Monday, July 18, 2011

Sub transport arrives

The floating drydock HM Dock 1 arrived this morning in tow of the tug Evans McKeil (see also Tugfax.)
The dock barge will be used to transport three Oberon class submarines to Ontario, one at a time.
As per previous posts, since the individual subs are difficult to identify, I am assuming that the first to go will be Ojibwa, which will be preserved at Port Burwell, ON. The other two, Okanagan and Olympus, will be going for scrap, likely in Port Maitland, ON.
HMCS Ojibwa was laid down as HMS Onyx for the Royal Navy, but was purchased by the RCN before completion by HM Dockyard in Chatham, England and renamed. It was commissioned in 1965 and carried the pennant number SS 72. In 1994 the sub was cut in half and had newer engines installed from HMS Osiris. It was decommissioned in 1998.







In 2001 the sub was borrowed to use in the movie K-19: The Widowmaker. Its distinctive bow mounted radar dome was removed and the number 270 was applied to its sail. It was supposed to represent a US sub, even though the US never had subs like it. On completion of filming the sub was returned to its layup at Jetty Lima. [Photo taken 2001-06-02, with tugs Baie Ste-Anne II, Atlantic Hemlock and Mister Joe.]

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