Upholder/Victoria Class Submarine - Canadian Service

Canadian Service

In 1998, Canada accepted the four Upholders as replacements for their old Oberons; initially with one to operate in the Pacific fleet and three in the Atlantic, but later two boats were assigned to the Pacific. After all four subs were obtained by Canadian Navy, the Canadian Forces renamed them as the Victoria class. The first of class, Victoria, was commissioned in Halifax in December 2000, Windsor in June 2003, Corner Brook in March 2003, and Chicoutimi in September 2004.

The boats are named after Canadian port cities. Victoria and Chicoutimi operate out of CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia as part of the Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) fleet in the Pacific Ocean, while the remaining boats are based at CFB Halifax, Nova Scotia and operate in the Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) Fleet within the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.

Although the Canadian government touted the $750 million CAD procurement as a bargain, there have been arguments over the quality of the submarines with some suggestions that the purchase price will be at least spent again putting things right. Canadian opposition parties are demanding that the British government fund any further costs, since it is widely believed that the submarines deteriorated while in storage and the Royal Navy was not completely forthcoming on their condition during the sale. However, it cost the Royal Navy £900m to build the submarines and even if there are some minor problems, Stephen Saunders, editor of Jane's Fighting Ships argues that "there is not something inherently wrong with the class of submarines."