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| Great White North |
| Canadian sub crew at fault for fire |
| 2004-11-09 |
| An investigation into a fire on a former British submarine that killed a Canadian sailor will blame the crew, according to reports. The Royal Canadian Navy board of inquiry will say they left open hatches that should have been closed. This allowed water to reach the battery compartment, causing a short circuit. A souce told the Mail on Sunday: "It's a mystery as why the submarine was on the surface. "She should have been underwater in those conditions. This looks like a simple case of a drill being carried out." It happened as HMCS Chicoutini was sailing through heavy seas on its maiden voyage from Scotland to Nova Scotia. The vessel caught fire last month west of Ireland days after it was handed over to the Canadian navy. Formerly HMS Upholder, the sub was one of four bought by the Canadian government from Britain for £244m. There were suggestions she had not been refitted properly and that the Canadian Navy could sue Britain for damages. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #7 Look's like no refund from "Subs R' Us". |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-11-09 9:07:44 PM |
| #6 Always close the door after a good smoke. Hey, what were you guys smoking anyway? |
| Posted by: Johnnie Bartlette 2004-11-09 12:01:23 PM |
| #5 gotta close the damn screen door! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-09 10:04:42 AM |
| #4 Seawater is conductive. If it soaked the right electric distribution panel, then the panel and the connected batteries will short circuit, and can cause a fire in the distribution panel and batteries. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-11-09 9:51:42 AM |
| #3 Another reason this is bull,when seawater reaches the acid in batteries it pumps out massive amounts of chlorine gas.But all they mention is a fire caused by the batteries shorting out. |
| Posted by: raptor 2004-11-09 7:29:52 AM |
| #2 Maybe the Captain assumed that the boat was the submarine equivilant of the Sea King SAR helicopters and he figured that if they submerged they had little chance of coming back up |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2004-11-09 5:57:05 AM |
| #1 Bullshit. The sub was running "opened up". There is only one person who makes the decision to do that and that's the captain. Unless by crew they mean the captain. Why the captain would do this in heavy seas is the more serious question (though someone said it's not unusual). |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-11-09 1:14:37 AM |