Incêndio no HMCS Windsor

[JNSA]

Fire on 2nd Canadian sub
Last Updated Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:52:29 EST
CBC News

The Canadian navy has confirmed that the troubled fleet of submarines purchased from Britain has suffered another fire, slightly more than a year after a blaze crippled HMCS Chicoutimi and led to the death of one sailor.

A navy spokesperson in Halifax said HMCS Windsor was submerged off the Nova Scotia coast on Sunday when a transformer meltdown was reported.

A small fire created smoke in the submarine and the crew went to immediate emergency stations.

The submarine rose to what the navy calls "a safe depth" and extinguished the fire.

No sailors were injured and the Windsor remains at sea.

The vessel is the navy's only operational submarine.

Three other Victoria-class submarines purchased by the Canadian navy from the Royal Navy in 1998 are in repair or retrofit.

In October 2004, a fire broke out on Chicoutimi as it was crossing the Atlantic, leading to the death of Lieut. Chris Saunders and injuring eight others.

In May 5, 2005, a Canadian naval board of inquiry released a 700-page report on the accident.

fonte: http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/10/31/chicoutimi-051031.html

Embora a decisão de não comprar os Upholder/Victoria para a Marinha Portuguesa tenha sido muito criticada por alguns, em retrospectiva, só podemos dar graças por não termos ficado com este barrete!!...

De quatro submarinos, só um está operacional, e após este incidente, mesmo esse terá provavelmente de ser reparado e submetido a inspecções...

Os U-209PN podem ser mais caros, mas em princípio não devem sofrer dos mesmos males dos Upholder [bate na madeira...]

[Lauro Melo]

Parece-me ser o 2º Grave acidente deste modelo no Canadá.

[talharim]

Por favor gente,os ingleses são um dos melhores construtores de submarinos do mundo.

Eu me recuso a acreditar que a classe Upholder é um fracasso !

Para mim isto está parecendo incompetência da Marinha Canadense.

[JNSA]

Por favor gente,os ingleses são um dos melhores construtores de submarinos do mundo.

Eu me recuso a acreditar que a classe Upholder é um fracasso !

Para mim isto está parecendo incompetência da Marinha Canadense.

Os ingleses têm alguns dos melhores submarinistas do mundo, sem dúvida. Quanto à construção de submarinos, não sou especialista portanto não me quero alargar na matéria. Mas se atendermos apenas às últimas décadas, há países com muito mais experiência, pelo menos no que concerne a SSK's.

Se procurar no mesmo site do qual a notícia foi retirada, encontra uma breve história dos submarinos na Marinha Canadiana. Deixo-lhe aqui alguns excertos:

1998:
Canadian Forces announces it has purchased four Upholder-class Royal Navy submarines, which were decommissioned in 1993 when the U.K. decided to focus solely on nuclear subs.

(Um tão longo tempo de paragem não faz bem nenhum ao equipamento)

2002:
Windsor leaves Halifax for a planned two-week mission, but is forced to turn back after salt water seeps into a hydraulic motor. Canadian Forces reveals that Victoria has a dent in its hull the size of a pizza, as a result of a collision that occurred before the navy took over the sub. The Royal Navy agrees to co-operate in an investigation of the dent. The Canadian navy says cracked diesel exhaust valves on all the subs may have to be replaced.

2003:
HMCS Victoria sails to Esquimalt, B.C., from Halifax via the Panama Canal, re-establishing Canada's submarine presence in the Pacific Ocean, lost when the Rainbow was decommissioned in 1974.

An official with the Defence Department says the lease-to-purchase plan for the four new subs would cost an estimated $897 million, up from their original estimate of $750 million, because of the subs' structural problems.

2004:
On its maiden voyage as a Canadian vessel, a fire breaks out in the electrical equipment room of HMCS Chicoutimi causing "extensive damage to cabling," says Commodore Tyrone Pile, commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic. Nine members of the crew suffer smoke inhalation. Three crewmen are transferred by Royal Navy helicopter to a hospital in Ireland. Lieut. Chris Saunders, 32, dies on the helicopter.

The navy orders the three other Victoria-class submarines to dock while an inquiry takes place to determine the cause of the Chicoutimi fire. Other than the few months in 2000 before the Victoria was commissioned, it is the first time since 1961 the Canadian navy has been without an active submarine.

Será que, depois de receber os Upholder, a Marinha Canadiana deixou de saber operar submarinos?... Posso estar enganado, mas parece-me que a origem dos problemas não está apenas, nem sobretudo, no lado Canadiano...

[VICTOR]

Parece que foi um transformador que queimou.

Eh chato dizer, mas esses Upholders estao se revelando uma roubada. Acho que o JNSA apontou corretamente a longa estocagem como um dos principais fatores.

Os canadenses ja auto-ridicularizam suas Forcas, imagine com essa agora...

[VICTOR]

Transformer melts but sub remains at sea
Tuesday, November 1, 2005 Page A11

Halifax -- One of the vessels in Canada's troubled fleet of submarines remained at sea yesterday Mon despite another electrical glitch that caused a transformer to melt and smoke in the boat's engine room.

The navy said the crew of HMCS Windsor was brought "to emergency stations" during the incident Sunday morning.

There were no injuries and the navy said the sub remained at sea and fully operational.

The navy, in a release, said the problem was isolated to the transformer, which was replaced. CP

The Globe and Mail - Toronto

[VICTOR]

Blaze damages navy's last working submarine
HMCS Windsor fire confined to air conditioning system

Comes 13 months after Chicoutimi's tragic maiden voyage
KELLY TOUGHILL
ATLANTIC CANADA BUREAU

HALIFAX—A transformer aboard the Canadian Navy's last working submarine caught fire this week, just 13 months after a fire aboard her sister ship killed one sailor, injured eight and sparked a national controversy.

Crew aboard HMCS Windsor smelled burning plastic while the ship was submerged during a training exercise Sunday morning. According to a terse four-paragraph statement issued by navy officials, white smoke drifted into a forward engine compartment and crews were called to emergency stations.

The electrical blaze was isolated to a part of the air-conditioning system and snuffed out quickly. There were no injuries, and the ship has not been called back to port.

Aspects of the fire and the navy's response to it were eerily similar to the tragedy that killed Lieut. Chris Saunders, 32, in October 2004, aboard the maiden voyage of HMCS Chicoutimi.

Both blazes were caused by electrical problems. In the case of HMCS Chicoutimi, water flooded in from an open hatch and sloshed over power cables. That created an explosion that blew holes in the deck of the captain's cabin, sending smoke throughout the ship. The cause of Sunday's electrical fire that melted a transformer in the cooling system of HMCS Windsor is under investigation.

The navy was sharply criticized for its management of the Chicoutimi crisis, particularly because it told the public everything was fine when in fact Chicoutimi was drifting without power in the Irish Sea with a critically injured sailor on board.

This week, the navy waited more than 24 hours to notify the public of the blaze aboard HMCS Windsor, and could not be reached to comment on questions such as where Windsor was when the crisis occurred, or how it has affected ship operations.

The Chicoutimi crisis focused public attention on a controversial submarine program that has drawn fierce criticism since the start. Canada bought four used diesel submarines from Britain for $891 million. It took years to refit the submarines, and millions more than military officials had expected.

The submarines, which had been mothballed by the British, repeatedly broke down, and some sailors said they were afraid to sail them.

The Chicoutimi was the last of the four to set sail from Scotland for Canada. The fire broke out on Oct. 5 after a freak wave dumped 2,000 litres of water down the conning tower. The fire left the ship drifting in heavy seas. Saunders died the next day as he was being evacuated to hospital.

Two of Chicoutimi's sister ships, HMCS Windsor and HMCS Victoria, were recalled to port just days later, pending the outcome of the investigation. A third ship, HMCS Cornerbrook, was already at dock undergoing repairs when the others were recalled.

A board of inquiry found no one to blame for the blaze, calling it a freak accident that could not have been predicted.

A Commons defence committee also investigated. It blasted the submarine program for political interference.

The submarines were kept at the dock for more than seven months. Just moments after releasing the results of the investigation last May, Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean said the other ships would head back to sea.

"The navy needs to regain the trust of Canadians in this program," he told reporters at the time.

"These are safe and superior submarines."

Victoria, however, returned to port just one month later, where she was sent for a repair that is expected to take two years.

The Cornerbrook is still going through a retrofit in Halifax. Repairs on fire-damaged Chicoutimi will begin next year and are expected to last into 2007.

That leaves HMCS Windsor as the sole submarine capable of training crews that will be used throughout the program.

Toronto Star

[Charlie Golf]

Os ex-"Upholder" continuam a dar problemas?

Pelo menos esses subs não vieram cá parar (como era a intenção de alguns "iluminados" favoráveis à sua aquisição).

[P44]

Marine canadienne
La Marine Canadienne face au désastre des Upholder britanniques

http://www.meretmarine.com/article.cfm?id=239

(agradecimentos ao Spectral, não conhecia este site )

[pt]

Cá para mim, este azar todo é trabalho

[Raul Neto]

Seria uma descrédito e uma humilhação para o consórcio fabricante dos novos sub se dessem barracadas dessas.

Mas como diz o amigo JNSA, bate na Madeira 3 vezes, e acrescento mandem o Alexandrino hipnotizá-los na cerimónia de entrega (nunca se sabe )

[pt]

Deviam recorrer ao terreiro da Mãe Acácia.
Resultado garantido

[Raul Neto]

[Rui Elias Maltez]

JNSA:

Embora a decisão de não comprar os Upholder/Victoria para a Marinha Portuguesa tenha sido muito criticada por alguns, em retrospectiva, só podemos dar graças por não termos ficado com este barrete!!...

Charlie:

Pelo menos esses subs não vieram cá parar (como era a intenção de alguns "iluminados" favoráveis à sua aquisição).

Já sei que é boca para mim, mas não precisam de bater tanto no ceguinho.

Começo a reconhecer que de facto estão a dar muitos problemas.

Mas é facil falar depois.

Será que algum dos muitos foristas do DB já adivinhava que eles iriam dar problemas antes da sua ocorrência?