Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Would you buy this submarine?



From today's Times Colonist, a photo of the HMCS Corner Brook, one of the four used British submarines Canada bought in 1998.
And the Corner Brook is actually supposed to be in good shape.
The submarine is in the news because it struck the ocean bottom in exercises this week, the latest chapter in a sad and costly bungled purchase, which I explored here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The boat that had the fire was running with both hatches open to the waves and by gosh water got in and ended up shorting out some terminals in the Captains quarters. From what I hear the guy who died was not trained in fire procedures, one of the worst things that can happen in a boat.

This time around the sub in question hit the bottom, and it sure wouldn't have been the subs fault.
I used to chase submarines a long time ago, they were and are a constant threat in the world. With good Captains , they were and are very hard to localize. There are a lot of boats much older working around the world. Those boats were a good price, but maybe some of the operators are not really up to speed. There is a long history of submarines in this country. The BC Government bought two subs in WW1 to protect the west coast.They were built for another country that couldn't come up with the cash. They eventually were given to the Canadian government and they served for a long time.To compare the purchase of four submarines at a low price to the unknown final price of the F35's is comparing apples to oranges. Just be glad that Harpo and Co. don't try to buy some nuclear boats He would really blow the bank account .A lot of submarine time is spend training other forces. Without them, we are subject to great threat. No I was never in the Navy, we were Air Force, worked with other countries training.( I think the F35's are a lousy aircraft for the money, single engined not so hot for the high north. Nor that fast either) Heck even the old boats like the"Grilse" were a tough opponents,when Captained by skilled skippers and crew. As were many boats from other countries. Training must be almost constant, it costs money and somehow certain branches of the military seem the last to get any.