Австралийская подводная лодка HMAS Onslow: История службы (1969–1999)

Royal Australian Navy submarine (1969–1999)

HMAS Onslow (SS 60/SSG 60) is one of six s, previously operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The submarine was named after the town of Onslow, Western Australia, and Sir Alexander Onslow, with the boat's motto and badge derived from Onslow's family heritage. Ordered in 1963, Onslow was laid down at the end of 1967 by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland, launched almost a year later, and commissioned into the RAN at the end of 1969. During her career, Onslow became the first conventionally powered submarine to be fitted with anti ship missiles, and was successful in wargames, "sinking" a seven ship flotilla during Exercise Kangaroo 3 in 1980 and the United States supercarrier Carl Vinson at RIMPAC 1998. The boat was named after the coastal town of Onslow, Western Australia, which was in turn named after Sir Alexander Onslow, the third Chief Justice of Western Australia. Although this was the only use of the name by the RAN, two surface ships of the Royal Navy have previously been named .

The main armament of Onslow are six bow torpedo tubes, capable of firing torpedoes or releasing sea mines. During a refit from 1982 to 1984, Oberon became the first conventionally powered submarine in the world to be fitted with anti ship missiles—specifically, the UGM 84 Sub Harpoon. The aft tubes fired Mark 20 anti submarine torpedoes. Onslow returned to Pearl Harbor in 1971 to participate in the RIMPAC multinational naval exercise. During the exercise, a practice torpedo fired by the United States Coast Guard Cutter failed to disengage as designed and hit the submarine—the only damage was a small dent near the stern. During another ANZUK deployment, in 1974, the boat's attack periscope was damaged when it came in contact with the log probe of the frigate The boat returned to Australia on 18 December. This dock had been built specifically for refit work on Oberon class submarines, and was the main location of all Onslows refits until 1990. During the exercise, Onslow carried out successful simulated attacks on all seven surface ships involved in the exercise without being 'sunk' herself, including a simultaneous 'attack' on two United States Navy (USN) amphibious warfare vessels and a RAN replenishment ship while they were under escort by the other four warships. While operating at periscope depth, the submarine spotted an 'enemy' P 3C Orion aircraft and stopped snorting (the process of taking in air to operate the boat's two diesel generators and expelling the produced exhaust through a snorkel) in preparation to go deep. Upon returning to base, doctors found that one third of the 66 survivors had absorbed twice the lethal limit of carbon monoxide into their blood. As part of the modernisation, integrated data processing and fire control systems were installed, and the boat was fitted with Micropuffs passive ranging sonar. The torpedo payload was upgraded to the United States Mark 48 wire guided torpedo. Onslow was the first Australian submarine to visit the west coast of the United States of America when she arrived in San Diego on 17 July 1985. The boat made goodwill visits to the cities of San Francisco and Seattle during mid August, before participating in the Royal Fleet Review for the 75th anniversary of the Royal Canadian Navy. Onslows "safe to dive" certificate ran out just after Christmas 1989. The Australian government had been trialling a program whereby refit work was tendered out to the private sector; delays in selecting the winning company and allocating the funds meant that an 18 month refit of the submarine scheduled to begin at the start of 1990 did not commence on time. Cockatoo Island's slave dock was transferred to the ADI facilities at Garden Island in November 1990, and was used for the refit.

In the early 1990s, four of Onslows sister boats were decommissioned from service. By 1996, Onslow and Otama were the only members of the class in active service. During 1995, Onslow was deployed to South East Asia. During this deployment, the personnel of Onslow were involved in a controversial line crossing ceremony while operating near the equator. During this particular ceremony, normally intended to induct new sailors into the 'court of King Neptune', the victims were verbally and physically abused, had their pelvises and genitals covered in what was described as a "blistering concoction", then thrown overboard and forced to stay there until the rest of the company permitted them on board. The inquiry also stated that while line crossing ceremonies would continue to be held aboard RAN vessels, they would be supervised by a non involved member of the crew to prevent similar extreme situations developing. On the evening of 16 April 1997, three Australian Special Air Service Regiment soldiers were injured when they were thrown from their Zodiac boat during launch and recovery exercises with the submarine. Later that year, in November, Onslow participated in a joint RAN RAAF exercise off the coast of Western Australia. Over the end of 1997 and the start of 1998, Onslow and Otama were used for trials of the Australian designed Narama towed array sonar. The Narama sonar was one of the towed arrays under consideration for incorporation with the under developments, The submarine had to pull out of the early part of the exercise: a resistor in the motor room switchboard had begun to smoke, forcing Onslow to return to Pearl Harbor for repairs. She departed on 12 July, but was forced to return less than 24 hours later when a smouldering smell was noticed. From 7 November onwards, Onslow was used as the target submarine for the annual Fincastle competition. Onslow operated on a secret patrol course south of Kangaroo Island while aircraft from the competing Australian, British, Canadian, and New Zealand air forces attempted to locate and 'sink' her.

Onslow was decommissioned from service on 30 March 1999. While in service, Onslow travelled On the same day, sister boat Otama was permanently reassigned to the submarine base at in Western Australia, clearing the way for the closure of On 3 May 1999, the submarine was towed from Platypus to the museum at Darling Harbour. as of 2004, she is one of seven Oberon class submarines preserved in this manner. On 22 November 2002, Onslow was taken by tugs to Garden Island for three weeks of maintenance in drydock. This included cleaning and repainting of the hull, replacement of the tributyltin coating used to prevent biofouling with a coating that was not harmful to marine organisms, Onslow was returned to the museum on 11 December, and re opened to the public three days later. Another docking occurred on 18 May 2012, with hull cleaning, rust removal, repainting, and repairs to the boat's aft torpedo tubes done before she returned to display on 6 June. In November 2015, the submarine was moved to the new Warships Pavilion 'Action Stations' at the Australian National Maritime Museum alongside HMAS Vampire (D11) and HMAS Advance. In February 2018 Onslow was towed from the museum to Garden Island, Sydney, for regular maintenance in dry dock.