Canada has recently bought four used submarines from Britain. Last week when Canadian sailors were heading home, navigating one of them, HMCS Chicotimi, something went wrong and the boat was on fire. The outbreak cost one of the submariner's life, Lt. Chris Saunders, a 32-year-old of 2 little boys (it's terrible when someone loses his father when he's just a few month old, poor kids) from New Brunswick.
Navy investigators r still trying to find out the cause of the disaster. There r some guesses but the final answer is not there. One says that sea water could be a cause of fire when contacts wires inside the submarine. And it happens - we all know - when water is leaking inside. Submarine commander said that when the fire started there was a very thick smoke which he was not able to c his turned on flashlight from an inch! Lt. Saunders died of smoke inhalation. Canadian Navy asked all four submarine to stop operating before the investigation gets to a clear result. One of the boats, Victoria is docked in the Pacific (Victoria) and the three other in the Atlantic (Halifax)
The story reminds me of what happened to SSGN Kursk, the nuclear Russian submarine in 2000. Of course Chicoutimi is nothing compare to Kursk and the disaster was much worse (All the 118 crew were killed) but they share something: No one knows what caused the catastrophe.
(Photo: The submarine is being brought to a base in Scotland)
Note: use the following links for more information about Kursk:
1- http://www.aeronautics.ru/nws002/kursk001.htm
2- http://www.yenra.com/russian-submarines/kursk/
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