HMAS Collins (SSG 73) is the lead vessel of the six-submarine Collins class operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
Named for Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins, Collins was laid down in February 1990, and was the only submarine of the class to be partially constructed by Kockums' Malmo shipyard. The boat was launched in August 1993, but was not completed until ten months later. Numerous problems with the class were exposed by the lengthy sea trials period undertaken by the boat; Collins was not commissioned into the RAN until mid-1996, eighteen months behind schedule, and the submarine was not cleared for operational deployments until 2000.
With the decommissioning of HMAS Anzac on 18 May 2024, Collins became the First Lady of the Fleet as the longest serving commissioned RAN vessel.
Construction
Collins was laid down in February 1990. The two most complex sections of the first submarine were constructed by Kockums' shipyard in Malmö, Sweden, while the other four sections and complete assembly of the submarine occurred at Australian Submarine Corporation's facility in Port Adelaide, South Australia. It was originally planned to construct the first submarine completely overseas, but by the time the tender was awarded, it had been decided to build all six submarines in Australia; the increase in cost by not building the lead ship in the winning designer's home shipyard were believed to be offset by the additional experience provided to Australian industries.
While the bow section of the first boat was being assembled in Sweden, multiple defects in the hull welding were discovered. Different reasons were given by different parties for the problems: the steel alloy used for the hull required different welding techniques to those normally used by Kockums; the Swedish navy always requested partial penetration welds for their submarines, while the RAN wanted full penetration welding but failed to make this clear; delays in delivering the steel plates to Kockums resulted in rushing the work and the resulting drop in quality. The submarine was launched by shiplift on 28 August 1993. Although launched on schedule, she was not complete: the design of the submarine had not been finalised, important internal pipes and fittings had not been installed, the components of the combat system had not been delivered, and some sections of 'hull' were sheets of timber painted black so the submarine would appear complete in photographs of the launching ceremony. Within weeks of the launch, the boat was removed from the water, and it was not until June 1994 that she was completed. Work on the other submarines in the class was delayed by the extra effort put in for Collins to meet her launching date, and by the subsequent work to complete her. The submarines are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar: Collins was retrofitted with the tiles after the standard sonar signature of the submarine had been established, while the other five boats were covered during construction.
Characteristics
The Collins class is an enlarged version of the Västergötland-class submarine designed by Kockums. At in length, with a beam of and a waterline depth of , displacing 3,051 tonnes when surfaced, and 3,353 tonnes when submerged, they are the largest conventionally powered submarines in the world. The hull is constructed from high-tensile micro-alloy steel, and are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar. The depth that they can dive to is classified: most sources claim that it is over ,
The submarine is armed with six torpedo tubes, and carry a standard payload of 22 torpedoes: originally a mix of Gould Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes and UGM-84C Sub-Harpoon, with the Mark 48s later upgraded to the Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) version.
Each submarine is equipped with three Garden Island-Hedemora HV V18b/15Ub (VB210) 18-cylinder diesel engines, which are each connected to a 1,400 kW, 440-volt DC Jeumont-Schneider generator. The Collins class has a speed of when surfaced and at snorkel depth, and can reach underwater. Problems with the Collins trials began in mid-1992, when it was discovered that appropriate training materials and courses in the operation of the new submarine design had been poorly prepared, was inadequate, and often did not reflect the reality of operating the boats.
Several causes were identified:
During sea trials, the submarine was often forced back to port because of equipment problems, where the Navy personnel found that ASC engineers would diagnose and repair systems using a combination of supplier data and diagnostic tools not available to the sailors. Problems with the training were compounded by an attitude from ASC that problems were always the fault of the Navy operators. However, most were the result of equipment failure, and the problems caused by operator error could be attributed to poor training or a lack of training, both of which were the responsibility of ASC.
Trials
Evaluation of the submarine was based on attaining a series of licenses, gradually testing the capabilities of Collins and those operating her from surface sailing to deep, unaccompanied dives. The main motor was started for the first time on 8 August 1994, as part of a series of 'basin trials'. Collins officially commenced sea trials at when she departed the ASC wharf at 10:00 on 31 October 1994. The tests went without difficulty until the next day, when the anchor cable snapped in poor weather, forcing Collins to return to port. Although designed to leak at an hour, the seal had previously shown itself to be faulty, with an hourly leak rate in the hundreds of litres. Recurring issues were usually associated with diesel engines, propeller shaft seals, periscopes and masts, hydraulic couplings, and the combat system. At the same time, many of the systems worked with few or no problems, with the submarine meeting or exceeding design specifications for maximum speed, manoeuvrability, and submerged endurance, particularly at low speeds. The submarine's autopilot (which aboard Collins was nicknamed 'Sven') was found to be better at depth keeping during snorting than many of the operators.
Collins was due to be commissioned in November 1995. Collins was not approved for operational deployments until 2000. Following the trial's success, eleven female sailors and one female officer commenced training for the submarine service in 1998.
In mid-2000, Collins was sent to Ketchikan, Alaska for noise testing with the United States Navy. Although noise testing in Australia was believed to have been affected by natural background noise, the Alaskan tests confirmed the Australian results.
When Collins returned to the ASC facility in April 2001 for a year-long maintenance docking, multiple welding defects were found in both the bow and escape tower sections of the submarine—the two sections constructed by Kockums, while almost no problems were found in the welding of the four Australian-built sections. Repairing these welds quadrupled the time Collins spent in dock.
Collins completed a full-cycle docking at ASC on 29 July 2005. During this period she was modified to improve her ability to land special forces personnel.
In July 2009, while exercising in the Great Australian Bight, two of the three diesel generators aboard Collins failed, forcing the submarine to limp back to base. The cause was believed to be errors during the submarine's last refit, with the boat undergoing major maintenance as of December 2009. The Australian government is seeking A$5 million in compensation from ASC for the error.
The submarines are predicted to have an operational life of around 30 years, with Collins to be decommissioned around 2025.
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