Transformer fire damages Canadian navy's last working submarine

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - A transformer aboard the Canadian Navy's last working submarine caught fire recently, just over a year 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 on the morning of October 30. 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 the recent 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 time, 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, 2004 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.