Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service

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Crest of the Submarine Service

The Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service is the collective name of the submarine element of the Royal Australian Navy. The service currently forms the Navy's Submarine Force Element Group and consists of six Collins class submarines.

The Royal Australian Navy Australian Service has been established four times, with the initial three attempts being foiled by combat losses and Australia's economic problems. The modern Submarine Service was established in 1964 and has formed an important element of the Australian military's capacity since that date. While the Submarine Service has not seen combat since World War I Australian submarines have conducted extensive surveillance operations throughout South East Asia.


History

The Royal Australian Navy's submarine service has been established four times since 1914.[1]

The AE2

Australia's first submarines were the British E class submarines AE1 and AE2. These submarines were built in Britain and arrived in Australia in 1914. Following the outbreak of World War I both boats took part in the occupation of Rabaul in German New Guinea in September 1914. During this operation the AE1 disappeared on 14 September off Cape Gazelle, New Britain. It is probable that she was wrecked on a reef during a practice dive.[2]

The AE2 remained in the South Pacific until December 1914 when she was ordered to the Mediterranean to support the British-led operations off the Galipoli peninsula in Turkey. The AE2 was the first British submarine to penetrate the Dardenelles, achieving this task on 25 April 1915. The AE2 operated in the Sea of Marmora for five days before being damaged by a Turkish gunboat and scuttled by her crew on 30 April. During this operation the AE2 made four unsuccessful attacks on Turkish ships. These attacks are the only occasions an Australian submarine has fired its weapons in anger.[3]

HMAS Platypus with all five J Class submarines in 1919

The Australian submarine service was reformed in 1919 when the British government transferred five J Class submarines to Australia (HMAS J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, and J7). These submarines arrived in Australia with their tender HMAS Platypus in April 1919 and were based in Geelong from early 1920. The boats were in poor mechanical condition, however, and spent most of their service in refit. Due to Australia's worsening economic situation all five boats were decommissioned in 1922 and were scuttled later in the decade.[4]

The Australian submarine service was established a third time in 1927 when the British O Class submarines HMAS Oxley and HMAS Otway were commissioned. These submarines did not arrive in Australia until February 1929, however, as mechanical problems delayed their delivery voyage from Britain.[5] Due to Australia's poor economic situation the O Class boats proved to be unaffordable and were placed in reserve in 1930 and transferred to the Royal Navy in 1931. As a result, the Royal Australian Navy did not operate any submarines during World War II, though the obsolete Dutch submarine K.IX was commissioned as the HMAS K9 for anti-submarine warfare training purposes between 22 June 1943 and 31 March 1944.[6]

The Australian ports of Fremantle and Brisbane were important bases for Allied submarines during World War II. A total of 122 United States Navy, 31 Royal Navy and 11 Royal Netherlands Navy submarines conducted patrols from Australian bases between 1942 and 1945 and Fremantle was the second largest Allied submarine base in the Pacific Theatre after Pearl Harbour, Hawaii.[7] Following World War II the Royal Navy's 4th Submarine Flotilla was based in Sydney from 1949 until 1969. The role of this Flotilla of two or three submarines was to support Australian and New Zealand anti-submarine warfare training and the cost of the British force was split between the two nations.

HMAS Onslow at the Australian Maritime Museum

In the early 1960s the British Government advised the Australian Government that as it was reducing its conventional submarine force the Royal Navy would no longer be able to base submarines in Australia. The impending withdrawal of the British submarine flotilla sparked the fourth attempt to establish an Australian submarine service. While the Department of Defence advised the government that three to six submarines should be purchased for training purposes, following the intervention of then-Senator John Gorton the Government instead approved the purchase of eight submarines to form a submarine strike force. Eight British Oberon class submarines were ordered in 1964 and were to be built in Britain in two batches of four boats. This was reduced to six boats when the order for the second batch was placed in 1971, however, though these final two boats were fitted with advanced communications monitoring equipment.[8]

The first Australian Oberon class submarine, HMAS Oxley, was commissioned on 21 March 1967 and was followed by her sister ships Otway (1968), Ovens (1969), Onslow (1969), Orion (1977) and Otama (1978). All of the Oberon class submarines were based at HMAS Platypus on Sydney Harbour. The Oberon Class submarines proved very successful and saw extensive service during the last decades of the Cold War. This service included conducting risky surveillance missions against India and Communist nations in South East Asia.[9] These missions were cancelled in 1992 when an Australian submarine, believed to be HMAS Otama, became tangled in fishing nets and was forced to surface in the South China Sea.[10] As part of the Government's Two Ocean Navy policy submarines were homeported at HMAS Stirling in West Australia from 1987 and the headquarters of the Australian Submarine Squadron moved to HMAS Stirling in 1994.[11] The Oberon Class boats began were gradually decommissioned and replaced with new Collins class submarines during the 1990s. The final Oberon class boat, HMAS Otama, was decommissioned on 15 December 2000.[12]

File:HMAS Collins (SSG 73).jpg
HMAS Collins

The six Collins class submarines were the first Australian-built submarines and the most expensive ships to have been built in Australia. Tests conducted on HMAS Collins after she entered service in 1996 revealed serious shortcomings in the submarine's performance including excessive hull noise and an ineffective combat system. These problems were subsequently rectified and the Collins class submarines currently rank among the most effective conventional submarines in the world.[13] Like the Oberon class, the Collins class submarines have conducted surveillance patrols. These patrols have included collecting intelligence on East Timor ahead of the Australian-led intervention into the then-Indonesian province in 1999.[14]

In 1998 the Royal Australian Navy became only the second Navy in the world to permit women to serve onboard submarines. The first female submariners began their training at the Submarine Training and Systems Centre in June 1998.[15]

The Submarine Service today

File:HMAS Waller RAN.jpg
HMAS Waller and another Collins class submarine

All six Collins Class submarines are currently active and are based at Fleet Base West at Rockingham, Western Australia. All of the submarines were built by the Australian Submarine Corporation at Adelaide, South Australia.

Name Pennant Laid down Launched Commissioned
HMAS Collins SSG 73 14 February 1990 28 August 1993 27 July 1996
HMAS Farncomb SSG 74 1 March 1991 15 December 1995 31 January 1998
HMAS Waller SSG 75 19 March 1992 14 March 1997 10 July 1999
HMAS Dechaineux SSG 76 4 March 1993 12 March 1998 24 February 2001
HMAS Sheean SSG 77 17 February 1994 3 May 1999 24 February 2001
HMAS Rankin SSG 78 12 May 1995 7 November 2001 26 March 2003

These six submarines are supported by the Australian Submarine Rescue Vehicle Remora which is also based at Fleet Base West.[1]

Under current Royal Australian Navy doctrine the Submarine Service has the following responsibilities:[16]

  • intelligence collection and surveillance;
  • maritime strike and interdiction;
  • barrier operations;
  • advanced force operations;
  • layered defence;
  • interdiction of shipping;
  • containment by distraction; and
  • support to operations on land.

Future submarines

The Collins class submarines will begin to reach the end of their useful life from 2026.[17] In order to meet the in-service date of 2026 advanced design work on the next generation of Australian submarines will begin by 2014-15. At this very early stage, it appears probable that the submarines will be Australian-built conventional submarines equipped with air independent propulsion and advanced combat and communications systems.[18]

Traditions

Australian sailors who qualify as submariners are awarded a badge depicting two dolphins and a crown. This badge (known as a sailor's 'dolphins') was introducted in 1964 or 1965 and was adopted by the Royal Navy Submarine Service in 1972.[2]

See also

References

  • John Davison and Tom Allibone (2005). Beneath Southern Seas: The Silent Service. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1920694625
  • Tom Frame (2004). No Pleasure Cruise. The Story of the Royal Australian Navy. Allen & Unwin, Sydney. ISBN 1741142334
  • CDR David M. Hendricks, USN The Submarine Force of the Royal Australian Navy
  • Arthur W. Jose (1941). The Royal Australian Navy, 1914–1918.
  • Patrick Walters (2006). Cutting Edge: The Collins experance. Australian Security Policy Institute, Canberra.
  • Michael W.D. White (1992). Australian Submarines: A History. AGPS Press, Canberra. ISBN 064424397X

Notes

  1. ^ Royal Australian Navy A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy's Submarine Service
  2. ^ Arthur W. Jose (1941). The Royal Australian Navy, 1914–1918. Page 97.
  3. ^ Jose (1941). Pages 240-248.
  4. ^ Royal Australian Navy A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy's Submarine Service
  5. ^ John Davison and Tom Allibone (2005). Beneath Southern Seas: The Silent Service. University of Western Australia Press. Page 126.
  6. ^ Submarines Association of Australia The Pioneers
  7. ^ Davison and Allibone (2005). Page 219.
  8. ^ Michael W.D. White (1992). Australian Submarines: A History. AGPS Press, Canberra. Pages 191-200
  9. ^ 'Cat and Mouse' in Reveille, September/October 2006.
  10. ^ Undersea missions to surface. The Daily Telegraph, 7 September 2006.
  11. ^ Royal Australian Navy A Brief History of the Royal Australian Navy's Submarine Service
  12. ^ Australian Submarines Association The Oberon Era
  13. ^ Tom Frame (2004). No Pleasure Cruise. The Story of the Royal Australian Navy.. Allen & Unwin, Sydney. Pages 284-285.
  14. ^ Paul Daley Terms of Engagement. The Age 29 August 2000.
  15. ^ Australian Parliamentry Library E-Brief Women in the armed forces: the role of women in the Australian Defence Force
  16. ^ Seapower Centre - Australia. Navy Contribution to Australian Maritime Operations
  17. ^ Submarine Institute of Australia. Australia’s Future Underwater Warfare Capability – Project SM 2020
  18. ^ Patrick Walters (2006). Cutting Edge: The Collins experance. Australian Security Policy Institute, Canberra. Pages 10-11.
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