Vanguard Magazine

A LBERTA was at commu- nications depth receiving her daily traffic and external surveillance data. She would only be at this depth for a short time then she would effortlessly slide to a convenient depth for surveillance. The captain and the designer were hovering over the tactical plot reflecting on what had transpired since clearing Dixon Chan- nel three weeks ago. It had been a long co- vert submerged transit, but they were now in their assigned patrol area. The captain and the designer discussed the design and the operational trade-offs that resulted in ALBERTA. The captain opined that she believed that the key is- sues were endurance and persistence, after stealth of course. This they were able to achieve though there were challenges as many in the bureaucracy, and indeed in the Forces, continued to argue and lobby for small submarines or lesser, cheaper capabil- ity. The designer reflected that convincing the authorities that a big boat was required to store weapons, external sensors, food, fuel, spares and meet environmental regu- lations while providing sufficient habitabil- ity and recreational space for the crew was indeed a challenge. ALBERTA had just deployed one of its long-range PIKE UUVs to extend her acoustic surveillance beyond her fitted sys- tems. ALBERTA with her large displace- ment had been designed to carry and to deploy PIKE UUVs allowing her to con- duct passive surveillance over a huge water mass making her a true strategic asset for Canada and her allies. As they were watch- ing the progress of the PIKE the designer mentioned that one of the greatest chal- lenges was to design- in adequate habit- ability and recreational facilities for the crew. The captain agreed, she indicated that one of her many major concerns was how to keep the crew fit, alert and focused during these long patrols. The biggest challenge, she opined, was to ensure that there was an onboard gym, one that could be used in all but the strictest quiet acous- tic states. That they were able to achieve this, with considerable effort, proving that it not only was possible but was necessary for crew health, physical and mental, was paying dividends on this first extended de- ployment. As ALBERTA departed communications depth enroute her patrol depth the discus- sion moved on to the boat's waste manage- ment system, another key element endur- ance and persistence. To ensure stealth and to comply with Arctic regulations ALBER- TA needed to store and process all forms of waste while ensuring that there was no leakage or discharge of untreated materi- als which may betray her location or cause pollution. Expecting a boat to store all the waste created on a normal patrol was not logical, so a special processing system was needed to neutralize the waste and contain it until it could be disposed without betray- ing the presence of ALBERTA. In the cap- tain's opinion a failure of this system meant a mission failure, consequently it was a high priority for ALBERTA's Engineering De- partment. The captain decided to walk the boat and invited the designer along. As they moved through the boat each commented on the need to adequately store sufficient food for a long deployment while ensuring sufficient variety and quality to provide the crew with nutritious and appetizing meals daily. It was a challenge but with the help of Base Food Services and the high quality of cooks embarked, selecting, storing, and prepar- ing food for meals was a well thought out endeavour and they both observed that to date there had been no complaints. Return- ing to the tactical plot just as ALBERTA launched another PIKE UUV the designer observed that in the design of the boat a key issue was the ability to store sufficient critical spares pointing out that there was no "unused space" in the boat as it was all occupied by spare parts. Some of which had already been used. At this point ALBERTA's Executive Of- ficer arrived with a message for the cap- tain's eyes only. The captain thanked the designer for the chat and proceeded to her cabin followed by the Executive Officer. Capt(N) Ian Parker (Ret'd), a graduate of the Canadian Forces College and the United States Naval War College and who served in the Royal Canadian Navy for 37 years and commanded HMC Ships Fraser and Pro- vider, and a consultant who worked with the defence and security industry for over ten years. HMCS CORNERBROOK Undocking. Photo: Master Corporal Nathan Spence, MARPAC Imaging Services T H E LA S T W O R D B Y C A P T ( N ) I A N PA R K E R ( R E T ' D ) A WO R L D W I T H N O S U N 30 OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2023 www.vanguardcanada.com

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