Re: Submarine returns to sea, News, April 20, 2011.
HMCS Victoria was originally the HMS Unseen in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy; rather befitting when you realize that since being handed over to the Canadian government on a six-year lease in 2000, she has only spent 115 days at sea — which works out to an unprecedented $1 million a day, not including the costs of refitting over those years.
The submarine took two years to build and 18 months to commission into the Royal Navy, so why has it taken five years to refit her, and at what cost?
One might relate this to the fiasco of the U.S. fighter jets that have not been built, tested or properly analyzed, and yet this government is signing a contract to buy them, probably soon after the election.
Anthony Mathews
Victoria