An unexpected, seagoing guest made its way into Howe Sound last week.

The HMCS Victoria, one of two Canadian Navy submarines based at the Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC) base in Esquimalt, was photographed after having surfaced just off Anvil Island on Friday (Feb. 8), apparently headed in a northerly direction.

The submarine “is just conducting some exercises in the area,” MARPAC public affairs officer Capt. Linda Coleman told The Chief. It’s not known how far north in the sound the Victoria traveled.

The Victoria is one of four Victoria-class submarines — the other three being the Chicoutimi, the Corner Brook and the Windsor — that went into service in 2003 after having been purchased from the United Kingdom in 1998. According to Royal Canadian Navy documents, the Victoria was in an extended docking work period (EDWP) from 2005 to 2011 to undergo upgrades, and was declared fully operational in 2012.

Its weapons systems were tested at Nanoose Bay in March-April 2012, followed by a test in July 2012 in which it torpedoed and sank a decommissioned U.S. Navy ship in a weapons testing range of the island of Kauai in Hawaii.