HMCS VICTORIA 876

Victoria Class Submarine

The former HMS UNSEEN was laid up by the Royal Navy in Jun 1994. She was accepted by Canada and named VICTORIA on 06 Oct 2000 at Barrow-in-Furness. The submarine departed England 09 Oct 2000 and travelled to Halifax submerged for the most part, arriving on 23 Oct 2000, and was commissioned on 02 Dec 2000. Upon completion of a refit to Canadian standards, VICTORIA conducted a coastal transfer to Esquimalt, sailing from Halifax on 29 Jun 2003 and arriving in Esquimalt on 24 Aug 2003. She engaged in various trials and training exercises before entering an Extended Docking Work Period (EDWP) in the Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Breton on 27 Jun 2005. As the lead EDWP for the class, this process took longer than anticipated, and it was 05 Dec 2011 before VICTORIA proceeded to sea under her own power. VICTORIA was declared fully operational following weapons certification in Mar 2012, and soon thereafter became the first RCN submarine to fire a warshot Mk 48 heavyweight torpedo, sinking the ex-USNS Concord on 17 Jul 2012 during EX RIMPAC near Hawaii. Victoria has since participated in various international exercises, which in 2013 included exercising with Special Forces and conducting the third Victoria-class submarine deployment as part of OP CARIBBE.

Photos and Documents          Ship's Company Photos

Naming Ceremony         Commissioning book          Welcoming Ceremony

Commanding Officers

     In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice    

     Lest We Forget     

     In memory of those who have crossed the bar    

They shall not be forgotten

Former Crew Members

(IC) = Initial crew who manned Victoria at Barrow-in-Furness 06 Oct 2000 for her transit to Halifax.

Photos and Documents

(VIC001) HMCS Victoria 876 - Welcome Aboard Booklet  //  Courtesy of Brian Lapierre

(VIC002) HMCS VICTORIA 876 arrives at the Pacific Northwest Region Bangor Complex, 01 Oct 2004, to conduct ranging operations with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Keyport, Dabob Bay Range Facility  //  USN Photo - public domain

(VIC003) The former combat stores ships USNS Concord (T-AFS 5) sinks in the Pacific Ocean after being used as a target vessel by the Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Victoria (SSK 876) during a sink exercise July 17, 2012, as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012.

(VIC004) "Port side Poppy" on HMCS VICTORIA 09 Nov 2021  //  DND / RCN Photo