Walrus class
| Walrus- class | |
|---|---|
 Two Walrus class boats |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Hunting submarine |
| units | 4th |
| period of service |
since 1990 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
|
| length |
67.73 m |
| width |
8.4 m |
| Draft |
6.6 m |
| Diving depth | min. 300 m |
| drive |
diesel-electric, a 5-bladed screw |
| speed |
|
| Range |
10,000 nm at 9 kn |
| Armament |
4 × 21-inch torpedo tube (20 Mk. 48 or UGM-84 ) |
The Walrus class is a class of four submarines in the Dutch Navy .
history
The history of the Walrus class goes back to the 1970s, when the Dutch Ministry of Defense announced two new submarines to replace the two submarines of the Dolfijn class , which dates back to the 1950s . The building contract for the two boats was finally completed in 1979 with the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij . In 1985, the Dutch Ministry of Defense placed an order for two more submarines of this class to be able to replace the two Potvis class boats from the 1960s .
The commissioning of the type boat Walrus was delayed again and again, especially because in 1986 all electronics already installed on the boat were destroyed in a fire. Therefore, the Zeeleeuw was put into service in 1990 as the first boat of the class, the Walrus followed in 1992. The last two boats were the Dolfijn in 1993 and the Bruinvis in 1994 .
Because the two Zwaardvis-class boats were retired without replacement after the end of the Cold War , the Walrus-class boats are currently the only active submarines in the Dutch Navy.
In the 1990s there were supposed to have been talks about exporting walrus submarines to Taiwan . However, to date, the talks have not been officially confirmed, nor have submarines of this class been exported to Taiwan.
technology
The Walrus-class submarines are largely based on their predecessors, the Zwaardvis- class. With a length of 67.7 m, they are only slightly longer, while the width is exactly the same at 8.4 m. The displacement has surfaced minimally to 2450 t and increased to 2800 t submerged. Much higher quality steel was used for the hull than in its predecessor, which increased the maximum diving depth by almost 50% to around 300 m. By improving the electronics, the crew could be reduced from 65 to 52 men. The number of 21- inch torpedo tubes has been reduced from 6 to 4 compared to its predecessor, but 20 torpedoes are still carried. As a novelty in the Dutch Navy, the Walrus class UGM-84 can fire harpoon .
It is currently planned to modernize all four boats from around 2009 in order to be able to keep them in service until around 2030. An AIP should possibly be scaffolded, which would increase the performance of the boat considerably.
Calls
In autumn 2010 the Zeeleeuw was used for around two months in the context of NATO's Ocean Shield operation in the Horn of Africa in the fight against piracy. The mission of the Zeeleeuw , which ended on November 5, 2010, was primarily intended to help detect and neutralize so-called Pirate Action Groups (PAG) as soon as they leave the Somali coast.
Ship list
| Ship number | Surname | Callsign | Construction contract | Keel laying | Launch | Put into service |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S802 | Walrus | PACU | August 1979 | October 11, 1979 | October 28, 1985 | March 25, 1992 |
| S803 | Zeeleeuw | PASZ | December 1979 | September 24, 1981 | June 20, 1987 | April 25, 1990 |
| S808 | Dolfijn | PAFF | August 1979 | June 12, 1986 | April 25, 1990 | January 29, 1993 |
| S810 | Bruinvis | PAIT | August 1979 | April 14, 1988 | May 25, 1992 | 5th July 1994 |
