Ojibwa soon to be on the Road

I delayed my departure by a day, but will now be hitting the road for the next three weeks or so. Postings will be spotty.
In my absence:
Expect the arrival of the tug Florence M. (ex Point Vibert, ex Foundation Vibert) with the barge HM Dock 1 to load the submarine Ojibwa for Ontario.

Ojibwa is the last of the RCN's "O" class submarines to leave Halifax and is now lying at jetty Lima in Dartmouth.

Ojibwa update

1. Ojibwa at her berth at Jetty Lima. (photo added 2012-02-04)

2. Ojibwa (right) YD 253 and YC 601 at Jetty Lima January 3, 2012.
With the departure last summer of Olympus and Okanagan the last remaining floating O-boat, Ojibwa, rests at Jetty November Lima awaiting events to unfold.
Plans for the Oberon class sub to be transported to Port Burwell, ON last summer did not work out. The community still has to prove a business case to the federal government before the sub is released into their custody, but a glimpse at their website gives hope this will all fall into place soon.
See: http://www.projectojibwa.ca/
Onondaga is a tourist attraction and B&B near Rimouski, QC:
http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1485701
Olympus and Okanagan have now been broken up for scrap at Port Maitland, ON.
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Sub tow underway

1. Tug, tow and sub underway early this afternoon.

2. While lashings are completed on Olympus, a crew is at work preparing Okanagan. In the right background the sail of the Ojibwa is just visible.

The towout of the first submarine got underway at noon time today. It turns out that the first submarine to go is the Olympus, bound for the scrappers at Port Maitland, ON.

Olympus was acquired from the Royal Navy in 1989, and was used for alongside training only. It never went to sea for the RCN, but did perform a valuable role while other subs of the Oberon class were in refit and not accessible for training purposes. The sub was loaded on the Heddle Marine Services floating dock HM Dock 1 yesterday afternoon. After completion of final securement at noon time today, the tow got underway with the tug Evans McKeil. A small deck crew aboard the barge when it got underway, were removed by the naval auxiliary tug Merrickville before leaving the harbour.

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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.]

Sub on the move

1. Dominion Diving's Westport Ferry attends Ojibwa [?] at Jetty Lima this morning.

The decommissioned RCN submarine Ojibwa* was on the move yesterday, shifting berths at Jetty November Lima. The sub has been laid up at the jetty since May 1998, but is about to put out to sea again -with a difference.

This time the sub will be riding on a barge and will be headed for Port Burwell, ON to be preserved as a tourist attraction.

The tug Evans McKeil and the floating drydock HM1 are due this weekend, and after suitable preparations, will set out for the Great Lakes sometime next week.

The remaining two subs Okonogan [corrected] and Olympus were recently put up for sale for scrap.

Update: It is reported that they too will be towed to Ontario by the same tug/barge combo.

Since all three subs have no names posted on them, I only assume the above photo is Ojibwa, but it has also been reported that it is the Okanagan.

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