HMAS Rankin
HMAS Rankin is the sixth and final submarine of the Collins class, which are operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named for Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin, the boat was laid down in 1995, and commissioned into the RAN in March 2003, following major delays.
Early in her career, Rankin was the subject of a documentary series and a coffee table book. She was the first submarine since 1987 to be awarded the Gloucester Cup.
Construction
Rankin was laid down by Australian Submarine Corporation on 12 May 1995.<ref name=Wertheim18/> The boat was launched on 7 November 2001.<ref name=YW317>Yule & Woolner, The Collins Class Submarine Story, p. 317</ref> She was delivered to the RAN on 18 March 2003 and commissioned on 29 March 2003, 41 months behind schedule, after major delays in the completion and fitting out of the boat due to the diversion of resources to the "fast track" submarines Template:HMAS and Template:HMAS and repeated cannibalisation for parts to repair the other five Collins-class boats.<ref>Yule & Woolner, The Collins Class Submarine Story, pp. 317–8, 348</ref>
Rankin was named for Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin, who died when the ship he commanded, Template:HMAS, engaged a force of five Japanese warships on 4 March 1942, to allow an Allied convoy to escape.<ref name=YW340>Yule & Woolner, The Collins Class Submarine Story, p. 340</ref> The boat is nicknamed "The Black Knight".<ref name=DA133/>
Characteristics
Template:See also The Collins class is an enlarged version of the Västergötland-class submarine designed by Kockums.<ref name=WoolnerChange7>Woolner, Procuring Change, p. 7</ref> At Template:Convert in length, with a beam of Template:Convert and a waterline depth of Template:Convert, displacing 3,051 tonnes when surfaced, and 3,353 tonnes when submerged, they are the largest conventionally powered submarines in the world.<ref name=Wertheim18>Wertheirm (ed.), Combat Fleets of the World, p. 18</ref><ref name=Jones244>Jones, in The Royal Australian Navy, p. 244</ref> The hull is constructed from high-tensile micro-alloy steel, and are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar.<ref name=YW165.74>Yule & Woolner, The Collins Class Submarine Story, pp. 165–74</ref><ref name=JDW070893>‘Built in Australia’ Collins rolls out, Jane's Defence Weekly</ref> The depth that they can dive to is classified: most sources claim that it is over Template:Convert,<ref name=Wertheim19>Wertheirm (ed.), Combat Fleets of the World, p. 19</ref><ref name=Grazebrook>Grazebrook, RAN prepares for Collins class</ref>
The submarine is armed with six Template:Convert torpedo tubes, and carry a standard payload of 22 torpedoes: originally a mix of Gould Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedoes and UGM-84C Sub-Harpoon, with the Mark 48s later upgraded to the Mod 7 Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) version.<ref name=Wertheim18/><ref name=SPGmedia>SSK Collins Class (Type 471) Attack Submarine, naval-technology.com</ref><ref>Heavyweight Torpedo – Mark 48, United States Navy Fact File</ref>
Each submarine is equipped with three Garden Island-Hedemora HV V18b/15Ub (VB210) 18-cylinder diesel engines, which are each connected to a 1,400 kW, 440-volt DC Jeumont-Schneider generator.<ref name=Wertheim18/><ref name=SPGmedia/> The electricity generated is stored in batteries, then supplied to a single Jeumont-Schneider DC motor, which provides 7,200 shaft horsepower to a single, seven-bladed, Template:Convert diameter skewback propeller.<ref name=Wertheim18/><ref name=GrazebrookDU>Grazebrook, Collins class comes up Down Under</ref> The Collins class has a speed of Template:Convert when surfaced and at snorkel depth, and can reach Template:Convert underwater.<ref name=Wertheim18/> The submarines have a range of Template:Convert at Template:Convert when surfaced, Template:Convert at Template:Convert at snorkel depth.<ref name=Wertheim18/> When submerged completely, a Collins class submarine can travel Template:Convert at maximum speed, or Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name=Wertheim18/> Each boat has a endurance of 70 days.<ref name=Wertheim18/>
Operational history
During a multinational exercise in September 2003, which was attended by Rankin and sister boat Waller, Rankin successfully "sank" a Singaporean anti-submarine warfare vessel.<ref>Sherman Aussie Collins-Class Sub "Sinks" US Boat</ref>
In 2004, a film crew was embarked aboard Rankin for the creation of Submariners, a six-part documentary aired by SBS in 2005 and depicting life aboard a submarine.<ref>Spencer, Wheeler, & Eccles, Submariners – making the TV series, p. 27</ref> The film crew was on board from February to April 2004, during which the boat completed pre-deployment trials, participated in the submarine rescue exercise Pacific Reach, and made a diplomatic visit to Kure, Japan.<ref>Spencer, Wheeler, & Eccles, Submariners – making the TV series, pp. 27–8</ref> They later rejoined Rankin during the submarine's deployment to Hawaii for RIMPAC 04 in June and July.<ref>Spencer, Wheeler, & Eccles, Submariners – making the TV series, p. 28</ref> Later that year, Rankin was also the subject of the book Beneath Southern Seas.<ref name=DODpr>Navy assists with launch of pictorial record of Australian Navy submarines [press release]</ref> The coffee table book, which encompasses the history of the Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service, was primarily based on photographs and interviews of Rankin and those aboard taken by the authors during a twelve-day voyage from Sydney to Fremantle, concluding the six-month deployment started during the filming of Submariners.<ref name=DODpr/><ref>Davidson & Allibone, Beneath Southern Seas, pp. 121–4, 133</ref> The Template:Convert voyage—the longest undertaken by a Collins-class submarine to that date—began with workups in February, and saw the submarine visit Korea, Japan, and Hawaii, and participate in various multinational exercises before returning to Fremantle via Sydney.<ref name=DA133>Davidson & Allibone, Beneath Southern Seas, p. 133</ref> Rankin was at sea for 126 days, 80% of which was spent underwater.<ref name=DA133/>
On 10 June 2005, Rankin was presented with the Gloucester Cup.<ref name=DA204>Davidson & Allibone, Beneath Southern Seas, p. 204</ref> Presented to the RAN vessel with the greatest overall efficiency over the previous twelve months, Rankin was the first Collins-class submarine to earn the Cup, and the first submarine to receive it since Template:HMAS in 1987.<ref name=DA204/> The award was again presented to Rankin in 2008.<ref>Jeffrey, Presentation of the 2007 Gloucester Cup to HMAS Rankin, [speech]</ref>
Rankin was docked for a long maintenance period in 2008, but workforce shortages and malfunctions on other submarines requiring urgent attention have drawn this out: in 2010 RAN and ASC officials predicted that she would not be back in service until 2013.<ref name=Oakes2sub>Oakes, Two subs out of action for 9 years</ref> At the end of the works on Rankin, personnel were transferred from Template:HMAS (which was commencing a similar period of maintenance and upgrades), and Rankin arrived at Fleet Base West on 1 October 2014.<ref name="Rankin returns home">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead link</ref>
Citations
References
- Books
- Journal and news articles
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- Other media
External links
- Royal Australian Navy webpage for HMAS Rankin (SSG 78)
- Submariners Documentary site Template:Webarchive