Canadian sailor dies in submarine accident

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Canadian sailor dies in submarine accident

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:12:15 PM EDT

Canadian sailor dies in submarine accident
Last Updated Wed, 06 Oct 2004 18:11:44 EDT
HALIFAX - Prime Minister Paul Martin has confirmed in the House of Commons that one crew member on the disabled sub HMCS Chicoutimi, has died.

INDEPTH: Canadian Military

A Canadian sailor arrives at a hospital in Sligo, Republic of Ireland. (Photo Courtesy RTE)
A British helicopter took three sailors to an Irish hospital after airlifting them from the Canadian submarine that is drifting without power in the Atlantic off Ireland.

Several crewmen were injured in the fire. Martin said a Lieut. Chris Saunders died while being transfered.

The Royal Navy helicopter took the men to a hospital in Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland, after the condition of one of the HMCS Chicoutimi crew members worsened during the airlift operation. The helicopter's pilot had originally intended to land in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

FROM OCT. 6, 2004: Opposition blasts 'obviously inferior' subs

Commander Richard Buckland of the Royal Navy said he didn't know the extent of the submariners' injuries.

Nine crew members were said to have suffered "minor" smoke inhalation as they put out two fires on board the vessel on Tuesday.

The latest development came after the Canadian Navy earlier said the 57 sailors aboard HMCS Chicoutimi might not see dry land again until Monday.

Commodore Tyrone Pile, Commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic, told a news conference Wednesday that it's unlikely the Chicoutimi will regain propulsion power, because damage from a fire on board Tuesday was worse than first thought.

He said the fire on board had been "major," causing "extensive damage to cabling" aboard.

Pile's remarks represented a reversal in the Navy's assessment of the damage to Canada's newest submarine.

The cause of the fire was still unknown, Pile said. However, it burned on both the first and the second deck, badly damaging Captain Luc Pelletier's cabin and the electrical equipment room.

The crew used up most of the portable fire-fighting equipment on board in putting out the blazes.

HMCS Chicoutimi, photographed off the coast of Ireland Wednesday. (AP photo)
Pile also said that there had been a second, "minor" fire in an oxygen generator on board, shortly after the first one had been put out.

The Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose and the auxiliary vessel Wave Knight reached HMCS Chicoutimi at about 2 p.m. local time Wednesday.

Three other ships from a Royal Navy taskforce of five vessels were due to reach the Canadian sub in the next 24 hours, but towing operations probably wouldn't begin until Friday, Pile said.

HMCS Chicoutimi will probably be towed back to a British naval base in Faslane, Scotland, from which it departed for Halifax on Saturday.

Overall, the boat's "situation continues to be stable," Pile said.

Pile said the temperature aboard was 20 degrees Celsius, "warmer than I would have thought."

The starboard diesel engine was running, providing the submarine with ventilation and a battery was powering light and communications, and there was also "plenty of food and water on board," he added.

Back in Canada, the Navy briefed all of the submariners' families on Tuesday and will provide them with another update on Wednesday, Pile added.

A technical team from Halifax was due to arrive in Britain early Thursday morning.

Separately, Pile reported that HMCS Windsor, a submarine patrolling Canada's East Coast, had suffered a "minor incident" on Tuesday.

A sailor "clearing fishing lines" was washed overboard, he said. The man was rescued by a swimmer, and both immediately returned to duty unharmed, the Commodore said.

The Chicoutimi, bought from Britain's Royal Navy, was renamed and formally handed over to the Canadian Navy during a ceremony at Faslane on Saturday. The vessel had been due to arrive in Halifax on Oct. 18.

Written by CBC News Online staff

www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/10/06/newhmcschicoutimi041006.html

I hope whoever the shitbag was that decided buying this crap from Britian was the "way to go" is charged with manslaughter. These piece of crap subs have been nothing but grief from day one.
Now we've lost a sailor.

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:18:01 PM EDT

[#1]

This equipment issue has gone on for far, far too long. I liked the fact that they were correcting the chopper ordeal but the rest of this...is just embarrassingly sad.

Don't they call you guys the Battlefield Borrowers? Damn, what a moniker.

My guess is that even this incident will fail to motivate those libs in the Capitol. Sad...very sad.

RIP!

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:21:57 PM EDT

[#2]

I'll say a prayer for the man and his family then I'll say a prayer that the liberal government is forced to spend its term in these subs.

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:24:25 PM EDT

[#3]

This could very well be the beginning of the end for Martin and his LIEberals. They only have a minority government and the Conservatives and NDP will be all over this. I hope.

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:39:29 PM EDT

[#4]

According to www.cnn.com the damage was more servere that originally reported.

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:46:10 PM EDT

[#5]

Prayers sent for the dead Sailor, his shipmates, and their families.

Posted: 10/6/2004 3:47:21 PM EDT

[#6]

Quoted:
According to www.cnn.com the damage was more servere that originally reported.

That should have been obvious when the sub was reported as waiting for a tug to tow it back to port.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Canadian sailor dies in submarine accident

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