Oberon class submarine
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 HMS Otus |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |  Royal Navy Royal Australian Navy Canadian Forces Maritime Command Brazilian Navy Chilean Navy |
| Preceded by: | Porpoise-class |
| Succeeded by: | Upholder-class |
| In commission: | 1960 - 2000 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Retired: | 26 |
| Preserved: | 10 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Patrol submarine |
| Displacement: | Surfaced: 2,030 tons Submerged: 2,410 tons |
| Length: | 90 m (295 ft 3 in) |
| Beam: | 8.1 m (26 ft 6 in) |
| Draught: | 5.5 m (18 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 3,680 hp Admiralty Standard Range V16 diesels 2 × 3,000 hp electric motors, diesel-electric 2 shafts |
| Speed: | Surfaced: 12 knots Submerged: 17.5 knots |
| Complement: | 69 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Type 187 Active-Passive sonar Type 2007 passive sonar |
| Armament: | 8 × 21 inch (533mm) tubes (6 bow two stern) for 22 in the British Boats, 18 torpedoes. |
For the 1920s O class submarines, sometimes referred to as the Oberon class, please see Odin class submarine
The Oberon-class was a thirteen-ship class of diesel-electric submarines of the Royal Navy, and were based on the successful Porpoise-class submarine. The Oberons were far more successful in the export market than their predecessor, with fourteen boats being operated by the navies of Australia (HMAS Oxley, Otway, Onslow, Ovens, Orion and Otama), Canada (HMCS Ojibwa, Okanagan, Onondaga, Olympus and Osiris), Brazil (S 20 Humaitá, S 21 Tonelero and S 22 Riachuelo), Egypt and Chile (Hyatt and O'Brien).
Contents |
[edit] Design
The class differed from the Porpoises in that they used QT28 steel instead of the UXW[1] used in the Porpoise. This was easier to fabricate and gave a significant increase in diving depth. Additionally, they made use of glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) in the casing and other additional improvements helped the class become even more silent than the Porpoises.
Additional new electronics and weapons, including in 1970 the Mark 24 Tigerfish torpedo. The RAN and RCN O-boats were upgraded to fire American Mark 48 torpedoes. The Canadian Oberons also used the NT-37 torpedo before the Mk.48 was introduced. The Australian boats were later updated to be equipped with the subsonic anti-ship Harpoon missile. HMAS Ovens was only the second conventional submarine in the world - and the first Oberon - to fire a sub-surface launched Harpoon missile. This occurred off the island of Kauai in Hawaii in 1985, where the target was successfully hit from over the horizon. Consequently, the boat's designation changed from SS to SSG.
Like the previous Porpoises, the Oberons were far quieter than their American counterparts. They performed remarkably well in clandestine operations, performing surveillance and inserting special forces, vital during their heyday in the Cold War. These operations were primarily carried out by the British across Arctic Europe; the Canadians across the Arctic Pacific; and the Australians throughout south-east Asia and as far north as the Sea of Japan.
The Oberons were arguably the best conventional submarine class of its time[1], with an astonishing reputation for quietness that allowed it to exist into the 21st century until replaced by newer classes such as the Collins- and Victoria-classes in Australia and Canada respectively.
[edit] Service
The first of the class to be commissioned into the Royal Navy was Orpheus in 1960, followed by the nameship in 1961. The last to be commissioned was Onyx in 1967. Six were commissioned between 1967 and 1978 for the RAN. In 1982, HMS Onyx took part in the Falklands War, the only conventional submarine of the RN to do so, landing members of the SBS. All Oberons in service, including boats exported, have now been decommissioned; the last RN boats were decommissioned in 1993, with the final Canadian and Australian Oberons decommissioned in 2000.
[edit] Surviving examples
As of 2006, ten Oberons have survived, nine as complete examples. Two ships have now become museum ships in the UK. HMS Onyx has now moved to Barrow-in-Furness after the museum at Birkenhead, Merseyside closed, where another Falklands veteran, HMS Plymouth, has remained. The other boat, HMS Ocelot, is located at Chatham.
Australia's six Oberons are located at the following places: HMAS Ovens is located at the Western Australian Maritime Museum at Fremantle, HMAS Onslow is located at the Australian National Maritime Museum in Darling Harbour, Sydney. Both are museum ships. The sail, outer hull, and stern section of HMAS Otway are preserved on land at Holbrook, NSW. HMAS Otama is located at Westernport Bay, Victoria. HMAS Oxley's fin stands as a permanent memorial at HMAS Stirling, Garden Island, Western Australia. HMS Otus is harboured in Sassnitz, Germany on the island of Rügen and can be visited. Four Oberons are docked at the Naval Base in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
One of the Brazilian Oberons (S 21 Tonelero) sank while docked at the navy yards at the Praça Mauá on Rio de Janeiro, on December 24 2000 [2]. The surviving one, S 22 Riachuelo, was converted into a museum at the Brazilian Navy Cultural Center (Espaço Cultural da Marinha Brasileira) on Rio de Janeiro.[3]
The Oberon class was briefly succeeded in RN service by the Upholder-class submarine, later sold to the Canadian Navy after refit as the Victoria-class .
[edit] References
- ^ a b Rebuilding the Royal Navy : Warship Design Since 1945, D. K. Brown and George Moore, Chatham Publishing, 2003, p.116
- ^ Submarino da Marinha afunda do Rio
- ^ Submarino-Museu Riachuelo
- The Encyclopedia of Warships, From World War Two to the Present Day, General Editor Robert Jackson
[edit] External links
- Images of HMS Onyx June 2006 being moved to Barrow
- Tour through the S 22 Riachuelo on Rio de Janeiro
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