HMCS Okanagan (S74)
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HMCS ''Okanagan'' (S74) was an that served in the Canadian Forces (CF). She entered service in 1968 and spent the majority of her career on the east coast. The ship was paid off in 1998 and sold for
scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
in 2011.


Design

The ''Oberon'' class were considered an improved version of the preceding ''Porpoise''-class submarines, with a different frame of the pressure hullCocker, p. 108 and constructed from a better grade of steel.Brown, p. 285Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 530 These build differences allowed the ''Oberon''s to have a deeper diving depth at roughly . The submarines displaced surfaced and submerged. They measured long with a
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of and a draught of .Gardiner and Chumbley state that the dimensions were between perpendiculars, long overall with a beam of and a draught of The boats were powered by a two shaft diesel-electric system. The ''Oberon''s were equipped with two ASR 1 16-cylinder diesel engines creating and two English Electric motors creating . This gave the submarines a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . The boats carried 258 tons of oil giving them a range of at 12 knots.Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 529 The design was armed with eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, six in the bow and two in the stern. They carried 24 reloads for a total of 30 torpedoes. Canadian boats differed from the original design by being equipped for the US Mark 37C torpedo.Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 48 The longer, wire-guided Mod 2 version was carried in the forward tubes and the non-guided Mod 0 for the rear tubes. The ''Oberon''s were equipped with Type 187 active-passive sonar, Type 2007 passive sonar and Type 2019 sonar.


Submarine Operational Update Program (SOUP)

By the late 1970s, the ''Oberon''s in Canadian service had become obsolete and were in need of an update. Planning was done in 1978 and the program approved in February 1979.Ferguson, p. 298 In an effort to take the subs from anti-submarine warfare training to frontline service, Maritime Command developed a refit program that included new sonars, periscopes, communications and fire-control systems. They also had their armament upgraded with the fitting of torpedo tubes capable of firing the
Mark 48 torpedo The Mark 48 and its improved Advanced Capability (ADCAP) variant are American heavyweight submarine-launched torpedoes. They were designed to sink deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships. History The Mark 48 wa ...
. This would allow the submarines to be deployed by NATO in the North Atlantic to monitor Soviet submarines. The SOUP refits comprised a new US fire control system, a digital Singer Librascope Mark I, and new Sperry passive ranging sonar with the Type 719 short range sonar removed. The new sonar was placed in the upper casing on the pressure hull. New communications and navigational systems were installed. The submarines were fitted with new torpedo tubes for Mark 48 torpedoes, however the torpedoes themselves were considered a separate procurement program, which was only finalized in 1985. Between 1980 and 1986, one of the Canadian ''Oberon''s was out of service undergoing the refit. SOUP came in on time and on its budget of C$45 million in 1986. SOUP kept the Canadian ''Oberon''s operational until the end of the 1990s when they were replaced by the British s.


Acquisition

In March 1962, the
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recommended the purchase of three ''Oberon''s and eight frigates, on the condition that the cost of acquiring the submarines from the United Kingdom would be offset by British defence purchases in Canada. On 11 April 1962, the purchase was announced in the
House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...
by the Minister of National Defence, Douglas Harkness. However, the Conservative government postponed the acquisition of the ''Oberon''s due to the slow speed of the United Kingdom's attempt to offset the acquisition. The Conservative government was defeated in 1963 and the incoming Liberal government suspended all major defence procurement projects upon taking power. The final price of C$40 million for the entire contract was agreed upon in 1963.Ferguson, p. 260 However, due to Canadian modifications to the design, that number climbed to C$51.4 million. Since ''Onyx'' was already under construction, the boat was finished to Royal Navy specifications. All three boats received modifications to the original ''Oberon'' design, which included the enlargement of the snort de-icer, a different weapons fit, a larger air conditioning unit, active sonar and different communications equipment. The second and third hulls were built to Canadian specifications, which moved the galley forward of the control room to make room for the sonar equipment. This led to the removal of three crew bunks, a problem that was never rectified in the submarines and led to an accommodation issue for the crew. The three submarines were acquired for service as "clockwork mice", submarines used to train surface vessels in anti-submarine warfare.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 268


Construction and career

The submarine, built at Chatham Dockyard in England, was laid down on 25 March 1965, and launched on 17 September 1966 by Monique Cadieux, the wife of the Associate Minister of Canadian National Defence.Moore, p. 63 She was commissioned on 22 June 1968 at Chatham. She was also the final submarine constructed at Chatham Dockyard. The submarine was named after the Okanagan First Nations people, and was assigned the
pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
S 74. ''Okanagan'' was assigned to the First Canadian Submarine Squadron, joined by her sister boats and served her entire career with Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) in the
North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe and ...
.Ferguson, pp. 265 ''Okanagan'' spent time training with the Royal Navy after an exchange program was instituted in the 1960s that would see submarines from both the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy spend time with each other's forces. This allowed Canadian submarines on intelligence-gathering missions. Beginning in the 1970s, Canada began underwater surveillance patrols in the western Atlantic, tracking Soviet sub and surface fleet vessels, especially the
ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...
s, usually in concert with an
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or Aurora patrol aircraft. In July 1973, ''Okanagan'' collided with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel while exercising in British waters off the coast of Scotland. The submarine was running submerged off the mouth of the
River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...
when the tanker hit ''Okanagan''. There were no injuries to the submarine's complement. However, the submarine suffered damaged to her fin and mast. The submarine returned to
Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
to effect repairs. On 30 June 1983, ''Okanagan'' was deployed on a 19-day anti-Soviet submarine patrol. ''Okanagan'' underwent her SOUP refit beginning in 1984, being handed over to
HMC Dockyard A Canadian Forces base or CFB (french: links=no, base des Forces canadiennes, BFC) is a military installation of the Canadian Armed Forces. For a facility to qualify as a Canadian Forces base, it must station one or more major units (e.g., army ...
at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 2 April. The refit began on 12 June 1985 and lasted until 7 April 1986. Following the SOUP refit and the introduction of the Mark 48 torpedoes, the ''Oberon''s were considered fully operational and counted the same as other offensive fleet units in Maritime Command (MARCOM). In October–November 1990, ''Okanagan'' cruised the Great Lakes, the first Canadian submarine to do so. Following the end of the
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, the ''Oberon''s were retasked, performing patrols on behalf of federal institutions such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Solicitor General of Canada between 1991 and 1994. The delay of the introduction of the ''Victoria''-class submarines led to the ''Oberon''s working past their life expectancy. During the Turbot War, the ''Oberon''s were tasked with monitoring European fishing fleets off the
Grand Banks of Newfoundland The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...
. Their presence served as a deterrent in the escalating crisis. In early September 1998, ''Okanagan'' was used to search the ocean floor for the
flight recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has b ...
s of the crashed Swissair Flight 111 off the coast of Nova Scotia. She was paid off from MARCOM on 12 September 1998. In May 2005, the ''
Halifax Chronicle-Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada owned by SaltWire Network of Halifax. The paper's newsroom staff were locked out of work from January 2016 until August 2017. ''Herald'' management cont ...
'' announced that MARCOM was looking to sell ''Okanagan'' for scrap metal, along with three other Canadian ''Oberon''s laid up at CFB Halifax. MARCOM stated that the submarines were not in suitable condition to be used as
museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...
s and predicted that each submarine would sell for between C$50,000 and C$60,000. ''Okanagan'' was towed to a scrapyard in
Port Maitland, Ontario :''There is also a Port Maitland in the province of Nova Scotia; see Port Maitland, Nova Scotia.'' Grand River, Ontario Port Maitland is a community of approximately 100 people in Haldimand County, Ontario, Canada. It is on the North shore of L ...
in August 2011.


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* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okanagan (S74) Oberon-class submarines of Canada Ships built in Chatham 1966 ships