CC-class submarine

The CC class submarine was the first class of submarines used by the Royal Canadian Navy. Designed as diesel electric submarines for use as coastal defence, they were originally purchased by the province of British Columbia from a shipbuilder in Seattle, Washington, which had built the submarines for the Chilean Navy. Acquired by Canada they saw no battle while in service during the First World War and were paid off in 1920. They were the first Canadian warships to pass through the Panama Canal. Both ships were discarded in 1925.

The two submarines were not identical. The design called for diesel electric submarines for use as coastal defence. However, the Electric Boat Company employed two separate designs with the same internal machinery for the submarines. CC 1 was built to the design 19E and CC 2 was built to design 19B. The layout of the torpedo tubes within the boats led to different hull forms. CC 1 was armed with five torpedo tubes, four forward and one astern. This gave the submarine a bluff bow shape. The only source for these torpedoes in Canada was 's stock and it took some time before they were shipped to the submarines. The boats could dive 200 feet (61 m) and unlike modern submarines, the main ballast and trim tanks were located internally. The boats were powered by MAN 6 cylinder diesel engines constructed in the United States under licence. The CC class could carry of diesel fuel. The two submarines were designed to make surfaced and submerged, however CC 1 made in sea trials in November 1917. The Electric Boat Company then designed and built a boat in a way that could be taken apart and shipped across country to Seattle to be assembled. After sea trials, the submarines now named Iquique and Antofogasta In keeping with an earlier Australian practice when two British E class submarines had been renamed AE 1 and AE 2 by adding the "A" in front of the class to denote Australia, the two submarines purchased by Canada, resembling British C class submarines, had two "C"s placed in front of their names to denote Canada and their apparent class. The Royal Commission headed by Sir Charles Davidson, heard from Philip Watts, the former director of naval construction for the Royal Navy and advisor to the Chilean government regarding the initial design of the submarines, through his letter to the Admiralty during the initial process of acquisition. His assessment was that the boats had been built too heavy. Electric Boat Company had admitted to that the submarines had displayed dangerous diving characteristics and had been in the process of developing alterations to the design when the ships were purchased by the Canadian government. The neutrality of the United States had prevented them from having any further involvement once war had been declared. When Electric Boat Company testified, they gave truth to the rumours that Paterson had made a profit off the boats, the sale price they had provided Paterson when he requested the information from the parent company had been lower. The defence of the decision lay in the timing of the deal, the eventual US neutrality, and the Admiralty recommendation to purchase the boats when they had been informed. These three points swayed the Royal Commission in finding in favour of McBride's decision. Their refit in September and October 1914 was primarily focused on three problems. The first problem was the instability while diving. The boats, especially CC 2, developed uncontrollable negative buoyancy when the ballast tanks were vented. If the tanks were left partially full, the boats would take dangerous nose or tail dives. This required a reduction in weight which led to the removal of all unnecessary stores, fuel and spare parts. This eventually limited the patrol range of the class to only a few days at a time. The second problem facing the boats was the tendency of the cylinders in the diesel engines to overheat. This problem was never rectified and the cylinders would eventually crack after six hours of running at full speed. This was due to early engine design and metallurgical inadequacies. The third and final problem was temperamental emptying of tanks during diving or surfacing. This was rectified by the refitting of faulty valves. During 1917 that became a reality as the Admiralty ordered the two subs and Shearwater to Europe. The electrical fires led the crews to only operate one diesel engine at a time, as the other was usually under repair. CC 1 had to be towed from that point onward to San Francisco. CC 2 worked until San Francisco and then both submarines were towed to San Diego. Confined to port hopping down the coast and passing through the Canal Zone, the fleet had to stop at Kingston, Jamaica to make repairs. Moving on from Kingston, the three vessels spent five days at Charleston, South Carolina making more repairs. The fleet attempted to set out, but returned to Charleston for more repairs. They left again and hit a storm, the fleet limping into Norfolk, Virginia, where the submarines spent two weeks in the US Navy dockyard. CC 1 was towed by Shearwater to Newport, Rhode Island where after another six days of repair, the fleet set out to finish the transit, arriving at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 October 1917. However, the Admiralty insisted that the submarines be made ready for duty in Europe and ordered them to refuel and proceed to the Mediterranean Sea. Only after the Admiralty was informed of their dire condition did they rescind that order and then ordered them for use as coastal defence on the east coast. While under repair at Halifax, the two submarines survived the Halifax Explosion unscathed. The Royal Canadian Navy then devised a plan to utilise the two subs in anti submarine training for the surface vessels. This was done on Cape Breton Island. CC 2 and Shearwater were sent to Bras d'Or Lake and trained the trawler and drifter crews in the use of their hydrophones. The two subs finished the war as training vessels, not going on patrol again before the Armistice. Following the war, the Royal Navy transferred the H class submarines H14 and H15 to Canada. The Royal Canadian Navy could not operate both the H class and the CC class, so the decision was made to place the CC class in reserve. The two submarines were put up for sale in 1920 and were packaged with Niobe for disposal. The three vessels were discarded in 1925.