Canada’s Minister of Veterans Affairs has suffered a knee injury aboard a submarine at CFB Esquimalt.
Minister Lawrence MacAuley was touring HMCS Chicoutimi, one of four long-range Victoria-class patrol subs in the Canadian fleet, Thursday morning.
MacAuley was at CFB Esquimalt as part of a low-key familiarization tour, according to the minister’s press secretary, Alex Wellstead.
The extent of the injury is unknown but is not believed to be serious.
HMCS Chicoutimi recently completed its first deployment, having spent 197 days at sea in the Asia-Pacific region.
In October 2004, the Chicoutimi suffered a major electrical fire while at sea before it was commissioned into the Canadian Navy. The fire killed one officer and caused severe damage to the sub. Nine other crew members suffered injuries.
The Navy still refers to the incident as “the darkest hours in the history of Canadian submarine service.”
HMCS Chicoutimi was officially commissioned into the Canadian fleet at a formal ceremony in Esquimalt on September 3, 2015.
MacAuley also serves as Canada’s associate minister of national defence.
