HMCS Victoria

There has been only one vessel named Victoria in the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Victoria (876) / Victoria-class submarine

The former HMS Unseen was laid up by the Royal Navy in June 1994. She was accepted by Canada and named HMCS Victoria on October 6, 2000, at Barrow-in-Furness. The submarine departed England October 9 and travelled to Halifax submerged for the most part, arriving on October 23, and was commissioned on December 2, 2000. Upon completion of a Canadianization Work Period refit, HMCS Victoria conducted a coastal transfer to Esquimalt, sailing from Halifax on June 29, 2003, and arriving in Esquimalt on August 24. She engaged in various trials and training exercises before entering an Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP) in the Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton on June 27, 2005. As the lead EDWP for the class, this process took longer than anticipated, and it was December 5, 2011, before HMCS Victoriaa proceeded to sea under her own power.

HMCS Victoria was declared fully operational following weapons certification in March 2012, and soon thereafter became the first RCN submarine to fire a warshot Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo, sinking the ex-USNS Concord on July 17, 2012, during a Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise near Hawaii. HMCS Victoria has since participated in various international exercises, which in 2013 included exercising with Special Forces and conducting the third Victoria-class submarine deployment as part of Operation CARRIBE.

• Builder: Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
• Laid down: August 12, 1987
• Launched: November 14, 1989
• Commissioned RN: July 20, 1991
• Paid off RN: April 6, 1994
• Commissioned RCN: December 2, 2000
• Displacement: 2255.6 tonnes (surface) / 2514.7 tonnes (submerged)
• Dimensions: 70.3 m x 7.6 m x 5.4 m
• Speed: 12 knots (surface) / 20 knot (submerged)
• Crew: 49
• Armament: six 533-mm torpedo tubes

Motto: “Expect No Warning”