HMAS Onslow

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HMAS Onslow (SS 60/SSG 60) is one of six Template:Sclasss, 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 Template:USS at RIMPAC 1998.<ref name=curtispride/><ref name=White202/><ref name=Lind303/><ref name=jollyroger/>

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.

Design and construction

Onslow is one of four Oberon-class submarines ordered in 1963.<ref name=Janes96/> The last of this group, Onslow was laid down by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. in Greenock, Scotland on 4 December 1967.<ref name=Janes96/> She was launched by Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy on 3 December 1968, and commissioned into the RAN on 22 December 1969.<ref name=White199>White, Australian submarines, p. 199</ref> 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.<ref name=White199/> OnslowTemplate:'s motto, Festina Lente (Latin for "Hasten Slowly"), is shared with the Onslow family, and the ship's badge contains a judge's wig.<ref name=White200>White, Australian submarines, p. 200</ref> Although this was the only use of the name by the RAN, two surface ships of the Royal Navy have previously been named Template:HMS.<ref name=White199/>

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The builders' plaque for Onslow

The submarine is Template:Convert long, with a beam of Template:Convert, and a draught of Template:Convert when surfaced.<ref name=Janes96/> At full load displacement, Onslow displaces 2,030 tons when surfaced, and 2,410 tons when submerged.<ref name=Janes96/> The two propeller shafts are each driven by an English Electric motor providing 3,500 brake horsepower and 4,500 shaft horsepower; the electricity for these is generated by two Admiralty Standard Range supercharged V16 diesel generators.<ref name=Shaw15/> These can propel the submarine at up to Template:Convert on the surface, and up to Template:Convert when submerged.<ref name=Janes96/> Onslow has a maximum range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert, and a test depth of Template:Convert below sea level.<ref name=Janes96/><ref name=Shaw15/> When launched, the boat had a company of 8 officers and 56 sailors, but by the time she was decommissioned, the number of sailors had increased to 60.<ref name=Janes96/><ref name=Shaw15/> In addition, up to 16 trainees could be carried.<ref name=Shaw15/>

Unlike other submarines in her class, Onslow is fitted with a four-man diver access hatch, allowing for easier deployment and recovery of special forces divers.<ref name=Shaw10>Shaw, HMAS Onslow, p. 10</ref>

Armament

The main armament of Onslow are six Template:Convert bow torpedo tubes, capable of firing torpedoes or releasing sea mines.<ref name=Janes96/> The British Mark 8 torpedo was initially carried by the submarine; this was replaced by the wire-guided Mark 23.<ref name=Shaw21>Shaw, HMAS Onslow, p. 21</ref> 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.<ref name=White202/><ref name=Lind303/> At the same time, the Mark 23 torpedoes were replaced by the United States Mark 48 wire-guided torpedo.<ref name=White202/> As of 1996, the standard payload of Onslow was a mix of 20 Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes and Sub Harpoon missiles.<ref name=Janes96/> Some or all of the torpedo payload could be replaced by Mark 5 Stonefish sea mines, which were deployed through the torpedo tubes.<ref name=Shaw21/>

The submarine's secondary armament consisted of two stern-mounted, short-length Template:Convert torpedo tubes: these were intended for use against pursuing submarines, but the development of steerable wire-guided torpedoes shortly after the boat entered service made these redundant, and they were closed off during the 1982–84 refit.<ref name=Shaw19>Shaw, HMAS Onslow, p. 19</ref> The aft tubes fired Mark 20 anti-submarine torpedoes.<ref name=Shaw19/>

Operational history

1970–1981

Onslow arrived in Sydney at the conclusion of her delivery voyage to Australia on 4 July 1970.<ref name=White200/> On board was Vice Admiral Sir Victor Smith, at the time the Chief of Naval Staff, who had embarked at Brisbane.<ref name=White200/> The boat visited Pearl Harbor later that year; arriving without being detected by the USN until she surfaced in the middle of the harbour.<ref>Pratley, Farewell to a quiet achiever, p. 59</ref> Onslow returned to Pearl Harbor in 1971 to participate in the RIMPAC multinational naval exercise.<ref name=Shaw6>Shaw, HMAS Onslow, p. 6</ref> During the exercise, a practice torpedo fired by the United States Coast Guard Cutter Template:USCGC<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> failed to disengage as designed and hit the submarine—the only damage was a small dent near the stern.<ref name=Shaw6/>

Onslow became the first vessel of the RAN to be assigned to the ANZUK force in Singapore on 22 July 1972.<ref name="Gillett">Gillett, Warships of Australia, p. 198</ref> 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 Template:HMS.Template:Citation needed The boat returned to Australia on 18 December.<ref name="Gillett" /> On 5 May 1975, Onslow began a two-year refit at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, becoming the first Australian submarine to use the dockyard's new slave dock.<ref name="Jeremy64">Jeremy, Cockatoo Island, p. 64</ref> This dock had been built specifically for refit work on Oberon-class submarines, and was the main location of all OnslowTemplate:'s refits until 1990.<ref name="Jeremy64" /> In 1977, Onslow was presented with the Gloucester Cup, marking her as the most efficient warship in the RAN during the previous year—Onslow was the first submarine to receive the award.<ref name="Shaw6" />

A submarine underway on the surface. A man is standing near the boat's bow sonar dome, while other personnel are visible on top of the sail
Onslow underway on the surface. A sailor is standing near the original bow sonar dome. This dome was replaced during the submarine's 1982–84 refit, as the new sonar was larger.

In 1980, Onslow participated in Exercise Kangaroo 3 as an opposing submarine.<ref name=jollyroger>Richards & Smith, Onslow's Jolly Roger, pp. 11–12</ref> 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.<ref name=jollyroger/> To indicate her success, the submarine flew a Jolly Roger from her communications mast upon her return to port, which was marked with the silhouettes of her seven targets: the Template:Sclasss Template:HMAS and Template:HMAS, the Template:Sclass Template:USS, the Template:Sclass2 Template:HMAS, the Template:Sclass Template:USS, the Template:Sclass Template:USS, and the Template:Sclass2 Template:HMAS.<ref name=jollyroger/>

On 1 March 1981, Onslow participated in wargames with a Royal New Zealand Navy frigate off the coast of Sydney.<ref name=Sundaynight>Seconds from Disaster [Sunday Night segment]</ref> While operating at periscope depth, the submarine spotted an 'enemy' P-3C Orion aircraftTemplate:Verification needed 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.<ref name=Sundaynight/> Both generators were turned off, but upon diving, it was quickly discovered that the starboard diesel had failed to switch off or had restarted and as the exhaust snorkel was sealed, the carbon monoxide exhaust filled the submarine.<ref name=Sundaynight/> Onslow rapidly resurfaced, and the exhaust was pumped from the submarine.<ref name=Sundaynight/> Able Seaman Christopher Passlow, who had been on the lower deck of the submarine at the time, died of asphyxiation and carbon monoxide poisoning, while another eighteen were rendered unconscious or were convulsing because of blood poisoning.<ref name=Sundaynight/><ref>White, Australian submarines, p. 203</ref> 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.<ref name=Sundaynight/> The crew onboard were taken to Soldiers Beach surf club and provided with free alcohol for 3 days before returning back to duties. They were not compensated in any other way as stated they were by the RAN.

The RAN Board of Inquiry into the incident concluded that the accident was caused by human error—the duty engineer failed to shut down both engines—but members of OnslowTemplate:'s complement disagree with this, claiming the problem to be mechanical in origin.<ref name=Sundaynight/> Changes were made to Submarine Service operating procedures as a result of the Inquiry, but the investigation and subsequent report remained classified until 2009, when the information was acquired by the Sunday Night newsmagazine program under the Freedom of Information Act.<ref name=Sundaynight/> When interviewed by Sunday Night in March 2009, the deputy Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Davyd Thomas (who had been Passlow's divisional officer prior to the incident) promised counselling for the survivors, and claimed that prior treatment of the Onslow submariners was due to a limited understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder back in the 1980s.<ref name=Sundaynight/>

1982–1990

Onslow underwent a modernisation refit from 1982 until 1984, becoming the third Australian Oberon to be modernised.<ref name=White202>White, Australian submarines, p. 202</ref> As part of the modernisation, integrated data processing and fire control systems were installed, and the boat was fitted with Micropuffs passive ranging sonar.<ref>White, Australian submarines, p. 201</ref> The torpedo payload was upgraded to the United States Mark 48 wire-guided torpedo.<ref name=White202/> In addition to new torpedoes, the modernisation allowed Oberon-class submarines to carry and fire the Harpoon anti-ship missile through the torpedo tubes: Onslow became the first conventionally-powered submarine in the world to be fitted with guided anti-ship missiles.<ref name=White202/><ref name=Lind303>Lind, The Royal Australian Navy – Historic Naval Events Year by Year, p. 303</ref>

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.<ref>Lind, The Royal Australian Navy – Historic Naval Events Year by Year, p. 304</ref> 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.<ref name=White200/><ref>Australian Submarine to visit San Francisco, PR Newswire, p. 7</ref>

OnslowTemplate:'s "safe to dive" certificate ran out just after Christmas 1989.<ref name=nodive>Grigson, Nothing doing down under for our subs, p. 3</ref> 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.<ref name=nodive/> Australian Defence Industries (ADI) was awarded the $100 million refit contract for Onslow and sister submarine Template:HMAS in July.<ref>Grigson, $100M submarine refits to stay in Sydney, p. 2</ref> Cockatoo Island's slave dock was transferred to the ADI facilities at Garden Island in November 1990, and was used for the refit.<ref name=Jeremy64/> It was later found, during arbitration between the Australian Government and Cockatoo Island Dockyard for various issues, that by tendering out the submarine refits to other companies, the government was in breach of contract with the Dockyard; A$17.3 million in compensation was awarded to the dockyard in August 1996 for loss of profits and overhead costs.<ref>Jeremy, Cockatoo Island, pp. 52–3</ref>

1990–1999

In the early 1990s, four of OnslowTemplate:'s 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.<ref name=AAMH>Weaver, Navy crosses the line with anal antics, p. 13</ref> 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.<ref name=AAMH/> When one of the victimised sailors complained to superiors, he became subject to several administrative errors and inconveniences, to the point where he was forced to resign a year later.<ref name=AAMH/> The sailor acquired a copy of a videotape made of the ceremony and presented it to the Nine Network, which broke the story on 6 July 1999.<ref name=AAMH/> An inquiry into the incident aboard Onslow was held, which found that although guidelines had been developed in the years after the incident to prevent harassment in the Australian Defence Force, disciplinary charges against the sailors involved could not be laid, as more than three years had passed since the offence.<ref name=AAPnoDis>Australian Associated Press, Sailors won't be disciplined over videotaped ceremony</ref> 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.<ref name=AAPnoDis/> The deployment ended in December, with Onslow visiting her namesake town for the last time on her return to Australia.<ref name=SnubSub>Barton, Onslow snubbed on sub visit, p. 38</ref>

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.<ref>Seymour, SAS men hurt in submarine exercise, p. 4</ref> Later that year, in November, Onslow participated in a joint RAN-RAAF exercise off the coast of Western Australia.<ref name=Fighters>Cusworth, Farewell flight for fighters, p. 48</ref> 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.<ref name=janeNI>Narama Sonar secures first sales, Jane's Navy International, p. 36</ref> The Narama sonar was one of the towed arrays under consideration for incorporation with the under-developmentTemplate:Sclasss,<ref name=janeNI/> and was the array selected.

In mid-1998, the date of OnslowTemplate:'s decommissioning was announced for early 1999.<ref name=SnubSub/> Representatives from the town of Onslow, Western Australia requested that the submarine visit her namesake town before decommissioning, but were informed that the submarine's planned operational schedule could not accommodate such a visit.<ref name=SnubSub/> As part of this schedule, Onslow participated in the 1998 RIMPAC exercise.<ref name=curtispride>Curtis, Pride of the fleet</ref> 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.<ref name=StottJaimeson>Stott & Jaumeson, Navy sinks Indonesian fishing vessel, p. 6</ref> She departed on 12 July, but was forced to return less than 24 hours later when a smouldering smell was noticed.<ref name=StottJaimeson/> During the latter part of RIMPAC 98, on the morning of 10 August, Onslow located the "enemy" Template:Sclass Template:USS, closed to within Template:Convert without being detected, then released green flares to indicate her location, "sinking" the supercarrier.<ref name=curtispride/><ref name=navnews-vinson-sunk>Template:Cite news</ref> From 7 November onwards, Onslow was used as the target submarine for the annual Fincastle competition.<ref name=fincastle>Blenkin, RAAF use old technology to hunt old sub in annual comp</ref> Onslow operated on a secret patrol course Template:Convert south of Kangaroo Island while aircraft from the competing Australian, British, Canadian, and New Zealand air forces attempted to locate and "sink" her.<ref name=fincastle/> No. 5 Squadron RNZAF was declared the winner, although all teams were successful in locating the submarine during at least one of their three attempts.<ref>Australian Associated Press, Kiwis win Fincastle anti-submarine trophy again</ref>

Decommissioning and preservation

A destroyer and a submarine tied up alongside a wharf. The destroyer is next to the wharf, with the submarine docked alongside the destroyer. A sailing ship is moored on the other side of the wharf. Several small boats are underway around and behind these three vessels.
Onslow at the Australian National Maritime Museum, alongside the destroyer Template:HMAS and the HM Bark Endeavour replica
File:HMAS Onslow 03.JPG
Bunks onboard HMAS Onslow

Onslow was decommissioned from service on 30 March 1999.<ref name=DTbehind>Subs leave harbour behind, The Daily Telegraph, p. 4</ref> While in service, Onslow travelled Template:Convert.<ref name=NNnewHome>Casey, Onslow finds new home</ref> On the same day, sister boat Otama was permanently reassigned to the submarine base at Template:HMAS in Western Australia, clearing the way for the closure of Template:HMAS.<ref name=DTbehind/>

The submarine was gifted to the Australian National Maritime Museum in April 1999.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On 3 May 1999, the submarine was towed from Platypus to the museum at Darling Harbour.<ref name=NNnewHome/> Onslow was docked next to Template:HMAS, another warship belonging to the museum, and was officially opened to the public on 1 June 1999.<ref name=NNnewHome/> Onslow is the second RAN submarine to be preserved as a museum ship; the first was sister submarine Template:HMAS, which was decommissioned at the end of 1998 and installed at the Western Australian Maritime Museum.<ref>Australian Associated Press, Submarine to rest at museum after distinguished service</ref> Template:As of, she is one of seven Oberon-class submarines preserved in this manner.<ref>Weaver, The conservation of heritage submarines, pp. 58–9</ref>

On 22 November 2002, Onslow was taken by tugs to Garden Island for three weeks of maintenance in drydock.<ref name=brough30>Brough, Onslow in dry dock 2002, p. 30</ref> This included cleaning and repainting of the hull,<ref>Davis, Sub surfaces in Sydney</ref> replacement of the tributyltin coating used to prevent biofouling with a coating that was not harmful to marine organisms,<ref name=brough30/> and the sealing of several ballast tanks to improve the boat's stability and raise the aft section relative to the waterline.<ref name=Brough31>Brough, Onslow in dry dock 2002, p. 31</ref> Onslow was returned to the museum on 11 December, and re-opened to the public three days later.<ref name=Brough31/> In October and November 2008, Onslow returned to Garden Island for maintenance and upkeep. During this refit, an additional torpedo was loaded into the submarine's torpedo tubes and her hull was cleaned and painted.<ref name="Brooke10">Brooke, Oberon sub surfaces at Fleet Base East, p. 10</ref> 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.<ref name=Vanoac>Vanoac, Cold War sub gets polished</ref> 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. Template:Clear

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