Over the past few weeks, Greater Victoria residents may have seen a relatively unfamiliar sight off the region's coastline: a 70-metre, 2,200-tonne Victoria-class submarine.
After 14 years, His Majesty's Canadian Ship [HMCS] Corner Brook will soon be back in service where the vessel will be back to performing surveillance and training missions.
The Corner Brook, like the other four Victoria-class subs, started as a British boat for the Royal Navy after its launch in 1991 before being acquired by the Royal Canadian Navy in 1998. In 2011, the Corner Brook ran aground in Nootka Sound, opening a two-metre hole in the boat's bow and prompting years of repairs.
"Last time we went to sea, conducting trials, things went as expected. We remained at sea, dived the submarine, and came back and everything showed that it was a good investment to have the submarine back in service," said HMCS Corner Brook commanding officer Cmdr. Eric Isabelle while standing in the control room of what he calls the biggest hybrid vehicle in Canada.
Currently, the sub is undergoing sea and harbour acceptance trials to determine if it's fit for regular service, before the sub moves forward with submarine readiness training over the next few weeks. After the training, the sub will then undergo a trial to determine how capable weapons – like Mark 48 torpedoes – will be in self-defence and offensive postures.
"[We are] getting the submarine ready to go to war if we are called to do so, which nobody wants to, but we need to prepare," said Isabelle.
While sailing, many of the 48 to 59 crew members work long hours and live in the claustrophobic environment for weeks at a time without seeing sunlight. Typically the sub can dive underwater for three weeks at a time.
"You need a unique personality to be on submarines," said Corner Brook chief electrician PO1 Dale Armstrong. "We are 48 people in a very small space and the ocean is deep, there's a lot of pressure, and it always tries to kill you. That's just the nature of the business."
"We don't have internet, we don't talk to our families or any of that kind of stuff. So our family is our submarine crew. We learn a lot about each other, we get very close very quickly as a tight-knit group and that's what helps us operate, keep our mental health good and keep our morale up."
The Corner Brook and other subs are important to the navy due to their stealth capabilities, which include systems to prevent even a trace of bubbles that could give their location away.
The subs are especially important in their use in exercises with Canadian and allied ships training in spotting, and hunting submarines. Isabelle explained that though there are complex remote targets, nothing compares to the competition between the trained crew manning the submarine and ship crew that is trying to find the sub.
"As long as they don't know exactly where we are, we're everywhere," said Isabelle.
In 2024, the Department of National Defence announced the Canadian Patrol Submarine Project, where the government is looking to acquire a larger, more modernized submarine fleet to eventually replace the current, Cold War-era vessels.
In the coming months, the Corner Brook is expected to be at operational capability to participate in Operation Trident Fury, a training exercise with all branches of the Canadian Armed Forces, along with some NATO allies.
