Here's the last batch of AltCan submarines!
HMCS Rainbow - ex US Navy submarine USS Argonaut was leased from the USN and commissioned into the RCN in 1968, replacing HMCS
Grilse in the training role from 1969. After the commissioning of the fifth and last of the
Prince Rupert-class SSKs in 1974,
Rainbow was decommissioned and returned to the US, as the training and proficiency-maintenance role was taken over by the three
Oberon-class boats.
HMCS Sir Wilfrid Laurier - The decision to commission a fleet of nuclear subs was made in 1983, based on the generally positive experience with HMCS Lord Stanley. The decision was made to use a British or French design to save time and avoid having to reinvent the wheel; the decision finally went in favour of the RN's Trafalgar class, and eight were ordered and commissioned between 1987 and 1994, named after early Prime Ministers. The first two were built in the UK, the remaining six were built by Canadian Vickers in Montreal and by Versatile Pacific in Vancouver. The primary difference between the MacDonald-class boats from the original RN design is the design of the reactor - the Canadian boats are powered by a CANDU-type reactor. The lead boat, HMCS
Sir John A. MacDonald, is to decommission in 2013, and the remainder will be decommissioned one by one as the class' replacements, the
Laura Secord-class, is commissioned. The last two
MacDonald-class boats, HMCS
Sir Robert Borden and HMCS
William Lyon Mackenzie King are to be decommissioned in 2020.
HMCS Laura Secord - In 1995, the RCN unveiled its "Navy 2020" plan, which called for the replacement of the
MacDonald-class of nuclear submarines, with nine to be in service by 2020. It was decided to purchase a licence to build vessels of the French
Barracuda design, and the first two, to be called HMCS
Laura Secord and HMCS
Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, were laid down in 2004. They were launched in late 2010, underwent sea trials through 2011 and were commissioned this year. As with the
MacDonald-class boats, the original design was modified in terms of the powerplant, the
Secord-class boats receiving a CANDU-type reactor. HMCS
Laura Secord and HMCS
Sir Isaac Brock were commissioned into the RCN on Dominion Day, July 1, 2012 at Halifax.
Brock is to set out on a round-the-world goodwill tour at the end of July, 2012; scheduled port visits include Washington D.C., USA; Stanley, Falkland Islands; Auckland, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; Cape Town, South Africa and London. The first two boats are to be followed by one new boat each year from 2014 until 2020. The third boat, to be called HMCS
Joseph Barss is to be launched at the end of 2012 and commissioned in early 2014, and the fourth, HMCS
Tecumseh, has begun construction at Versatile Pacific Shipyards in BC, and is to commission in 2015.
