By the time the last boat HMS Unicorn had commissioned in 1993, the Cold War had been ended for some time and the decision had already been taken that the Royal Navy's submarine flotilla for the future would be all nuclear. Any thoughts of a further 6 Upholder boats had long been forgotten. Indeed, as relations with the USSR improved, even the new Upholder Class was subsequently deemed surplus to UK requirements. Inevitably, the Cammell Laird yard was closed by VSEL upon completion of the Upholder Build Programme.
Brought back to Barrow after only nominal service with the Royal Navy, the four Upholder Class were laid up under a Care and Maintenance contract placed with VSEL until a buyer could be found.
Transfer to and purchase by the Canadian Navy
In due course, after several expressions of interest by various governments, the Canadian Navy emerged as the prospective candidate. They would lease the four boats for 5 years culminating in an option to purchase for a token fee. This agreement also enabled the UK/NATO to utilise Canadian military airfields for their operations over the same period. Meanwhile, Barrow shipyard came under the new ownership of GEC in 1995 being renamed Marconi Marine (VSEL) Limited in 1996 and Marconi Naval Systems in 1998.
An Upholder Class reactivation programme at Barrow was initiated in 1999 which included the fitment of various alternative equipments to replace removed UK MoD classified equipments or to satisfy specific Canadian operational requirements.
The first boat to complete was SSK02 Unseen. She was duly handed over via the DPA and renamed Victoria - first of the Victoria Class - on October 6th 2000 at Barrow, leaving the UK on October 9th for commissioning into the Canadian Navy at Halifax, Nova Scotia on November 18th 2000. At the time of writing, the remaining boats of the Class - Ursula, Unicorn and Upholder (to be renamed Corner Brook, Windsor and Chicoutimi) were scheduled to follow their leader to Canada for commissioning into Canadian service during 2001 and 2002.
