HMS ''Oberon'' was the lead ship of the ''Oberon''-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Design and construction

The ''Oberon'' class was a direct follow on of the ''Porpoise''-class, with the same dimensions and external design, but updates to equipment and internal fittings, and a higher grade of steel used for fabrication of the pressure hull. As designed for British service, the ''Oberon''-class submarines were in length between perpendiculars and in

length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...

, with a beam of , and a draught of . Displacement was 1,610 tons standard, 2,030 tons full load when surfaced, and 2,410 tons full load when submerged. Propulsion machinery consisted of 2 Admiralty Standard Range 16 VMS diesel generators, and two electric motors, each driving a 3-bladed propeller at up to 400 rpm. Top speed was when submerged, and on the surface. Eight diameter torpedo tubes were fitted (six facing forward, two aft), with a total payload of 24 torpedoes. The boats were fitted with Type 186 and Type 187 sonars, and an I-band surface search radar. The standard complement was 68: 6 officers, 62 sailors. ''Oberon'' was laid down by

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

on 28 November 1957, and launched on 18 July 1959. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 24 February 1961. ''Oberon'' cost £2.43 million. She was the first of the class to have a deeper casing installed to house the equipment for initial training of SSN crews.

Operational history

Ran aground in Rothesay Bay - early 1960s - soon refloated.

Decommissioning and fate

''Oberon'' was paid off in 1986. She was sold in 1987 to the Seaforth Group to be refitted for resale to Egypt, but was broken up at Grimsby in 1991.

Citations

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberon (S09) Oberon-class submarines of the Royal Navy Ships built in Chatham 1959 ships Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1961