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HMAS Waller (SSG 75)
Encyclopedia
HMAS Waller (SSG 75) is the third of six Collins class
Collins class submarine
The Collins class is a class of six Australian-built diesel-electric submarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy . The Collins class takes its name from Australian Vice Admiral John Augustine Collins; all six submarines are named after significant RAN personnel who distinguished themselves in...
submarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN).
Named for Captain Hector Waller
Hector Waller
Hector Macdonald Laws Waller, DSO & Bar was the captain of the light cruiser HMAS Perth in World War II. In a naval career spanning almost 30 years, he served his country in two world wars...
, the boat was laid down in 1992, and launched in 1997. Despite the RAN initially refusing to accept the submarine for service, Waller has demonstrated the capabilities of the Collins class against surface and submarine targets during several international wargames.
Construction
Waller was laid down by Australian Submarine CorporationAustralian Submarine Corporation
The ASC, formerly Australian Submarine Corporation, is a wholly government-owned Australian naval defence company headquartered at Osborne in Adelaide, South Australia.-History:...
(ASC) on 7 February 1992, launched on 14 March 1997, and commissioned into the RAN on 10 July 1999.
During sea trials, the number of problems and defects with Waller were significantly fewer that with the previous two submarines, indicating that problems with earlier submarines were being fixed in the latter boats during construction.
Despite this, the RAN initially refused to accept Waller into service until all defects in the submarine were repaired, unlike Collins and Farncomb, which had been provisionally accepted while defects were fixed. Although ASC believed that all problems with Waller had been rectified, the Defence Acquisition Organisation refused to accept the boat. In response, ASC began to charge the Australian Government A$100,000 a day over contract for the delays. Despite legal opinion being that ASC did not have the right to make that claim, the Government eventually paid half of what was claimed.
Waller was named for Captain Hector Waller
Hector Waller
Hector Macdonald Laws Waller, DSO & Bar was the captain of the light cruiser HMAS Perth in World War II. In a naval career spanning almost 30 years, he served his country in two world wars...
, who commandeed the five-ship 'Scrap Iron Flotilla
Scrap Iron Flotilla
The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. The name scrap iron flotilla was bestowed upon the group by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels....
' from 1940 to 1941, then commanded the cruiser until his death and the ship's loss on 1 March 1942 during the Battle of Sunda Strait
Battle of Sunda Strait
The Battle of Sunda Strait was a naval battle which occurred during World War II. On the night of 28 February – 1 March 1942, the Australian light cruiser and the American heavy cruiser faced a major Imperial Japanese Navy task force. After a fierce battle of several hours duration, both Allied...
.
Characteristics
The Collins class is an enlarged version of the KockumsKockums
Kockums AB is a shipyard in Malmö, Sweden owned by the German shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel. HDW itself is a subsidiary of the German ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems....
Västergötland class submarine
Västergötland class submarine
The Västergötland class of diesel-electric submarines was introduced in 1987 by the Swedish Navy. The original four ships of her class, HMS Västergötland, HMS Hälsingland, HMS Södermanland and HMS Östergötland, were built between 1983 and 1988 by Kockums AB...
. At 77.42 metres (254 ft) in length, with a beam of 7.8 metres (25.6 ft) and a waterline depth of 7 metres (23 ft), 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 tile
Anechoic tile
Anechoic tiles are rubber or synthetic polymer tiles containing thousands of tiny voids, applied to the outer hulls of military ships and submarines, as well as anechoic chambers...
s to minimise detection by sonar. The depth that they can dive to is classified: most sources claim that it is over 180 metres (590.6 ft),
The submarine is armed with six 21 inches (533.4 mm) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s, and carry a standard payload of 22 torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es: originally a mix of Gould Mark 48 Mod 4
Mark 48 torpedo
The Mark 48 and its improved ADCAP variant are heavyweight submarine-launched torpedoes. They were designed to sink fast, deep-diving nuclear-powered submarines and high-performance surface ships.-History:...
torpedoes and UGM-84C Sub-Harpoon
Boeing Harpoon
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile system, developed and manufactured by McDonnell Douglas . In 2004, Boeing delivered the 7,000th Harpoon unit since the weapon's introduction in 1977...
, 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
Hedemora Diesel
Hedemora Diesel AB is a Swedish company in Hedemora, Dalarnas län and is a spinn off from Hedemora Verkstäder. The company used to produce diesel engines, to ships, locomotives, oil rigs and back up generators to hospitals...
HV V18b/15Ub (VB210) 18-cylinder diesel engines, which are each connected to a 1,400 kW, 440-volt DC Jeumont Schneider generator. These supply a single Jeumont Schneider DC motor, which provides 7,200 shaft horsepower to a single, seven-bladed, 4.22 metres (13.8 ft) diameter skewback propeller. The Collins class has a speed of 10.5 knots (20.6 km/h) when surfaced and at snorkel depth, and can reach 21 knots (11.4 m/s) underwater. The submarines have a range of 11000 nautical miles (20,372 km) at 10 knots (5.4 m/s) when surfaced, 9000 nautical miles (16,668 km) at 10 knots (5.4 m/s) at snorkel depth. When submerged completely, a Collins class submarine can travel 32.6 nautical miles (60.4 km) at maximum speed, or 480 nautical miles (889 km) at 4 knots (2.2 m/s). Each boat has a endurance of 70 days.
Operational history
Carrier battle group
A carrier battle group consists of an aircraft carrier and its escorts, together composing the group. The first naval task forces built around carriers appeared just prior to and during World War II. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first to assemble a large number of carriers into a single...
during wargames. Waller’s role was to search for and engage opposing submarines hunting the aircraft carrier , a role in which she performed better than expected. A few days later, as part of the RIMPAC
RIMPAC
RIMPAC, the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, is the world's largest international maritime exercise. Conducted biennially , it is hosted and administered by the United States Navy, with the United States Marine Corps, United States Coast Guard, and Hawaii National Guard forces under the leadership of...
2000 exercise, Waller was assigned to act as an 'enemy' submarine, and was reported to have successfully engaged two USN nuclear submarines before almost coming into attacking range of Abraham Lincoln. Waller performed similarly during the Operation Tandem Thrust wargames in 2001, when she 'sank' two USN amphibious assault ships in waters just over 70 metres (229.7 ft) deep; although the submarine was 'destroyed' herself later in the exercise.
During a multinational exercise in September 2003, which was attended by Waller and sister boat Rankin, Waller successfully "sank" a Los Angeles class nuclear submarine, prompting claims from the USN that diesel submarines like the Collins class are one of the major threats facing modern navies.
In 2006, the Mark 48 torpedoes carried by the Collins class were upgraded to the Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) version, which had been jointly developed with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Waller was the first vessel of either navy to fire an armed version of the torpedo, sinking the decommissioned Spruance class
Spruance class destroyer
The Spruance-class destroyer was developed by the United States to replace a large number of World War II-built Allen M. Sumner- and Gearing-class destroyers, and was the primary destroyer built for the U.S. Navy during the 1970s....
destroyer on 16 July 2008, during RIMPAC 08.
In early 2009, battery problems aboard Waller forced the submarine to undergo emergency maintenance. This, combined with other factors affecting Waller’s sister boats, left as the only operational submarine in Australian service as of mid-2009. The boat was returned to service during the end of the year, but maintenance delays and malfunctions aboard other submarines during early 2010, meant that Waller was the only fully operational submarine during February and March 2010.