WHEN HMS Upholder was commissioned, it was meant to be at the cutting edge of submarine technology.
However, plagued with fault after fault, it was sold off just four years after it was commissioned.
Built to perform covert shore missions and detect enemy vessels, Upholder was equipped with an impressive armaments system and substantial computing power.
However, from being laid down in 1983 to its commissioning in 1990, the vessel was plagued with problems.
A 1988 shipyard strike disrupted construction and leaking torpedo tubes delayed its commissioning.
The sub was sold in 1994 to the Canadian navy due to budget cuts, being renamed HMCS Chicoutimi. In 2004, when making repairs at sea, the ship was swamped by a wave, which sparked an electrical fire. One submariner died as a result of the accident, with the stricken sub eventually being towed to Faslane.
After extensive refits, HMCS Chicoutimi re-entered service in September 2015.
A Barrow sub barely made it back in one piece after a run in with a Soviet submarine
Find out about the thirtieth anniversary of the building where the Upholder was built
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