Upholder class
 HMCS Corner Brook
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
The Upholder class is a class of four diesel-electric submarines . They were built for the British Royal Navy between 1983 and 1992 and sold to the Canadian Navy in 2002 , where the boats are listed as Victoria- class .
history
The boats were built in the 1980s to complement the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear submarines . The cost of a unit should be around $ 215 million , but was higher after correcting a few design errors.
The Upholder class boats contained an improved version of the fire control system of the SSNs, which were built at the same time, the sonar system was French-made.
The boats were the first to have sound-absorbing tiles on the hull. They should be the counterpart to the Soviet Kilo class , whose performance and design are very similar to the Upholder class. Nevertheless, the designer Vickers designed a completely new boat.
The double armature motor was powered by the 9,000 ampere-hour batteries or the two Paxman Valenta diesel engines. With slow patrol trips, the boats only need a maximum of one hour of snorkeling to recharge the batteries, with a 15-knot transit this would be about eight hours.
However, the class contained several deficiencies, so it could have happened that the automated weapon control system opened a valve on the torpedo tubes , which would have meant water ingress and possibly the loss of the boat. This error was corrected for all boats shortly after commissioning.
In addition, an emergency maneuver to stop the boat ( crash back ) could cause the motor to generate currents of up to 60,000 amperes , which resulted in an immediate loss of all propulsion power. Since the diesel engines were designed for locomotives (i.e. designed for long running times), they often failed completely after short snorkeling trips.
It took three years to correct these design flaws, but after that the boats could hardly be located using passive sonar. When they snorkeled, they weren't much louder than nuclear submarines. However, their smaller size made them much more difficult to detect by magnetic anomaly detectors.
In 1993 the construction of the class was stopped, the four built units were decommissioned and sold. Since 2002 the boats have been replacing the British-made Oberon class in the Canadian armed forces .
units
HMCS Victoria
- Keel laid: January 1986
- Completed: November 14, 1989
- Commissioned: (Royal Navy): June 7, 1991 as HMS Unseen
- Decommissioned (Royal Navy): July 1994
- In service (Canadian Forces Maritime Command): December 2000
- Based on the Canadian naval base CFB Esquimalt .
- User: Royal Canadian Navy
- General overhaul / modernization: 2005 to the end of 2011 (dry dock)
- Current status: active
- Re-use: -
HMCS Windsor
- Keel laying: February 1989
- Completed: April 16, 1992
- Commissioned by the Royal Navy: June 25, 1993 as HMS Unicorn
- Decommissioned: October 1994
- Unnamed: July 2001 on HMCS Windsor
- In service with (Canadian Forces Maritime Command): October 2003
- Based on the Canadian Naval Base CFB Halifax
- User: Royal Canadian Navy
- General overhaul / modernization: -
- Current status: active
- Re-use: -
HMCS Corner Brook
- Keel laying: February 1987
- Completed: February 22, 1992
- In service with (Royal Navy): May 8, 1992 as HMS Ursula
- Decommissioned: July 1994
- In service with (Canadian Forces Maritime Command): March 2003
- Based on the Canadian Naval Base CFB Halifax
- Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
- General overhaul / modernization: since 2014 (EDWP)
- Current status: Docked
- Re-operational: 2018
HMCS Chicoutimi
- Keel laying: November 1983
- Completed: December 2nd, 1986
- In service with (Royal Navy): June 2, 1990 as HMS Upholder
- Decommissioned: April 1993
- In service with (Canadian Forces Maritime Command): October 2004
- Based on the Canadian Naval Base CFB Halifax
- Operator: Royal Canadian Navy
- General overhaul / modernization: 2010–2012 at Victoria Shipyards Ltd. under the supervision of the Canadian Submarine Management Group.
- Current status: active
- Re-use: -
Modifications
Weapon systems
The submarines have six torpedo tubes with a diameter of 53.3 cm. These are equipped with an air turbine pump system. The torpedo tubes are suitable for firing Marconi Tigerfish Mk 24 or Spearfish torpedoes. Furthermore, it was possible to use anti-ship missiles of the type AGM-84 Harpoon and sea mines instead of normal torpedoes.
Since its use by the Royal Canadian Navy , the launching and storage facilities for anti-ship missiles and sea mines have been removed to provide storage space for 18 Mark-48 torpedoes . These torpedoes reach speeds of up to 74 km / h and can hit targets at a distance of 50 km. With a destination within 38 km, speeds of up to 102 km / h can be achieved. The torpedoes use an active / passive sonar system with which they detect the target and destroy it.
Lockheed Martin Canada and Northstar Technical have modernized the torpedo fire control system because the old one did not meet the requirements of the Canadian Navy. In addition, a UHF DAMA satellite-based communication system was installed.
Sensors
The boats were equipped with the electro-optical search periscope CK035 and the attack periscope CH085 from Thales Optronics. The binocular CK035 enables a wide view and measures the distance to the target. The CH085 is a binocular optical system that has few instruments that can be seen over water. It also has a thermal imaging camera.
The submarines have a Type 2007 flank sonar and a Type 2046 tow sonar from Thales Underwater Systems , which are designed for longer ranges. Both systems work in passive mode and in low frequency ranges to detect and locate distant targets. The Canadian Towed Array Sonar (CANTASS) was integrated into the two existing systems. Furthermore, the type 2040 sonar developed by Thales Underwater Systems was installed in the bow. This sonar is a passive sonar system that works on a medium frequency range.
The navigation system consists of the Global Positioning System and a Kelvin Hughes Type 1007 radar system, as well as a portable Furuno navigation system that works in the I-band. Northrop Grumman Sperry Marine was awarded the contract in February 2005 to upgrade a Mk 49 inertial navigation system based on laser gyro technology.
Electronic attack countermeasures
The boats are equipped with electronic defense mechanisms. They have small vertical launching devices that can be used to eject decoys. Thus, the submarines can use these decoys to deflect potentially attacking torpedoes from their original target.
Web links
- The official website Victoria class (Engl.)
- HMCS Victoria website (French / English)
- Images and information on the Victoria class (Engl.)
- Barrow Built submarines at submariners.co.uk (Engl.)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d The Fleet - Long Range Patrol Submarines. Royal Canadian Navy , September 14, 2015, accessed May 9, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c d Royal Canadian Navy Submarines: Fleet Status. Royal Canadian Navy , October 30, 2017, accessed May 9, 2018 .