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Victoria Class SSK cutaway showing Lazcom Antennas and five man lockout chamber used to exit the submarine while it is submerged.
(Victoria Class Submarine (876) http://navy.dnd.ca/mspa_fleet/vic_specs_tac_e.asp#top National Defence. Altered photo reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services, 2005)


HMCS Corner Brook SSK-878 (Originally HMS Ursula S-42)

HMCS Corner Brook, the third of the Upholder Class submarines launched by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd., was commissioned in May of 1992. She had a very short career, being mothballed in 1993 when the Royal Navy had to decide whether to keep the four SSKs or acquire two extra SSNs. 'Purchased' by the Canadian government, she was finally commissioned into the Canadian Navy in March of 2003.
Corner Brook and her sister boats were laid up for many months receiving upgrades and conversions which would bring them to the required specifications needed for their new life. Both the Harpoon Missile and Mine Laying capabilities were removed and they were modified to operate the Mark 48 torpedo, a very capable weapon currently used by both the US and Canadian navies.
With a crew of 50+, the Victoria class boats would show a substantial savings in operating costs over the previous class of submarines while at the same time taking a huge leap forward in technology.
The boats had a speed when first constructed of 12 knots surfaced and 20 knots submerged, the faster speed a result of the streamlined 'tear drop' shaped hull. The Victorias are the near equal to their nuclear counterparts in weapons and sonar, trading the nuc's endless sailing capability for the deadly stealth of a modern diesel-electric attack boat.
The 2400 ton boats are powered by two Paxman Valenta 1600 diesels coupled to a single shaft/propeller. At 236 feet in length the Victoria class is shorter than the Oberon class boats, having the typical stubby appearance of their nuclear powered big sisters.
At the bow, six 21 inch torpedo tubes house the Gould Mk-48 wire guided torpedos which give the Victorias their deadly punch.

Canadian conventionally powered diesel-electric submarine HMCS Victoria (SSK 876) arrives at the Pacific Northwest Region Bangor Complex to conduct ranging operations with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport, Dabob Bay Range Facility. The Victoria is a longe-range patrol submarine commissioned in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in December 2000. U.S. Navy photo by Ray F. Longaker, Jr. (Image used with permission of US Navy - U.S. Navy imagery used in illustration without endorsement expressed or implied)