HMCS Protecteur - Fire
BartSimpson @ Tue Mar 04, 2014 12:02 pm
Gunnair Gunnair:
Again, I will surely forward your observations through COMMARPAC to COMRCN. I'm sure all this is new to them.
I'm sure it isn't new to them. That doesn't mean we're not allowed to talk about it given that neither of us answers to chain of command anymore. One of the benefits of civilian life is getting to criticize flag staff and they have to sit back and suck it up.
Gunnair @ Tue Mar 04, 2014 6:48 pm
$1:
A fire-damaged navy supply ship could be headed for the scrap heap, leaving Canada with only one vessel to support its maritime force.
Since HMCS Protecteur is scheduled to be taken out of service sometime between 2016 and 2017, the navy is going to assess whether it’s financially viable to repair the ship or simply dispose of it sooner, according to military sources.
An engine room fire, which broke out last Thursday as Protecteur was sailing north of Hawaii, crippled the vessel. It is now being towed to Pearl Harbor.
An extensive damage assessment will start once Protecteur arrives in Hawaii, according to the Royal Canadian Navy. But there are already indications that the damage is extensive. “There are reports of significant fire and heat damage to the ship’s engine room and considerable heat and smoke damage in surrounding compartments,” the navy noted in a statement.
Defence analyst Martin Shadwick said the navy is facing some hard choices. “Even if Protecteur can be repaired, the navy is going to have to figure out if it should go ahead and do that for a ship they were going to retire in two or three years anyways,” said Shadwick, who teaches strategic studies at Toronto’s York University.
Canadian Forces spokesman Capt. Trevor Reid said the navy has been planning for the retirement of the Protecteur and its sister ship, Preserver, in the 2016-2017 period. “However, a full assessment of the damage sustained by HMCS Protecteur is required before further commenting on its future,” he stated in an email Tuesday.
Shadwick said the navy will also face a problem finding spare parts so it can repair the 44-year-old Protecteur.
Many of the systems on the ship are nearly obsolete, according to naval officers. HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver use boilers to generate steam for their main propulsion. Spare parts are no longer readily available, and the skills needed to maintain such systems, already mature in the 1960s, are becoming increasingly rare.
In October, the federal government confirmed the two Joint Support Ships that are to be built to replace Protecteur and Preserver won’t be ready until 2019-2020.
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
When the fire was reported, HMCS Protecteur was returning from duties in the Pacific Ocean with 279 crew, 17 family members and two civilian contractors who joined the ship for the return transit. Having family members on board for the last part of a voyage is a common practice with ships returning from extended operations, the navy noted.
A U.S. helicopter transferred those family members off the vessel and on to the USS Michael Murphy. They arrived in Pearl Harbor on Tuesday.
Among those were retired vice-admiral Larry Murray, a former acting chief of the defence staff, the navy confirmed. He later served as deputy minister at Veterans Affairs before moving on to become deputy minister at Fisheries and Oceans until his retirement from the public sector. Murray’s son is an officer on HMCS Protecteur.
Around 20 personnel on board the ship received minor injuries as a result of the fire. An investigation into the cause of the blaze is underway.
The fire is the second incident involving the supply ship in the last year. In August, HMCS Protecteur was involved in a collision with HMCS Algonquin during towing exercises en route to Hawaii.
There were no injuries but both ships were damaged in that incident.
[email protected]
Twitter.com/davidpugliese
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
Since HMCS Protecteur is scheduled to be taken out of service sometime between 2016 and 2017, the navy is going to assess whether it’s financially viable to repair the ship or simply dispose of it sooner, according to military sources.
An engine room fire, which broke out last Thursday as Protecteur was sailing north of Hawaii, crippled the vessel. It is now being towed to Pearl Harbor.
An extensive damage assessment will start once Protecteur arrives in Hawaii, according to the Royal Canadian Navy. But there are already indications that the damage is extensive. “There are reports of significant fire and heat damage to the ship’s engine room and considerable heat and smoke damage in surrounding compartments,” the navy noted in a statement.
Defence analyst Martin Shadwick said the navy is facing some hard choices. “Even if Protecteur can be repaired, the navy is going to have to figure out if it should go ahead and do that for a ship they were going to retire in two or three years anyways,” said Shadwick, who teaches strategic studies at Toronto’s York University.
Canadian Forces spokesman Capt. Trevor Reid said the navy has been planning for the retirement of the Protecteur and its sister ship, Preserver, in the 2016-2017 period. “However, a full assessment of the damage sustained by HMCS Protecteur is required before further commenting on its future,” he stated in an email Tuesday.
Shadwick said the navy will also face a problem finding spare parts so it can repair the 44-year-old Protecteur.
Many of the systems on the ship are nearly obsolete, according to naval officers. HMCS Protecteur and HMCS Preserver use boilers to generate steam for their main propulsion. Spare parts are no longer readily available, and the skills needed to maintain such systems, already mature in the 1960s, are becoming increasingly rare.
In October, the federal government confirmed the two Joint Support Ships that are to be built to replace Protecteur and Preserver won’t be ready until 2019-2020.
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
When the fire was reported, HMCS Protecteur was returning from duties in the Pacific Ocean with 279 crew, 17 family members and two civilian contractors who joined the ship for the return transit. Having family members on board for the last part of a voyage is a common practice with ships returning from extended operations, the navy noted.
A U.S. helicopter transferred those family members off the vessel and on to the USS Michael Murphy. They arrived in Pearl Harbor on Tuesday.
Among those were retired vice-admiral Larry Murray, a former acting chief of the defence staff, the navy confirmed. He later served as deputy minister at Veterans Affairs before moving on to become deputy minister at Fisheries and Oceans until his retirement from the public sector. Murray’s son is an officer on HMCS Protecteur.
Around 20 personnel on board the ship received minor injuries as a result of the fire. An investigation into the cause of the blaze is underway.
The fire is the second incident involving the supply ship in the last year. In August, HMCS Protecteur was involved in a collision with HMCS Algonquin during towing exercises en route to Hawaii.
There were no injuries but both ships were damaged in that incident.
[email protected]
Twitter.com/davidpugliese
© Copyright (c) Postmedia News
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Fire+damaged+HMCS+Protecteur+could+headed+scrap+heap/9578922/story.html
saturn_656 @ Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:55 pm
$1:
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
That's the plan? Become a charity case for a few years?
I'm sorry, but that is an embarrassing, shitty fucking plan.
Gunnair @ Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:07 pm
saturn_656 saturn_656:
$1:
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
That's the plan? Become a charity case for a few years?
I'm sorry, but that is an embarrassing, shitty fucking plan.
We've been a charity case since the 70's...
Jabberwalker @ Tue Mar 04, 2014 8:07 pm
Keeping half century old steamers alive is a shitty plan, too. The big mistake ... our procrastination has already been made.
martin14 @ Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:55 am
Gunnair Gunnair:
saturn_656 saturn_656:
$1:
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
That's the plan? Become a charity case for a few years?
I'm sorry, but that is an embarrassing, shitty fucking plan.
We've been a charity case since the 70's...
So then Justin is primed to make us completely homeless.
Gunnair @ Wed Mar 05, 2014 7:27 am
martin14 martin14:
Gunnair Gunnair:
We've been a charity case since the 70's...
So then Justin is primed to make us completely homeless.
The partisan drive by ignores the political reality. Who shit the bed on the JSS?
Yeah...
BartSimpson @ Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:26 am
Gunnair Gunnair:
$1:
Shadwick said the navy will also face a problem finding spare parts so it can repair the 44-year-old Protecteur.
They're going to Pearl which has some of the finest fabrication shops on the planet! Just sic a Master Chief on the problem and it'll get sorted out PDQ.
Jabberwalker @ Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:43 am
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Gunnair Gunnair:
$1:
Shadwick said the navy will also face a problem finding spare parts so it can repair the 44-year-old Protecteur.
They're going to Pearl which has some of the finest fabrication shops on the planet! Just sic a Master Chief on the problem and it'll get sorted out PDQ.
The only problem is that the Chief that remembers steam turbine is 87 years old and is as deaf as a post!
saturn_656 @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:31 pm
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.2562634
Protecteur is at Pearl. Apparently the tow rope almost took out a reporter.
Gunnair @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:42 pm
saturn_656 saturn_656:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hmcs-protecteur-towed-into-pearl-harbor-1.2562634
Protecteur is at Pearl. Apparently the tow rope almost took out a reporter.
Protecteur is at Pearl. Apparently the tow rope almost took out a reporter.
Sailors tossing heaving lines with monkey's fists for the berthing lines - reporters and cars on the jetty were always fair game!
BartSimpson @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:46 pm
Gunnair Gunnair:
$1:
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
...or else a blue water force will be reduced to being a littoral force.
Like I said.
ShepherdsDog @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 1:49 pm
We actually had one of the deck apes hit a shithawk with one, just as it was taking off. He got extra bananas for dinner
Jabberwalker @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:28 pm
Bet he couldn't do that, twice! Has anybody managed to shoot a bird with a costain gun?
Gunnair @ Thu Mar 06, 2014 2:32 pm
BartSimpson BartSimpson:
Gunnair Gunnair:
$1:
That will create a two-to-three year gap in which the Royal Canadian Navy will not have access to its own vessels capable of resupplying warships at sea. The navy hopes to rely on its allies to fill that role.
...or else a blue water force will be reduced to being a littoral force.
Like I said.
I forwarded your keen insight to COMMARPAC whom I bet gave it to COMRCN - hence the sudden mention in the news.
I knew they were very appreciative. Your QDJM is in the mail.
Hope you don't mind that it was nailed to the Biebs....