HMAS Onslow

A submarine tied up alongside a wharf on a calm day. Numerous skyscrapers are in the background
HMAS Onslow on display at the Australian National Maritime Museum
History
Australia
NamesakeTown of Onslow, Western Australia
Ordered1963
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down4 December 1967
Launched3 December 1968
Commissioned22 December 1969
Decommissioned29 March 1999
RefitModernisation (1982–1984)
HomeportHMAS Platypus Sydney
MottoFestina Lente ("Hasten Slowly")
StatusMuseum ship at the Australian National Maritime Museum since April 1999
General characteristics
Class and typeOberon-class submarine
Displacement
  • 1,610 tons standard
  • 2,030 tons surfaced
  • 2,410 tons submerged
Length295.2 ft (90.0 m)
Beam26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Draught18 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
Range9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Test depth200 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
  • 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)
  • Payload: Mix of 20:
  • Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes
  • UGM-84 Sub Harpoon missiles
NotesTaken from:[1][2]

HMAS Onslow (SS 60/SSG 60) is one of six Oberon-class submarines, 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 USS Carl Vinson at RIMPAC 1998.[3][4][5][6]

After being decommissioned in March 1999, Onslow was then presented to the Australian National Maritime Museum in April, where she is preserved as a museum ship.

  1. ^ Sharpe (ed.), Jane's Fighting Ships, 1996–1997, p. 23
  2. ^ Shaw, HMAS Onslow, p. 15
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference curtispride was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference White202 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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