Sailor dies after airlift from Canadian submarine off coast of Ireland

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Pathfinder-X

Tribal Warlord
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OTTAWA (CP) - A sailor from Canada's stricken submarine off Ireland has died of his injuries, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Wednesday.


Lieut. Chris Saunders, a combat systems engineer, died after being airlifted from the heavily damaged HMCS Chicoutimi as his crewmates remained adrift for a second night. "We pay him homage and we make known our deep respect to his family," Martin said in the Commons.


A major fire Tuesday left Chicoutimi disabled in the North Atlantic, with no engine power. The crew was forced to use ordinary cell phones to communicate after their radio equipment proved useless.


"The circumstances of (Saunders') death have yet to be determined," Martin told a hushed Commons.


"But I know that all of us in this House will want to pass on our condolences and those of our country. He gave his life saving his country, and we pay him our profound respects and his family our deepest condolences."


Saunders, who suffered smoke inhalation, leaves a wife, Gwen, and two young children.


Gen. Ray Henault, chief of the defence staff, said Saunders and two other critically injured sailors were taken by helicopter to a hospital in Sligo, in southern Ireland. Saunders died in the hospital after doctors were unable to revive him.


"There's no question that this is a very sad day for the navy," said Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean, head of the navy.


The diesel-electric submarine, one of four used subs leased from the Royal Navy, was on its maiden voyage to Canada when the fire broke out.


A British frigate pulled alongside the sub Wednesday and dropped off a doctor and an assistant.


Canadian officials admitted 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," Commodore Tyrone Pile told a news conference in Halifax.


"The fire was of sufficient strength that most of the submarine's portable firefighting equipment was used to put it out."


Henault defended the acquisition of the four 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.


"The unexpected will sometimes occur and in this case the fire aboard was not something we would have predicted. These things happen, though, on board our vessels and our aircraft and our vehicles . . . on a rare basis but the fact is that is what we deal with.


"Risk is what we deal with in the Canadian Forces and this does not in any way diminish the value of the submarines."
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I always knew getting those damn Victoria class boats was a mistake. Problems have been bothering the navy since its introduction from Britain. Thanks to Jean Chretien's cheap ass BS defence policy, 1 sailor lost his life while 9 others were wounded and the boat were drifting helplessly in the Atlantic. :mad
 
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highsea

New Member
Very unfortunate event. Fire is one of the scariest things that can happen at sea, there's just nowhere to go. Rough weather hampered the rescue efforts, with 6 to 8 meter seas and 35 knot winds.

My heart goes out to the sailors and their families.
 
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Pathfinder-X

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mysterious

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Man, Canada really needs some new naval toys! Just imagine, this was the maiden voyage of this submarine to Canada to be deployed officially once it got here and it got stranded cuz of that fire. Somebody really needs to see what went wrong and is there any more risk to the submarine from expected or unexpected factors. A tragedy though, may that sailor rest in peace and my best regards for the others on board.
 
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adsH

New Member
you know believe me i would shed a tear for that sailer and the Crew! but i must selfishly admit i am relieved!! those ship have problems and its better to give them away then use them for our selves. i am trying to get into the RN and i would hate to of been on that ship today!!

Best of luck Canada!!
 
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mysterious

New Member
I'd say scrap 'em or upgrade 'em heavily. If neither of that works out, put 'em in a museum and head for something new and 'safe'!! :smokingc:
 
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adsH

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they were upgraded and overhauled !! before the lease term this was one of the last ones to head off to Canadian shores!
 
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adsH

New Member
berry580 said:
Well how much would UK compensate for their sub's faulty whatever?
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as it stands it was bought off us trial'd tested its upto the Canadians to fix and salvage there ships, we don't give out freebees (hope so). this is a secondhand vessel!!
 
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Jonny

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I heard the Candians might sue us Brits for selling them crap! God damn a western nation like Canada shouldn't be buying British second hand stuff, its their own fault they should invest more money in their defence budget.

Lucky the Royal Navy was on hand to assist, condolences to the family of the Lieutenant.
 
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adsH

New Member
they can't sue us !! its there incompetence every Naval vessel bought is thoroughly inspected by the defense personnel and they are tested by the Crew them selves. if they agreed to take it away it was there responsibility, they can't sue us for there incompetence!!
 
gf0012-aust

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
Staff member
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Jonny said:
I heard the Candians might sue us Brits for selling them crap! God damn a western nation like Canada shouldn't be buying British second hand stuff, its their own fault they should invest more money in their defence budget.

Lucky the Royal Navy was on hand to assist, condolences to the family of the Lieutenant.
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The Canadians actually had an officer present for all aspects of the upgrades, they then signed off on all the work as it was staged through.

Hence, they don't have recourse to sub standard work as they approved the changes at every stage. :roll

As for the problem, it is believed to have been started in a patch panel. I'll find out more when I'm at the UDT Conference, but that will be a few weeks away yet.
 
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Aussie Digger

Guest
I wouldn't be too sure of that adsh. There was a fire in an Australian Warship a couple of years ago where several sailors died. (HMAS Westralia).

The Navy signed off on the upgrade work that led to the fire, but the Coroner saw things a little bit different and the company that completed the work and provided the equipment are being held liable and are actually facing Criminal charges!!!

Don't for a second believe that disasters can't happen in "Western Navies" and that it couldn't possibly be Britain's fault. Only a proper inquiry can decide that...
 
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adsH

New Member
yeah i guess so!! but-this was after an upgrade and overhauls were complete and they had completed the sign offs (i would assume that since they were onn there way). to be honest its not about what really happened to the Sub its about the image of the Canadian Navy that has taken a battering they would want to blame someone for this accident!!!
For god sakes!! the dam incident was so humiliating it was being brought-cast on british tv all week
 
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Pathfinder-X

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adsH said:
yeah i guess so!! but-this was after an upgrade and overhauls were complete and they had completed the sign offs (i would assume that since they were onn there way). to be honest its not about what really happened to the Sub its about the image of the Canadian Navy that has taken a battering they would want to blame someone for this accident!!!
For god sakes!! the dam incident was so humiliating it was being brought-cast on british tv all week
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For your information the Canadian navy has yet to blame anyone for the accident. It could be equipment malfunction or wrong doings by the crew. But get this, the sub HAS problems, and the fire could be related to it. If that's the case Britain should pay for the cost of repairs.
 
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adsH

New Member
lol pathfinder lets wait and see what went wrong and then we'll come to the part where compensation is discussed. I guess things happen in life.
 
gf0012-aust

gf0012-aust

Grumpy Old Man
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adsH said:
lol pathfinder lets wait and see what went wrong and then we'll come to the part where compensation is discussed. I guess things happen in life.
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The problem is that everyone in the sub community (and that includes some ex RN operators) have known for some time that the Upholders had some maint problems.

Contrary to the media, these subs have been around in Canadian hands for quite a while, and the historical probs were well documented. The RN had basically let the platforms run down once there was an inidcation of being struck off, and the maint cycle prior to sell was less than stellar.

How the above impacts upon the outcome of the Board of Enquiry will be interesting. I can imagine that there will be a few nervous brit contractors - as it was fairly commonly accepted that the subs required far more work than normal to be made seaworthy due to "struck off" procedures a few years ago.
 
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highsea

New Member
I think the Brits have already said they would make things right. They want the Canadians to be happy with the boats.

IIRC, the Chicoutimi was cannabalized for parts to get the first three boats seaworthy, because spares were out of production/inventory. This is what delayed the Chicoutimi from entering service.

Whatever caused the fire, the most important thing is to sort it out and make sure it can't happen to the other boats.
 
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