HMAS Otama

Otama in Western Port in June 2011
History
Australia
Builder	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
Laid down	25 May 1973
Launched	3 December 1975
Commissioned	27 April 1978
Decommissioned	15 December 2000
Motto	"Unseen We Seek"
Nickname(s)	One of the "Mystery Boats" The "Gucci Boat"
Status	Undergoing scrapping
General characteristics
Class and type	Oberon-class submarine
Displacement	1,610 tons standard 2,030 tons surfaced 2,410 tons submerged
Length	295.2 ft (90.0 m)
Beam	26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Draught	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion	2 × Admiralty Standard Range supercharged V16 diesel generators 2 × English Electric motors 3,500 bhp, 4,500 shp 2 shafts
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) surfaced 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) submerged 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) at snorkel depth
Range	9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Test depth	200 metres (660 ft)
Complement	As launched: 8 officers, 56 sailors At decommissioning: 8 officers, 60 sailors
Sensors and processing systems	Sonar: Atlas Elektronik Type CSU3-41 bow array BAC Type 2007 flank array Sperry BQG-4 Micropuffs rangefinding array Sonartech PIPRS intercept processor Radar: Kelvin Hughes Type 1006
Armament	Torpedo tubes: 6 × 21-inch (53 cm) bow tubes 2 × short-length 21-inch (53 cm) stern tubes (later removed) 1996 payload: Mix of 20: Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes UGM-84 Sub Harpoon missiles

HMAS Otama (SS 62/SSG 62) was an Oberon-class submarine, formerly of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built in Scotland, the submarine was the last of the class to enter service when commissioned into the RAN in 1978. Otama was a specialist, one of two "Mystery Boats", fitted with additional surveillance and intelligence-gathering equipment. Otama was routinely deployed on classified operations to obtain intelligence on Soviet Pacific Fleet vessels and Chinese Navy vessels, and conducted associated coastal surveillance, throughout Asia.

The submarine was part of the RAN's largest flag-showing cruise in the Indian Ocean during 1980. From 1983 to 1985, she underwent an extensive upgrade. In August 1987, two submariners died when Otama submerged while they were still working in the fin. Otama remained in service until late 2000; a delay from her original planned decommissioning date to help attenuate the problems with the replacement Collins-class submarines.

Otama was sold to the Western Port Oberon Association in 2001, which planned to preserve her as a museum vessel as part of the proposed Victorian Maritime Centre. Submissions to build the maritime museum at various locations on the Mornington Peninsula were repeatedly rebuffed. In late 2008, the submarine was listed for sale on eBay, but despite several expressions of interest, Otama was not sold. In-principle approval to build the Victorian Maritime Centre on reclaimed land adjacent to the Western Port Marina at Hastings was granted in 2013 but planning permits were not issued

In September 2022 Otama arrived in Western Australia for scrapping after all attempts to keep her as a museum failed.