HMCS Windsor won’t meet year-end timetable

Tests around Halifax are going well, but the progress of one of Canada’s four submarines will still be set back by several months due to a faulty generator, according to the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Windsor has been undergoing tests around Halifax for months and can sometimes be spotted moving through the harbour.

Its 40- to 45-person crew spends much of its time at sea doing a variety of tests, including full dives.

“To date, all conducted sea trials have gone well. We’ve successfully completed them,” said Rich Feltham, commander of Maritime Operations Group 5.

But the navy will still miss its target of having three fully operational submarines by the end of the year.

Windsor is supposed to complete testing, including torpedo firing, this fall. But it will have to go into a few months of maintenance to replace its generator, Feltham said.

That will push completion into 2014.

HMCS Victoria had been docked since 2005 but was declared operational last year. It is based out of British Columbia.

HMCS Chicoutimi is still undergoing extensive work. It is the most infamous of the submarines, after catching fire during its maiden voyage in 2004. One navy officer died as a result. The Defence Department is trying to have the Chicoutimi ready to start operations by the end of this year.

When three submarines are working properly, the navy will consider the fleet to be fully operational, or in a “steady state.” The plan is to have three submarines functioning at any given time while one undergoes a two-year break for refits and repairs.

HMCS Corner Brook is not expected to be fully functional until 2016 after running aground last year.

The submarines have been a huge disappointment after being bought at the seemingly discounted price of $750 million from the British navy in 1998. Since they started sailing in 2003, Canada’s submarines have jointly been at sea for 1,131 days, as of the end of April.

That works out to about $663,000 per day a submarine has sailed, based on just the initial cost. The years of work the submarines have required would raise that significantly.

A recent report by the Laurier Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives questions whether Canada should cut its losses and scrap the whole program.

But people in government continue to defend the program. They say it is a useful deterrent for Canada to have functional submarines, and allied partners like training with Canada because the diesel submarines are quieter than some newer nuclear models.