3 of 4 Royal Canadian Navy's Victoria Class Subs Finally fully 'Operation'

HMCS Windsor returns to port in Halifax (Dec 2006) Photo: CF Combat Camera
Cpl. Rod Doucet. 

The Royal Canadian Navy purchased four Victoria-class submarines that where deemed surplus by the British Royal Navy in 1998 - and almost immediately there were problems with them.

Canada purchased the four submarines for nearly $900 million in 1998, and has since foot the large bill to bring the Subs to operational standards, as well as general repairs following a fire on board one of them submarines.

Now three of the four are now operational and have been cleared to begin patrolling the waters around Canada. HMCS Corner Brook is still in dry dock in British Columbia and the military has no timeline of when it will be ready for service. It is entering its deep maintenance phase of its repairs.

Two of the submarines, HMCS Victoria and HMCS Chicoutimi will patrol the waters of the Pacific coast in and around British Columbia, while HMCS Windsor will operate out of Halifax.

While the operational status of three of the four submarines is great news for the RCN, the money and investment is being touted as major waste - as the submarines likely only have a decade of service left in their lifespan. There is no current plan to build or purchase new submarines in the current government Ship building plan that plans to have a new Navy built within the next two decades.