Collins Class Sub Repairs
Crossposted by Bubblehead in Idaho from The Stupid Shall Be Punished:The Australian Navy has announced that they will upgrade the flex hoses in the aux seawater systems of their Collins class diesel boats.
"Vice-Admiral Shalders said the navy would replace the type of flexible seawater hose that failed on Dechaineux, causing a huge flood that almost sent the submarine to the ocean floor. The Weekend Australian revealed last month that Dechaineux was only 20 seconds from sinking to the sea bed along with its 55 crew.
"Although rigorous tests on existing hoses have failed to explain why the hose broke on Dechaineux, Vice-Admiral Shalders said a new type of hose would be introduced as "insurance" against another flood.
"Eventually we want to replace all of those hoses (because) one of them failed ... and we don't know why it failed when it did," he said. "We are still not happy that the hose can withstand what we need to do."
"The navy is exploring options for a new type of hose, but Vice-Admiral Shalders denied that the submarines were at risk in the meantime."
This should allow the Aussies to eliminate the restrictions on these boats' max diving depth, as I discussed last week. Good on ya, mates!
posted by Bubblehead @ 8:55 PM
1 Comments:
Dechaineux...wow..."Doo Shane" was our host boat in '02/'03 when we spent Christmas/New Years in Perth on my last WestPac. Good bunch of guys...and the Collins' are good boats. Being Australia's first home-grown sub class, they've had some growing pains, but if you ever get a chance to tour one, boy those Aussies have got the tech going on. Their battery systems made our EM's cry...no hopping gravities! Their laundry made all of us cry...it's an actual room with a normal washer, dryer, and a deep sink. It's a small room, but it's about 2.5 times bigger than a 688 phone booth laundry.
And you don't want to go head to head with those boys, at sea or in the bar.
Perth had to be one of the best ports I've been to, and I know at least two of my liberty days were taken up just sitting in the crews lounge on the pier telling sea stories with some Aussie submariners. Top flight guys, all of 'em. There are differences, but any submariner would feel right at home with them.
They do have us licked in modern DC systems. Whew...talk about advanced. And from what I could gather, dependable, too (which is what really counts).
I'm glad my boys on "Doo Shane" (inside joke) are OK, and it's good to see the Collins get some better hoses. And I can't wait to get back to Perth...
Post a Comment
<< Home