Onondaga?

[FER]

Has anypone here visited HMCS Onondaga? It's not in the US , but it's less than a hundred miles north of the northeastern tip of Maine. In submarine touring terms, according to Google Maps, it's about a nine-hour drive north of Albacore. There are some nice photos here: http://www.shmp.qc.ca/onondaga/montez/index.php

-FER

[Paul Farace]

Visited ONONDAGA in Halifax, NS in 2000. Great boats the OBERONS... if you're not over 5-ft 8 inches! You are very aware of the overhead throughout most of the boat, except for the engine room and and forward torpedo room. They are the most numerous sub class on display next to the Gato-Balaos in the USA.

I had a chance to talk with some of the enlisted men who were preparing her for exhibit in Ottawa. They were sad that it was being removed from service, but I explained to them that it would live forever (or almost) as a memorial sub. I also prodded them not to take away items that the future curator would have a hard time replacing. Walked passed the storage batteries on the pier.

The original plan was to cut her into three segments and barge them to Ottawa where they would be reassembled at the war museum. For some reason that plan failed. Now it is in Romulanski (Sp?)... basically no where near major population centers. But it is Canada's only sub memorial. There are three other OBERONs available, OJIBWA, OKANOGAN, and OLYMPUS, so Montreal could get one as well as Toronto, and maybe Vancouver, BC. But don't hold your breath. The typical Canadian is not very interested in their colorful naval history, sadly.


I will have to dig out my pics of Onandaga.

[FER]

Rimouski, Quebec, where the Onondaga is now on display, is certainly the middle of nowhere, but it does have a few other maritime attractions that might make it worth the trip. There's a famous lighthouse, and it's just seven miles from one of the greatest passenger vessel shipwrecks of all time. The Empress of Ireland sank there in 1914 with the loss of over a thousand lives. The wreck was forgotten for fifty years, but I understand that it is now a fairly popular dive sight, and there is a large museum devoted to the shipwreck. They're the folks that brought Onondaga to this remote location.