commander Rob Dunn, the Commanding Officer of HMS Triumph at the time, said: “Too often in the past what submariners have done has been out of sight and therefore out of mind. But the challenges faced by my engineers in keeping Triumph ready for operations was immense and I was delighted to see Andy, along with several other members of my crew, recognised in the Operational Awards.”

Also to be recognised in the Operational Honours with a Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service was Warrant Officer 2 Alasdair McCall who supported Andy throughout the deployment.

Andy said: “It was a brilliant day, it was presented by the Queen. She said congratulations and asked me if I was busy last year because of the award.”

He said the MBE represented the hard work of an “excellent team”.

The Lt Cdr was presented his MBE by the Queen at Buckingham Palace with his fiancee Kay Talbot and children Danny and Kirsty.

His son Danny, a Royal Navy Air Engineering Technician, was flown off HMS Illustrious especially for the occasion.

Source – ThisisPlymouth

Canada’s submarine fleet needs to start from scratch

5 Replies

 

By the time Canada's submarines are ready for duty, they'll be due for retirement.

By the time Canada’s submarines are ready for duty, they’ll be due for retirement.

Defence Minister Peter MacKay blames the Liberals for Canada’s troubled fleet of second-hand Victoria-class submarines. It was the Liberals who purchased the four British-made vessels for the suspiciously low price of $750-million in 1998. Yet it was none other than MacKay himself who, 10 years later, persuaded his Conservative colleagues not to scrap them. It was MacKay who signed taxpayers up for another $1.5-billion worth of refits and repairs, thereby throwing good money after bad.

It was apparent long before 2008 that the submarines were deeply flawed. The diesel engines were designed for railroad locomotives and not the rapid stops and starts required of submarines. There were defects in the torpedo tubes, making it possible for both the inner and outer doors to be open at the same time, even while the subs were submerged. The subs were mothballed in saltwater for four years before Canada bought them, and years more before we took possession. They suffered serious corrosion — the diving depth of HMCS Windsor is now restricted due to rust damage on the hull.

Shortly after Canada took possession, 1,500 litres of saltwater spilled into HMCS Corner Brook because of a malfunctioning Submerged Signal Ejector — a device that is used to deploy decoys while submerged. HMCS Victoria experienced serious problems with its cooling system. And a deadly fire broke out on HMCS Chicoutimi when seawater entering through an open hatch caused an electrical short in wiring that had just one layer of waterproof sealant, instead of the three layers the construction specifications had required. In 2004, the electrical system on Victoria was destroyed when the submarine was hooked up to an on-shore electric supply. The Halifax Chronicle Herald reported that the Navy spent about $200,000 after the accident “to buy old technology that mirrors what the sub’s British builders used” – equipment that one of the Navy’s own “electrical technologists” said “probably goes back to the ‘60s.”

In 2007, Windsor entered a refit that was supposed to take three years but ended up taking six. Documents obtained by the CBC later explained that every system had major problems. Spare parts are also difficult to obtain.

It was in this context that MacKay pushed for the $1.5-billion refit and repair contract, a move rendered all the more perplexing by the fact that, by 2008, the submarines were already between 15-19 years old. This meant that the most one could hope for from the vessels, after their refits, was a single decade of service.

Chicoutimi has been out of the water since the fire in 2004, and will remain in dry dock until at least the end of this year

Which is not very long when you consider that, for the same amount of money, Canada could have procured between 3-4 brand new diesel-electric submarines based on proven designs from France or Germany.

Today, five years after the $1.5-billion contract, MacKay insists the situation is improving. Which is true, if going from horrendous to bad counts as an improvement. Corner Brook was damaged in an accident in 2011 and put out of action until 2012. It is scheduled to return to dry dock for three years in 2014. In December 2012, a defect was discovered in one of Windsor’s two diesel engines, which resulted in the submarine having to operate on just one engine. This put the sub on limited duty. She will be taken out of service later this year so that the engine can be replaced. Chicoutimi has been out of the water since the fire in 2004, and will remain in dry dock until at least the end of this year. Victoria, which emerged from six years in dry dock in 2011, is scheduled to return there for three years in 2016.

According to the Department of National Defence, Canada’s four Victoria-class submarines have accumulated a total of just 1,131 days at sea in the decade since 2003 — about 30 days per submarine per year. It’s time to stop throwing good money after bad. If Canada wants to maintain this capability, we need to start from scratch.

Source – National Post

US – Two submarines on deck at Electic Boat

Leave a reply

Submitted photo courtesy of General Dynamics Electric Boat
The first module for the future USS Illinois, the 13th member of the Virginia class, arrives at Electric Boat in Groton by barge from EB’s Quonset Point facility Tuesday, June 18, 2013.
For first time in decade, shipyard builds two boats at once

 

Groton — For the first time in a decade, Electric Boat is simultaneously working on two submarines in its main building shed.

The first module for the future USS Illinois, the 13th member of the Virginia class, arrived by barge from EB’s Quonset Point facility Tuesday. It was placed next to the North Dakota, the 11th of the class.

Two submarines have not been side by side in Building 260 since 2003, when EB was building the USS Jimmy Carter and the USS Virginia, the first of the class.

“This is our first step to ramping up in Groton to two boats a year,” said Todd Beardsley, the ship’s manager at EB for the Illinois (SSN 786).

The first module for the follow-on submarine at EB normally arrives after its predecessor is put into the water for the first time. The “float off” for the North Dakota (SSN 784) will not happen until September or October. That submarine is on track for the fastest delivery of the class yet.

“Everything keeps getting earlier and earlier, so we’re ready to go to two boats a year,” Beardsley added.

The Navy began buying two submarines per year in 2011 but the Groton waterfront is where the final assembly and testing of submarines is done, so it is not projected to have a steady workload until 2015. EB is under contract to build the 11th through the 18th ships of the class, with Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia.

About 600 people in Groton and Quonset Point are working on the Illinois. Next year, once all four modules are in Groton, nearly 1,000 people will be working in the yard on the submarine.

The arrival of the first module, in this case, the forward half of the engine room, is a milestone, Beardsley said, because major work on the submarine can now begin in Groton. The next task is to attach the reactor compartment to the 50-foot-long cylindrical module, he said.

Cmdr. Jess Porter, the submarine’s commanding officer, arrived in Groton on Monday to begin assembling the crew. The first group, about 35 people, will spend the next few weeks in school in Schenectady, N.Y., learning how to operate the propulsion plant, Porter said.

Porter said being in command of a new Virginia-class submarine is “a phenomenal opportunity” because the culture for the ship is set in the early stages of construction.

“That culture, in large measure, goes a long way toward building that ship to a viable and powerful platform,” he said.

First Lady Michelle Obama was named sponsor for the submarine last year.

Construction on the Illinois began in March 2011. The submarine is contracted to be delivered to the Navy in 66 months, on Aug. 31, 2016. Beardsley said his goal is to finish earlier in 2016 and to beat whatever record the North Dakota sets when it is delivered in early 2014.

Female officers will begin reporting aboard Virginia-class submarines in January 2015. Porter said that if women are assigned to the Illinois, “my ship will be ready to support that.”

Porter, 46, who is from Pocatello, Idaho, took the USS Missouri through the delivery and commissioning process as that submarine’s executive officer. He spent 12 years as an enlisted nuclear electrician’s mate in the surface fleet before being commissioned as an officer and joining the submarine force. He served on the USS Michigan and the USS Connecticut.

The shipyard is a challenging environment, Porter said, but the crew will come away from it knowing “that ship inside and out.” Porter and Beardsley met for the first time on Wednesday so Porter could see the hull section.

Outside of the bustling building shed, EB’s three graving docks are currently filled with three submarines undergoing repairs. Beardsley, who has worked at EB for 14 years, remembers when the Jimmy Carter and the Virginia were there.

“This is by far the busiest we’ve been since then,” he said.

Source – The Day

HMS Alliance – Submarine close to surfacing again

Leave a reply

Alliance

The HMS Alliance refurbishment at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. Standing on top of the submarine

In less than three weeks the refurbished hull of a Second World War era submarine will be revealed for all to see.

Piece by piece the scaffolding surrounding HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, in Gosport, is being taken down.

The final section is due to be removed early next month.

It will be a major milestone in a project that has already seen many.

Sitting atop her home on a concrete cofferdam, she will, for the first time in decades, be looking her best.

A gleaming black finish – itself painted on top of anti-corrosive paint and a holding coat – will mask the major work embarked upon in October 2011 to restore her.

Alliance had suffered such corrosion that huge parts of her were damaged so badly they had to be replaced, rather than repaired.

Bob Mealings is the curator at the museum and calls sections of the submarine, which is not yet finished, ‘a real work of art.’

But he added if this project had not been started, the ‘irreplaceable’ submarine would have been lost to the public.

‘Eventually I think she would have been in such a poor state you couldn’t have opened her to the public,’ he says.

‘She would have become a health and safety hazard to people surrounding the submarine because bits were dropping off.

‘And also she would have been an environmental hazard because the rust and the paint coatings, all of which are not supposed to be in the water, gradually dropping off and contaminating the sea around us.

‘And she is the only surviving Second World War submarine – she’s irreplaceable.

‘It would have been a major loss for UK maritime heritage, for naval heritage and indeed for Gosport, as the town that is essentially the historical home of the British submarine service.’

She is also a memorial to the 5,300 British submariners who have lost their lives in service.

At the end of £6.7m project in March 2014, Alliance will have been bought another 60 years.

To get to that stage, the restoration so far has been nothing if not extensive.

Around 40 tonnes of new steel has been put into the boat to replace parts that were beyond repair.

Bob adds: ‘The restoration itself has included absolutely everything.

‘Down at the bow, by the bow’s keel, we’ve had to restore from the bottom of the keel all the way up and all the way down.

‘All of that has been blasted back and repainted and a lot of welding repair work carried out.

‘The bow is a very good example of the challenge of producing a really good restoration in terms of the quality of workmanship.

‘To actually roll steel plate and weld it in that [compound curve] shape is a real work of art, it’s real craftsmanship.’

The work has been guided by the 1945 original build drawings, supplied to the museum by BAE Systems at Barrow-in-Furness.

But that has not made it plain sailing for Portsmouth-based firm ML UK which has carried out the work.

Getting access to certain parts has been difficult.

That included the ballast tanks, which could only be accessed by cutting through the hull.

‘There are dozens of ballast tanks aboard Alliance,’ says Bob.

‘Every one of them has had to be opened up, blasted and repainted in order to preserve the interior.

‘The shot blasters have had to go in there and blast all the rust away, the painters have had to go in there and paint.

‘Some of the work in the confined spaces has been challenging.

‘It’s in the nature of the way submarines are constructed, they’re not the easiest thing to work on and maintain.

‘There’s so much machinery crammed into confined spaces.

‘Simply obtaining access to various parts of the submarine has been one of the challenges of the project.’

A major consideration during the restoration work has been safeguarding against any future corrosion.

And that has meant protecting the boat, which is on the historic ship’s register, against birds.

The A-Class’s casing has more than 100 distinctive free-flood holes.

But each one of them is now covered with mesh to stop it becoming an aviary.

Bob said: ‘A lot of the superstructure of a submarine is free-flood, so when it dives, water floods into these spaces, which is obviously meant to happen.

‘The problem with a preserved historic submarines is that birds like to go in there and nest.

‘Every one of these free-flood holes, and they’re all over the hull of the submarine, has to be meshed over.

‘It’s a shame because it’s a very distinctive feature of a Second World War submarine to have all these holes but a bit fatal when you’re trying to protect it.’

‘Birds contaminate the boat with their guano but they also make it unhygienic to work on.

‘At the height of the problem there were probably 200 birds nesting or associated with the boat.

‘Now we’re down to a handful of stragglers.’

Instead, regular groups of visitors can be found aboard, being shown around by one of the museum’s many volunteers.

When the programme of work is completed, visitors can see what it was like for 65 crew and six officers that used to be on board.

A state-of-the-art sound and lighting system will bring the boat to life.

She is open for visitors now and museum staff are keen to share their enthusiasm for her with others.

Volunteering

JUST as museum staff want the submarine to be open to the public, so is the restoration work itself.

An army – or crew – of volunteers has been taken on to help with the work.

Roy Furse, a former member of the Fleet Air Arm, is a conservation volunteer.

The 67-year-old, from Seafield Road, in Portchester, will be working on bringing some of the electronic equipment back to life.

He was busy in a workshop at the museum when he spoke to The News.

He said: ‘I’ve been working on the submarine.

‘I’ll be working on the electronics, which is quite exciting, trying to get some of it working again for lights and visual effects.

‘I worked at IBM for 28 years in project management and needed something really different and this is it.

‘It’s keeping the past alive, and people not involved with the sea can come and

see what it was all about years and years ago.’

Mr Furse has been volunteering on the project for three months.

Volunteers are given initial training but are given space to fit into the project.

Curator Bob Mealings added that the museum hopes the volunteers involved will stay for the long term to help with the upkeep of the fully-restored vessel.

He said: ‘We’d like people around to help us maintain the submarine in the long term.

‘There are all sorts of projects on board the boat, which we won’t get a chance to sort out before March next year when we relaunch.’

To volunteer on the project, call (023) 9251 0354, extension 231.

Fundraising events

EVEN after getting £3.4m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, refurbishing a submarine is a costly business.

Bosses need around a further £200,000 to hit the project’s target.

Those behind the £6.7m project run fundraising events to bring in more cash to pay for the work.

And this week a travelling speaker, with the stage name of Eric, will be talking at the museum to help bring in the cash.

Fresh from a world tour, which included Australia, London and Leicester, the former submariner will talk about the secret world of submarines.

Tickets cost £10 for the show on Thursday at the museum.

Then on Thursday, July 18 from 7pm to 9pm, the museum’s own archivist will give a talk.

George Malcolmson will give his talk, Donald’s Navy 1900 – 1945, about the seaside artist Donald McGill.

And on Thursday, September 12 a dinner aboard HMS Victory will raise cash for the ongoing restoration.

Diners are invited to enjoy fine dining and fine wines on Admiral Lord Nelson’s Lower Gun Deck in aid of the restoration appeal.

The night will be in full naval tradition style and will end with a prize auction.

All tickets can be bought online at supportusalliance.co.uk or by calling (023) 9254 5036.

To support the cause further, become a friend of the museum on rnsubmusfriends.org.uk

Source – The News

Barrow submarine heritage dream hits rocks after news HMS Onyx to be scrapped

3 Replies

DREAMS of a submarine heritage centre in Barrow have suffered a blow as the proposed centre piece is due to depart for the wreckers’ yard.

HMS Onyx has been sitting in Barrow since May 2006 when a group of submariners, led by Terry Spurling, helped bring the boat back to Barrow.

The group had hoped the boat would become an interactive centre piece at a submarine heritage centre but the plans ran into trouble after the group could not secure funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund without the backing of Barrow Borough Council or Cumbria County Council.

As the boat is prepared to be towed to Hull, where it will be dismantled, Mr Spurling said the dream of using a submarine is no longer possible.

He said: “It’s sad for Barrow that it’s going but there’s now no chance of getting a submarine.

“It was the last O-class (Oberon) class submarine available and it’s about to be made into razor blades.

“It’s the end of the dream based around a submarine but I still believe there’s a heritage story to tell.”

Mr Spurling said the decision had been taken after HMS Onyx had been sitting in Buccleuch Dock for the best part of seven years – which has led to rusting and corrosion.

He added: “When the climate is right and when there is money available I think there will be some-thing.

“We have a paintings collection at Barrow Town Hall, a large book collection and a lot of hardware and materials that have been loaned to Faslane.”

Mr Spurling said he understands the reasons Onyx is to be scrapped but added he is sad the heritage centre has lost its centre piece.

Source – North West Evening Mail

Canadian submarine fleet’s future could be at risk

2 Replies

No mention of sub replacements in $33B National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy, report says

The HMCS Chicoutimi sits aboard the heavy lift ship Tern in Halifax harbour on April 6, 2009. The vessel was transported to Victoria for a refit.The HMCS Chicoutimi sits aboard the heavy lift ship Tern in Halifax harbour on April 6, 2009. The vessel was transported to Victoria for a refit. (CBC)

Stealth and silence are hallmarks of the Royal Canadian Navy’s submarine fleet but those qualities may also apply to the federal government’s vision for the beleaguered force, says a new report released Tuesday on the future of the navy’s sub squadron.

The report, titled “That Sinking Feeling” said there are indications that the future of submarines in the navy may be as shaky as the spotty service record of the second-hand Royal Canadian Navy subs.

A hint of looming doom for the submarine fleet could be that there is no mention of replacements in the much-touted National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS), said the report, which is produced by the Rideau Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

“Nowhere in the plan is there any mention of one particular, significant, readily identifiable and probably imminent procurement — namely, the replacement of Canada’s troubled Victoria-class submarines,” the report said.

The report is co-authored by Stewart Webb, a researcher with the Rideau Institute, and Professor Michael Byers, a University of British Columbia defence expert.

Byers has been critical of both the Harper government and Canada’s military procurement strategy in the past. In 2008, Byers sought the New Democratic Party nomination for the federal riding of Vancouver Centre but lost to Liberal incumbent Hedy Fry.

The government plans on spending $33 billion over the next three decades replacing the ships of Canada’s navy.

New supply and logistics ships, a fleet of Arctic patrol vessels and up to 15 replacements for the navy’s front-line frigates and destroyers are planned. But submarines, which the navy claims are vital to Canada’s defence, do not surface in the ambitious warship construction program.

“Canada’s Victoria-class submarines may have as little as one decade of remaining service-life, and too many mistakes have been made with submarine procurement in the past,” the report said.

Victoria-class fiasco

The report chronicles the history of Canada’s dabbling with submarines — from the failed attempt to build up to a dozen powerful nuclear submarines in the late 1980s to the decision to buy four mothballed British submarines that had to be retro-fitted around an American-supplied torpedo.

By the time Canada decided to buy the four bargain-priced submarines, the oldest had spent a total of nine years languishing in salt water without a crew.

“Unfortunately, the apparent bargain quickly became a costly fiasco,” states the report.

The report provides a scathing account of the “inferior vessels” since the first sub, HMCS Victoria, entered service in the Canadian navy in 2000.

The time all the submarines have spent at sea is a telling number.

While in service with the British navy for four years, the subs spent 1,077 days at sea. But after 13 years in service with the Canadian navy, the boats have spent only 783 days patrolling, the report said.

One sailor was killed and several others injured because of a fire aboard the submarine HMCS Chicoutimi and there have been constant, and later confirmed, reports of cracked valves, a dented hull, shoddy electrical systems, rusted parts and cost overruns.

CBC reported last month that HMCS Windsor’s planned two-year refit actually lasted five years and cost $209 million.

After the submarine was relaunched in Halifax in the fall of 2012 it was discovered that one of the vessel’s two generators didn’t work, resulting in the submarine being restricted to near-home waters until the multi-million generator can be replaced. That replacement might not happen for years, confirmed the navy.

The federal government signed a controversial $1.5 billion contract in 2008 with the Canadian subsidiary of a British-based company to provide “in-service support” for the submarines.

But Tuesday’s report said that money could have funded a new fleet of state-of-the art submarines.

“The Harper government could have procured three to four brand new diesel-electric submarines, based on proven designs from France, Germany, or Sweden,” states the report.

Future plans sketchy

The report challenges Canadians to decide whether the navy needs submarines or not but it also ponders whether the Harper government is quietly planning to procure new submarines.

Military brass have made it clear that submarines are front and centre in its plans for Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic defence. But the government has not been so forthright.

“There is clearly a desire within [the Department of National Defence] and the Canadian Armed Forces for the procurement of new submarines. But the absence of submarines from the NSPS remains unexplained,” write the authors.

The report suggests there may be three possible scenarios for Canada’s submarine future: a possible secret plan for the Victoria class replacement; a possible secret plan to terminate Canada’s sub capability; or there is no plan to either keep or replace the current fleet.

“Condemning Canada’s submarine program to death through neglect and obsolescence rather than design,” the report said.

Other countries have decided to scrap submarine capabilities altogether.

The Danish navy pulled the plug on its sub fleet, and the possibility of new submarines in 2004 after a national debate.

Instead of subs, the Danes opted to build a small but mighty fleet of surface ships to patrol in both home and international waters.

But many other countries have decided to invest in submarines as the ideal way to deny other nations access to their waters.

China, India, Iran, Chile, Malaysia and Israel are all building or buying new fleets of advanced submarines.

The report said there are several submarine designs Canada might consider to replace the aging but low mileage Victoria class submarines.

The German-built U-214 class has the ability to remain underwater for weeks at time because of new air-independent technology.

Canada’s submarines must surface, or send mast to the surface, several times a day in order to charge batteries.

New submarines like the French Scorpene or Swedish Gotland would allow Canada to patrol under the ice in the Arctic and do so with just 25 sailors — half the crew needed for the Victoria class.

But if history is any guide, it takes Canada 15 to 20 years to design and build a new class of complex warships.

“The best-before date of Canada’s Victoria-class is approaching, perhaps as soon as 2023,” warns the report.

Cmdr. Hubert Genest, with the navy’s public affairs office, told CBC News that the navy plans to operate the Victoria-class submarines until the late 2020s, saying that the navy has “always said that the Victoria-class submarines was the bridge to the next generation of submarines for Canada.”

Source – CBC News