Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific),
located in Colwood, BC, provides diving support
to Canadian Maritime Forces on the Pacific coast
as well as to other government departments and research
projects. The unit was established shortly after
the Second World War as a mine countermeasures diving
unit, and this task remains the unit's primary responsibility.
FDU(P) has a number of core capabilities and conducts
Clearance Diver training to maintain its high professional
standard.
In order to maintain this standard,
members of the unit carry out numerous diving and
demolition tasks and exercises, often in cooperation
with foreign Navies such as the United States, Great
Britain, and Australia. Canadian Clearance Divers
also complete a rigorous and intensive training
program. All Clearance Divers begin as either ship's
team or combat divers, where they will spend several
years completing tasks using SCUBA diving equipment.
After this period they may volunteer to become Clearance
Divers and must complete a gruelling two week preliminary
course. On the "prelim" they are assessed
by instructors while competing for a limited number
of positions on course. If accepted, they will then
complete a one year course learning to use numerous
different types of diving equipment as well as diving
medicine, recompression treatment and chamber operation,
demolition and Explosive Ordnance Disposal, underwater
welding and cutting, ice diving, underwater photography
and many other tasks. On successful completion of
the course the students are awarded the coveted
"dolphin" badge of the Clearance Diver.
Once in the unit the divers
will be assigned to one of several sections. The
Mine Countermeasures (MCM) section is responsible
for mine detection and disposal, and maintains its
proficiency through both exercises and actual taskings.
The BDR (Battle Damage Repair) section carries out
numerous ship repair tasks (such as removing and
replacing ship's propellers and sonar domes) throughout
the year. In addition, the BDR section is prepared
to deploy at short notice anywhere in the world
to carry out neutralization of ordnance and repair
of underwater damage incurred in the modern Naval
combat environment. BDR is also capable of carrying
out salvage operations (including surveying and
raising sunken vessels).
The Explosive Ordnance Disposal
(EOD) section carries out land-based bomb disposal
tasks for the Southern Vancouver Island region,
as well as investigating and disposing of unexploded
military ordnance. EOD's role has become increasingly
important in recent years, and it now responds to
dozens of IED (Improvised Explosive Device) calls
each year, as well as to calls involving such things
as wartime "souvenir" ammunition or commercial
explosives.
The Repair section maintains
all of the diving gear, and operates the unit's
recompression chambers. Repair also maintains and
operates FDU(P)'s Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's).
The Training section runs courses for all Canadian
Forces Divers (including Air Force Search and Rescue
Technicians, Army Combat Divers, and Navy
Ship's Team, Reserve Inspection, and Clearance Divers).
Additionally, the unit as a whole may be tasked
with additional responsibilities such as submarine
search and rescue, recompression treatment of diving
casualties, or scientific research projects.
A variety of diving equipment
is used by FDU(P). SCUBA gear (consisting of US
Divers "Arctic" Regulator or AGA II full
face masks plus twin aluminum 80 cu ft bottles)
is used for the majority of ship repair and other
shallow water tasks. Mine Countermeasure tasks are
accomplished using the Canadian Clearance Diver
Apparatus (CCDA) and the Canadian Underwater Mine
Apparatus (CUMA), both of which are Canadian-designed
rebreathers, built by Fullerton-Sherwood in Mississauga,
Ontario. CCDA is a set-flow Nitrox rebreather capable
of diving to 180 feet sea water (FSW), while CUMA
is a variable-flow Heliox rebreather with onboard
diagnostics capable of diving to 270 fsw (Nitrox
is an enriched oxygen mixture, such as 60% O2 /
40% N2, while the Heliox rebreather supplies a set
amount of pure oxygen and adds increasing amounts
of helium to this as the diver descends). For deep
non-MCM diving, the Kirby-Morgan Superlite 17 helmet
with surface supplied mixed gas (compressed air
or Heliox) is used. At the deeper depths a hot water
suit is also used to prevent hypothermia from the
extreme cold.
A variety of diving equipment
is used by FDU(P). SCUBA gear (consisting of US
Divers "Arctic" Regulator or AGA II full
face masks plus twin aluminum 80 cu ft bottles)
is used for the majority of ship repair and other
shallow water tasks. Mine Countermeasure tasks are
accomplished using the Canadian Clearance Diver
Apparatus (CCDA) and the Canadian Underwater Mine
Apparatus (CUMA), both of which are Canadian-designed
rebreathers, built by Fullerton-Sherwood in Mississauga,
Ontario. CCDA is a set-flow Nitrox rebreather capable
of diving to 180 feet sea water (FSW), while CUMA
is a variable-flow Heliox rebreather with onboard
diagnostics capable of diving to 270 fsw (Nitrox
is an enriched oxygen mixture, such as 60% O2 /
40% N2, while the Heliox rebreather supplies a set
amount of pure oxygen and adds increasing amounts
of helium to this as the diver descends). For deep
non-MCM diving, the Kirby-Morgan Superlite 17 helmet
with surface supplied mixed gas (compressed air
or Heliox) is used. At the deeper depths a hot water
suit is also used to prevent hypothermia from the
extreme cold.
Additional equipment used by
members of the unit includes several recompression
chambers (including the Draeger Duocom chamber which
is portable and capable of fly-away operations),
underwater cutting and welding gear, hydraulic and
pneumatic tools, video and photographic equipment,
hand-held and side-scan sonars, and two ROV's; the
advanced "Phantom IV" deep underwater
vehicle and the larger "Trailblazer" Bottom
Object Investigation Vehicle. The Diving Unit also
possesses many vessels used for support of diving
operations. YDT-11, used for deep diving, is a 130
ton diving tender with an onboard 6-man recompression
chamber and mixed-gas surface support equipment.
A second tender, YDT-9, is an 80 ton vessel used
for many harbour repair tasks and ROV operations.
Many smaller craft are also used by the unit, either
on their own or in support of the larger dive tenders.
FDU(P) is at the forefront of
diving technology, and will continue to expand and
develop its capabilities in the future. Increasing
integration of Naval Reserve Inspection Divers in
FDU operations (in keeping with the Canadian Forces
"Total Force" concept) acts as a "force-multiplier"
(providing a pool of trained personnel to assist
and conduct ship repair and underwater searches).
With the "SOOKE", a 290 ton, 110
foot diving tender, the unit is able to extend the
reach and scope of its diving operations even further.
The Fleet Diving Unit Pacific is Maritime Forces
Pacific's only operational mine countermeasures,
explosive ordnance disposal and battle damage repair
asset. The officers and men of FDU(P) are ready
to respond to any situation and remain true to the
unit motto: "Strength in Depth!"
