Learn About Your History Before you open your mouth.

The radio was on yesterday morning, I wasn’t paying much attention to what was being said until I heard the word submarine. I picked up my ears and listened. There were two people discussing whether Canada should scrap our submarines. (Based on the performance of the Victoria class boats it was certainly a question worth asking). One was for and one against. I assumed that both these men knew what they were talking about? The guy for scrapping the submarines was citing the Danes and how they had done away with their sub fleet. The for guy’s argument was our huge coast line and the arctic circle, Denmark has nothing to compare in that regard. Then came this ridiculous claim from the anti submarine guy. Submarines only came into their own during the cold war, the cold war is over so they are no longer needed. Now I have to assume this person has at least a high school education, but more than likely he attended university. Either he wasn’t taught history or he skipped it. The cold war saw a escalation of submarine warfare and the rapid growth of nuclear powered boats with missile launch capabilities. However,the cold war was only an extension of the submarine. How about the Battle of the Atlantic, millions of tons of shipping and lives lost to the German UBoats. Churchill said the only thing that really worried him during the war was the UBoats. They came so close to starving Britain out of the war. The first world war saw German submarines prowling the Atlantic while Allied Navies had little of no defense against them. To this young man on the radio. Wake up son, check your Naval history before you go on radio to spout your ill informed opinions. The mighty battleships, or the huge aircraft carriers can be sunk by one submarine torpedo. In the Navies of the world today the submarine is considered a capitol ship by any standard. To the CBC radio management, might be worth checking people out before letting them speak over the airwaves.
In conclusion, I’d be the first to agree the four Victoria class submarines of the RCN are lemons and need replacing. But they need to be replaced by modern nuclear powered boats,and soon, before we have a submarine disaster on our hands.
Cheers and keep reading