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THE FINAL VOYAGE OF FORMER BRITISH SUBMARINE HMS OLYMPUS Submarine Olympus, formerly HMS Olympus, left Halifax, Nova Scotia for the last time on 18 July 2011. She was towed to Port Maitland, Ontario where she was scrapped. The submarine was mounted on floating drydock HM1 which was pulled by tug Evans McKeil. Before arriving in Montreal, tug Vigilant 1 joined the group to guide the stern of the floating drydock through the locks of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
I took the following photos on her final voyage, as she passed Montreal on her way from Halifax to Ontario. The first 7 photos are of lower quality because they are photo captured through the Halifax harbour webcams. The remaining photos were taken as Olympus went through the Ste-Catherine lock near Montreal at 5:30 AM on Tuesday 26 July 2011.
When HMS Olympus was decommissioned from the Royal Navy, she was purchased by Canada but was never commissioned into the Canadian Navy. She was used as a submarine training unit alongside the jetty in Halifax until all the Oberon class submarines were retired at the end of the 20th century.
Donald Courcy 26 July 2011
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Departing Halifax on 18 July 2011. Photo captured through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Entering the North Atlantic by Chebucto Head on 18 July 2011. Photo through the Halifax Harbour Webcams
Entering the St. Catherine lock in the St. Lawrence Seaway near Montreal at 5:15 AM on 26 July 2011
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
In the St. Catherine lock near Montreal
Leaving the St. Catherine lock. Heading up river toward the Great Lakes
Leaving the St. Catherine lock. Heading up river toward the Great Lakes
Leaving the St. Catherine lock. Heading up river toward the Great Lakes
Leaving the St. Catherine lock. Heading up river toward the Great Lakes
Leaving the St. Catherine lock. Heading up river toward the Great Lakes
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Heading up the St. Lawrence Seaway, west of the St. Catherine lock
Farewell OLYMPUS !!!
HMS OLYMPUS on the left and her sister HMCS OKANAGAN on the right Submarine on fire !!!( formerly HMS OLYMPUS )12 October 2011 British submarine HMS OLYMPUS arrived at the scrapyard in Port Maitland, Ontario in September 2011.
On October 12, 2011, as demolition work was going on, a fire was ignited onboard the submarine. Here are the details of the incident. Donald Courcy
Scrapped sub catches fire at drydock 12 October 2011 PORT MAITLAND Haldimand firefighters are battling a major, unusual blaze aboard a decommissioned Canadian Navy submarine. The sub is one of two towed to the Feeder Canal Road East yard near Lowbanks for scrapping this past summer. The blaze started around noon inside the submarine, where workers were stripping down parts, said Haldimand OPP Constable Mark Foster. Nobody was injured. The Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Labour have been advised. Haldimand Fire Chief Rob Grimwood said the workers were using a grinder when something let off a spark. “I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what caused it,” he said.
Note from the webmaster. It is easy to identify which submarine caught fire. OKANAGAN had the new type sonar dome but it was removed in Halifax a long time before OKANAGAN was towed to the graveyard. OLYMPUS has the older type sonar dome which can be seen on the submarine on fire... Donald Courcy
The pair, two of Canada’s four retired submarines, were floated by special barge to Hamilton on their way to the “ship breaking” yard on Lake Erie in August.
Fire breaks out in retired submarine MATT DAY/QMI Agency 12 October 2011
Welland - PORT MAITLAND - A fire inside a retired Canadian submarine berthed at Port Colborne-owned Marine Recycling Corp. in Port Maitland forced workers to evacuate the vessel once used by the Canadian Department of National Defence on Wednesday afternoon. Ontario Provincial Police and Haldimand firefighters from Dunnville, Byng, Moulton and Jarvis were called to the scene at about 12:30 p.m. after a worker inside the Olympus was cutting material with a grinder when a stray spark ignited pieces of wood inside.
"The interior of the sub is teak wood and cork, so it's fairly flammable," said OPP constable Mark Foster. "The company had been taking all the precautions to avoid this kind of thing, but sometimes things like this happen."
Foster said the workers inside tried to put out the flames with a fire extinguisher, but when that didn't work, decided to vacate the sub and called 911. The Jarvis department was called in for its aerial truck. No injuries were reported and the Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Labour have been called in to assess the situation. "The fire is self contained inside and most of the hazardous material, like leftover fuels, had already been removed," said Foster. He added the layout of the sub posed some difficulties for firefighters to battle the blaze. "Firefighters are keeping safe, though, and fighting the fire from the outside as no one's life is in danger. It was strictly a fire."
The 1,250-tonne sub made a two-day stop in Port Colborne on Sept. 13 on way to being recycled. The Olympus was never officially commissioned. Heddle Marine Service and Mckeil Marine Ltd., both of Hamilton, were commissioned by MRC to lift and tow the sub - and the Okanagan - from Halifax to Port Maitland. MRC plans to take the tops of the submarines, including the conning towers, to Derek Point Memorial Gardens in Port Colborne, where they will be on display. The company built the park, which also contains nautical pieces from various Great Lakes freighters, about eight years ago. The submarine pieces will be placed to look as though one is submerging and the other surfacing. Scrapped sub catches fire Hamilton Spectator 13 October 2011
PORT MAITLAND Haldimand firefighters spent Wednesday afternoon battling a major, unusual blaze aboard a decommissioned Canadian Navy submarine.
The submarine HMCS Olympus is one of two towed to the Feeder Canal Road East yard near Lowbanks for scrapping this past summer at Port Maitland, about one hour south of Hamilton. The fire started around noon inside the submarine, where workers were stripping down parts, said Haldimand OPP Constable Mark Foster. Nobody was injured. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Labour were advised. The MOE had staff on site making sure nothing was leaking.
Haldimand Fire Chief Rob Grimwood said the workers were using a grinder when something let off a spark. “I don’t think we’ll ever know for sure what caused it,” he said.
The vessel was empty. But the submarine walls and cargo were lined with teak wood and what Grimwood described as cork board. This cork board product went up in smoke, literally. Firefighters from six different Haldimand fire stations spent the afternoon fighting the smoky blaze with 12 fire trucks.
HMS Olympus and HMCS Okanagan, two Oberon class 1,250-tonne subs, were towed to the yard over the summer and are being recycled by Marine Recycling Corp. at the company’s shipyard. Although the subs’ names have been stripped off, Olympus is identifiable by an older type radar dome near her bow Okanagan does not have. The pair, two of Canada’s four retired submarines, were welded to a special barge and then ‘dry towed’ to Hamilton on their way to the “ship breaking” yard on Lake Erie in August. The subs’ 10-day journey from Halifax to Hamilton and on to Port Maitland was overseen by Hamilton’s McKeil Marine and Heddle Marine Service Inc. The diesel-electric submarines were built in Britain and used by Canada’s navy for 30 years. At the time they were built, the boats were the latest technology, according to the Canadian Naval Centennial Internet site. They were upgraded between 1979 and 1981, but by the late 1990s were retired. The fire was onboard former HMS OLYMPUS 17 OctOBER 2011
At around 12:30 p.m.
Wednesday morning October 12, 2011, a fire inside the Olympus, a
decommissioned submarine once used by the Canadian Department of National
Defence, broke out as workers from Port Maitland's Marine Recycling
Corporation were inside . No injuries were reported and as of 3 p.m., the
Haldimand County Fire Department was busy extinguishing the fire inside.
A fire inside the Olympus submarine at Port Maitland's Marine Recycling Corp. forced about 10 workers to evacuate the vessel once used by the Canadian Department of National Defence on Wednesday afternoon. Ontario Provincial Police and Haldimand Firefighters from Dunnville, Byng, Moulton and Jarvis were called to the smoky scene at around 12:30 p.m. after a worker inside was cutting material with a grinder when a stray spark ignited pieces of wood covered in a cloth-like fabric nearby.
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