Canada’s sole operational submarine, HMCS Corner Brook, successfully sank a decommissioned United States warship during a live-fire exercise off the coast of Hawaii on July 12, demonstrating the Royal Canadian Navy’s precision strike capability after a 12-year absence from the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) drills.
Submarine’s torpedo strike marks rare live-fire success
The Victoria-class submarine fired a Mark 48 heavyweight torpedo at the decommissioned Ticonderoga-class cruiser USS Mobile Bay, which had been designated as a target vessel for the multinational exercise. The Canadian shot proved decisive, sending the 173-metre warship to the ocean floor in waters 15,000 feet deep, more than 50 nautical miles north of Kauai.
Captain Landon Creasy, commander of the Canadian task group at RIMPAC, described live-fire targeting exercises as “invaluable to our submariners,” while Lieutenant-Commander Linda Coleman, a Royal Canadian Navy spokesperson deployed in Hawaii, stated the submarine had proven it retains “precision strike capability” in complex marine environments.
RIMPAC exercise tests multinational naval readiness
The sinking of USS Mobile Bay formed part of a broader series of live-fire drills conducted during RIMPAC 2024, which concluded with the scuttling of a second decommissioned vessel—the amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu—on July 17. The exercises involved naval units from Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States, including contributions from the U.S. Air Force and Army.
Vice-Admiral Jeffrey Jablon, commander of the RIMPAC combined task force, characterised the sinkings as “a prime example of the strength and readiness our partnerships create.” The drills provided participating forces with an opportunity to refine tactics, targeting procedures, and live-firing proficiency against surface vessels at sea.
Canada’s submarine fleet faces operational challenges
The successful strike comes just six days after the federal government acknowledged that only one of Canada’s four Victoria-class submarines—HMCS Corner Brook—remains seaworthy. A July 6 news release from the Prime Minister’s Office described the fleet as aging and announced Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems as the preferred supplier for negotiations on up to 12 new submarines, a procurement described as the largest in Canadian defence history.
HMCS Corner Brook returned to service in 2023 following a 2011 grounding incident off Vancouver Island, which required approximately $20 million in repairs. An additional $695 million has since been allocated for maintenance, upgrades, and life-extension work to sustain the submarine until its replacement enters service.
Paul Mitchell, a professor at the Canadian Forces College and author of an upcoming book on the Victoria Class, noted that the navy must maintain the aging fleet for another decade to train crews for the incoming German-built submarines. “By hook or by crook, the navy has to make these things work for the next 10 years because they have to generate crews,” he said.
