Spied on US I-20 Today....

[chris vickery]

Lets hope our brothers to the south don't get burned on a clearance sale from the UK like we did with "barely used" submarines.....
The barely used subs were barely used because they were junk to begin with and the Brits knew it.
BTW, our second hand subs are still not sea worthy despite being sold in operational condition several years back, plus killing a Canadian sailor to boot.

[rob love]

Originally Posted by chris vickery

Lets hope our brothers to the south don't get burned on a clearance sale from the UK like we did with "barely used" submarines.....
The barely used subs were barely used because they were junk to begin with and the Brits knew it.
BTW, our second hand subs are still not sea worthy despite being sold in operational condition several years back, plus killing a Canadian sailor to boot.

To be fair that death was the result of the way the new owners were operating it, and not because of the submarine itself. I believe the findings of the inquest were that the sub should have had the hatches closed while the ocean was that rough.

From Wikopedia:
"On 5 October, Chicoutimi was apparently surfaced and running through heavy seas 100 miles (160 km) north-west of County Mayo, Ireland. Both hatches in the bridge fin lock-out chamber were left open and an estimated 2,000 litres of seawater entered the vessel. The seawater caused an electrical panel to short out, which in turn started a major fire and caused all power to cut out, leaving the submarine adrift.[2] "


Apparently the waves were between 6 to 8 meters in height.

[chris vickery]

I shall stand corrected on the details surrounding the death of the sailor, but this aside, the ex British subs were sub-standard even to the expectations of the British Navy and are in fact, junk.
A recent report regarding the seaworthyness of these subs indicates that out of 4 subs purchased, 3 have spent the majority of their time in docks and the fourth just slightly less since purchased due to various problems.
The re-fits are way over budget and it seems we would have been better off buying new to start with.
Canadian Navy crews have been sailing them in simulators for the past few years, in fact some submariners have never even been to sea during their
enlistment....

[maple_leaf_eh]

The UK has twice the population of Canada, three times that of Australia, but pretenses of defence spending like the US. It is inevitable that something has to give. The USMC is getting a good deal on new/used jump jets, considering they were partnered with the RAF/RN from early on. The USMC/USN have flown the wings off most of the newest F18 in the fleet and have had to go back to early models mothballed in the desert. Ten years at war will do that to any inventory.

Front page story recently was how Canada was hiring skilled RAF pilots to fill some specific holes in the manpower grid. I know a young Royal Engineer who resigned one Queen's commission for another Queen's commission. An Intelligence Sqn Ldr and a fellow now training to be a military doctor. All recent emigres. So, thank you Mr Cameron! Thank you for being responsible with your nation's finances. We'll take care of the paperwork.