Old Navy Ship Scheduled to be Scuttled By Munitions Training

Ottawa, Canada  Environment Canada approved a plan that would allow the military to float a retired Naval destroyer, the HMCS Huron, to a location in the Pacific Ocean for use as a munitions target. The plan calls for a joint U.S. / Canadian military exercise to fire live munitions at the target for training purposes until it sinks.

The proposed location for the target is in the Pacific Ocean approximately 100 km west of Vancouver. The HMCS Huron, currently docked in Victoria, British Columbia has been stripped down and cleared of all hazardous materials (e.g. lubricants, fuels) in preparation for its final mission. The Huron, commissioned in 1972 served 33 years before being decommissioned in 2005.

Environment groups are reportedly upset over the decision to sink the ship despite all of the precautions and anti-pollution steps that have been implemented. Environment Canada even put restrictions on the types of munitions that can be used during the exercise. Reportedly depleted uranium munitions and munitions containing significant quantities of lead are among the munitions that banned from being used.

The joint military exercise is scheduled to take place next month and if all goes as planned, the 1,110 ton destroyer approximately the size of a football field with be sitting 2km down on the bottom of sea.