HMAS Otway (S 59)

HMAS ''Otway'' (S 59) was an of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). One of the first four ''Oberon''-class boats ordered for the RAN, ''Otway'' was built in Scotland during the mid-1960s, and commissioned into naval service in 1968. The submarine was decommissioned in 1994. The submarine's upper casing, fin, and stern are preserved at Holbrook, New South Wales.

Design and construction

The ''Oberon'' class was based heavily on the preceding ''Porpoise'' class of submarines, with changes made to improve the vessels' hull integrity, sensor systems, and stealth capabilities.Chant, ''A Compedium of Armaments and Military Hardware'', pp. 167–8 Eight submarines were ordered for the RAN, in two batches of four.Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 188 The first batch (including ''Otway'') was approved in 1963, and the second batch was approved during the late 1960s, although two of these were cancelled before construction started in 1969, with the funding redirected to the Fleet Air Arm.Cooper, in Stevens, ''The Royal Australian Navy'', p. 194Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 366 This was the fourth time the RAN had attempted to establish a submarine branch.Dennis et al., ''The Oxford Companion to Australian Military history'', p. 399

The submarine was long, with a beam of , and a draught of when surfaced. At full load displacement, she displaced 2,030 tons when surfaced, and 2,410 tons when submerged. The two propeller shafts were each driven by an English Electric motor providing and ; the electricity for these was generated by two Admiralty Standard Range supercharged V16 diesel generators.Shaw, ''HMAS Onslow'', p. 15 The submarine could travel at up to on the surface, and up to when submerged, had a maximum range of at , and a test depth of . When launched, the boat had a company of 8 officers and 56 sailors, but by the time she decommissioned, the number of sailors had increased to 60. In addition, up to 16 trainees could be carried.

The main armament of the ''Oberon''s consisted of six torpedo tubes. The British Mark 8 torpedo was initially carried by the submarine; this was later replaced by the wire-guided Mark 23.Shaw, ''HMAS Onslow'', p. 21 Between 1977 and 1985, the Australian ''Oberons'' were upgraded to carry United States Navy Mark 48 torpedoes and UGM-84 Sub Harpoon anti-ship missiles. As of 1996, the standard payload of an Australian ''Oberon'' was a mix of 20 Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes and Sub Harpoon missiles. Some or all of the torpedo payload could be replaced by Mark 5 Stonefish sea mines, which were deployed through the torpedo tubes.Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships, 1996–1997'', p. 23 On entering service, two stern-mounted, short-length torpedo tubes for Mark 20 anti-submarine torpedoes. However, the development of steerable wire-guided torpedoes made the less-capable aft-firing torpedoes redundant; they were closed off, and later removed during a refit.Shaw, ''HMAS Onslow'', p. 19

''Otway'' was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Greenock, Scotland on 29 June 1965, The submarine was launched on 29 November 1966 by Princess Marina: the first RAN submarine and second RAN vessel after the cruiser to be launched by a member of the Royal Family.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', pp. 367–368 In January 1968, RAN personnel sent to Scotland to train before the submarine was completed provided assistance to residents whose houses were destroyed in a storm.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 367 ''Otway'' was commissioned into the RAN on 23 April 1968.Sharpe (ed.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1992–93'', p. 22

Operational history

''Otway'' arrived in Australian waters in September 1968 after sailing from the United Kingdom via ports in Africa. During this voyage, the boat became the first RAN vessel to visit Ghana, and the first RAN submarine to round the Cape of Good Hope.

On 10 January 1969, the submarine escorted , the last submarine of the Royal Navy's Australia-based 4th Submarine Squadron out of Sydney Harbour.

During 1970, the submarine visited New Zealand and was involved in training exercises in the Indian Ocean.BAstock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 368

In March and April 1971, ''Otway'' participated in SEATO Exercise Subok. On 26 August 1971, ''Otway''s fin was struck by a dummy helicopter-dropped torpedo during training exercises in Jervis Bay. There was only superficial damage to the submarine, which was quickly repaired. On 1 September, the fin was damaged again when a periscope mast was hit by a whale: repairs were completed in Sydney that day. In October, the submarine visited Brisbane for Navy Week, but was forced to sail on short notice and with only two-thirds of her personnel to locate and rescue the crew of the ketch ''One and All'', which had run aground on Middleton Reef.

Decommissioning and fate

HMAS ''Otway'' paid off on 17 February 1994. The submarine's fin was donated to the town of Holbrook, New South Wales, an inland community with strong ties to submarines since World War I, when the town was renamed after British submariner and Victoria Cross recipient Norman Douglas Holbrook. The community decided to tender for the purchase of the rest of the submarine, but despite fundraising efforts and a large donation from Holbrook's widow, the town did not win the tender. The submarine was sold to Sims Metal for scrapping in November 1995. Undeterred, the working group created for the tendering process instead used the money raised to buy the upper section of the casing - everything above the waterline when surfaced - plus the submarine's tail section, from Sims Metal.

The casing was sectioned, transported down the Hume Highway on semi-trailers, then reassembled on site with the help of unemployed trainees on a work for the dole scheme. ''Otway'' was dedicated as a submarine memorial on 7 June 1997. The Holbrook Submarine Museum was later established nearby.

In 2013, the fin was fitted with periscopes and masts of the type fitted to ''Otway'' while in service.

Citations

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otway (S 59)
Oberon-class submarines of the Royal Australian Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1966 ships
Museum ships in Australia