Queen’s Harbour Master staff on the move

Jetty Services staff from Port Operations and Emergency Branch work to secure Victoria-Class submarine HMCS Chicoutimi before Defence on the Dock at Ogden Point on Sept. 15. Photo by POESB

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

Guided tours of the Royal Canadian Navy’s submarine HMCS Chicoutimi was a key attraction at this year’s Defence on the Dock at Ogden Point.

But getting the Victoria-class submarine alongside for the Sept. 15 event was no simple task. Chicoutimi is currently undergoing a refit and couldn’t get there on its own power.

The process of moving Chicoutimi was a slow and methodical one, and involved 17 civilian members of the Queen’s Harbour Master, and three vessels from the base’s Auxiliary Fleet. Their operation began that day at 5 a.m. when the crews secured Chicoutimi to tug boats Glendale and Lawrenceville.

Over at Ogden Point’s Pier A, Jetty Services and tug boat Tillicum began setting up the required berthing system and brows.

It was all in a day’s work for the Queen’s Harbour Master, said LCdr (Retired) Roger Miller, Pilot 2 of Jetty Services.

“Rigging was the key to this operation. Put simply, it’s all about taking a large tug like Glendale and a smaller tug like Lawrenceville, and then rigging them with ropes to Chicoutimi so that all three vessels move as one unit.”

The mission could have easily been hampered by high winds, heavy seas, and fog that were forecasted that day. Thankfully for Miller and his crew the predictions didn’t pan out until later in the day. At the time of the move Chicoutimi and its supporting vessels had light winds and more than 100 yards of visibility, said Miller. They managed to make the four nautical mile journey in approximately two hours. 

Towing a submarine is an easier job than towing a frigate or large vessel, he adds.

“That’s because Victoria-class subs have a visibility advantage over larger surface vessels because of their conning tower [raised platform]; they track very well through water and its low profile makes it less susceptible to high winds. The only drawback is the cramped working conditions and confined spaces inside the submarine itself.”

Miller piloted Chicoutimi on its journey from Esquimalt Harbour to Ogden Point with assistance from the crew, while the return leg went to the unit’s other admiralty pilot, Brian Whittaker, who returned the sub safely to its home port.

Queen’s Harbour Master’s main responsibilities include supporting vessels of Canadian Fleet Pacific and assisting foreign warships in and out of Esquimalt Harbour, providing refit services by specialty barges, oversight of marine environmental protection, maintaining navy buoys for Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC), and overall marine management of Esquimalt Harbour.

The Queen’s Harbour Master also assisted in getting HMCS Winnipeg safely alongside Ogden Point, as well as set up numerous brows for HMCS Edmonton and
the Orca-Class training vessel Renard 58.