By Newell Durnbrooke
In mid-March there was wild speculation in the US media that France had covertly deployed a 'Nuclear Attack Submarine' to Halifax 'just 300 kilometres from the US border'. The wrong conclusion that many US pundits jumped to was that this was somehow in response to President Donald Trump threatening to annex Canada. Nothing could be further from the truth. The SSN Tourville is the latest submarine in the Suffren-class and she was on her pre-commissioning, proving voyage. Part of the testing for the SSN Tourville was frigid water tests off the coast of Labrador. For the 77 French sailors involved in the testing, Halifax as a welcome port call. After leaving Halifax harbour the SSN Tourville was to conduct some exercises with the RCAF before returning to France for her formal commissioning in the summer. French Embassy staff and the SSN Tourville's ship's company were hosted at a cocktail reception at the Juno Tower mess.
They were greeted by Maritime Forces Atlantic Commander, Rear Admiral Josee Kurtz. For the RCN personnel who toured the SSN Tourville, it was an opportunity for them to see "what does it mean to have a brand new submarine" explained Colonel Bruno Heluin, the military attache from the French Embassy. In September 2024 Canada announced a Request For Information (RFI) from shipbuilders to construct 10 -12 diesel electric powered submarines for the RCN at a cost estimated to be over $100 billion. However SSN Tourville is a nuclear powered boat and her class will not be on offer to Canada. She nevertheless have lots of communality with the classic propulsion oceanic class submarines Naval group has sold to the Royal Netherlands with roughly the same operational requirements. At 5,200 tons, the SSN Tourville is also far larger than the 3,000 ton submarines which Canada plans to acquire. However, if the US panics at the thought of just one French attack submarine deploying close to the Canada-US border perhaps an investment in a fleet of submarines will be worth the investment.
