Low seriality ruins developers and manufacturers of submarines Dolfijn submarine at the International Naval Salon in St. Petersburg.
2013. Photo by Vladimir Karnozov After several fruitless attempts to resume the design and construction of submarines by the national industry, the Dutch government seems ready to finally part with the underwater component of the naval forces.
As of February 2023, Dutch sailors continue to operate four Walrus-type diesel-electric submarines, which are morally and physically obsolete. It's time for them to retire, but there's nothing to change. Developing a modern project and launching it into a series requires too much money. Exports would have helped to recoup them, but the Netherlands failed to attract foreign investors and buyers.
The lead ship of the final series of Dutch diesel-electric submarines, accepted by the customer in 1985, is preparing to leave service. The expected event could happen this summer. The corresponding decision was made taking into account the condition and venerable age of Walrus. An examination of its hull, systems and mechanisms showed that the ship would have to be withdrawn from the active fleet forces before reaching 40 years of service. Soon, one of the serial ones, Dolfijn, will go to rest behind the lead ship. Systems, machines and mechanisms removed from decommissioned submarines will be used to maintain the remaining pair of "sister spikes" in good condition. The most recent Bruinvis was launched in 1992, it is 30 years old. Zeeleeuw has lived 35 years since the descent and 41 years since the laying. It is assumed that this couple will serve Dutch sailors until the mid-2030s.
THE PRIDE OF DUTCH SAILORSWalrus-type submarines are fairly well-built ships with a displacement of 2,350 tons (underwater 2,800 tons), built by local shipyards in the period from 1979 to 1994.
The geometry of their bodies (68 m long and 8.4 m wide), made of high-strength French steel, belongs to the teardrop type (they resemble the shape of a drop). The maximum speed in the underwater position reached 20 knots. The main armament is torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber with 20 units of ammunition.
At the time of the appearance of the Walrus type boats, they were one of the best classic DAPPLES in the world. They had one propeller and depth rudders mounted on a wing-shaped guard of retractable devices. The automated electronic control system of the ship allowed to reduce the crew to 49 people. The noise level is reduced by placing the mechanisms on a vibration-absorbing platform. At the same time, Dutch boats initially did not have rubber plates lining the hull.
Since 2013, all four boats have been upgraded with the replacement of sonar, periscopes and combat information and control system. This improved the tactical and technical characteristics, but did not return the ships to youth.
Today, Walrus-type dApps are easily detected with the help of modern sensors. Over the past few years, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the crews of Russian ships serving in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea timely established the fact of being in the area of Dutch submarines and carried out long-term surveillance of them.
Why does the Dutch government send its submariners to where Russian warships operate? The answer is simple – it forces solidarity on the military-political bloc of NATO. The members of the North Atlantic Alliance did not like that in 2014 Moscow made a fundamental decision to support Syria and, at the request of President Bashar al-Assad, deployed its troops in the country. Instead of contributing to the defeat of illegal armed formations operating on Syrian soil, Western European NATO member states began to interfere with the actions of the Russian military. One of the manifestations of this was the practice of tracking the naval grouping of the Russian Navy in the eastern Mediterranean, for which the Dutch government allocated its submarines.
It should be noted that before the coup d'etat in Ukraine and the start of the counter-terrorism operation in Syria, Russian and Dutch sailors positively interacted with each other. In 2013, the Dutch Navy submarine took part in the International Naval Salon in St. Petersburg. Thus, the Dolfijn submarine became the only submarine of NATO countries that ever took part in exhibition events in Northern Palmyra.
EXPORTThe construction of a series of Walrus-type submarines was preceded by the release of a Zwaardvis-type DPL.
All of them have already left the service, with the exception of two export-looking ships. At the end of the last century, the Netherlands built a pair of similar type submarines for export, commissioned by Taiwan. Compared to the basic project, they were simplified, mainly along the automation line. As a result, the number of crew increased to 67 people.
The Government of the People's Republic of China made a strong protest. Beijing has found effective ways to force the Netherlands to abandon the implementation of all planned programs of military cooperation with the disobedient island. Whatever it was, the Hai Lung and Hai Hu built by Dutch shipbuilders continue to remain in the ranks of the Taiwan Navy.
The hulls of these boats were laid 40 years ago. The ships entered service in 1986 and 1988, respectively.
By now, the RDM shipyard, where Dutch submarines were previously made, has ceased its activities. A new site is required for the resumption of underwater shipbuilding, but its equipment will not be cheap accordingly. The country's budget allows you to pay for a series of two to four new boats, which is not enough for the industry for reasons of profitability of production.
According to local historians, Dutch craftsmen have built 63 submarines for their own fleet all the time. The firstborn of the Dutch submarine fleet was assembled in 1904 according to American drawings (type Holland 7). Luctor et Emergo was in service from 1906 to 1919.
The period between the two World Wars was marked by the activities of the IVS company. The basis of her team (from 1922 to 1945) were Germans who found temporary shelter in a neighboring country, as well as those who moved to permanent residence. According to IVS projects in 1927-1933, five DPLS were built for Finland, one (E-1) – in Spain. Some of the specialists returned to Germany, where since 1935, according to their projects, boats were built at the shipyard of the Deshimag company. For example, in 1936 – four submarines for Turkey (designed by IVS based on E-1), in 1937 – a pair of Type II submarines (mod.) for China, in October 1938 – a pair of Type IID submarines for Yugoslavia.
After the Second World War, the Netherlands returned to the development and construction of the DPL. Although they were not inferior in characteristics to the products of neighboring countries, it turned out to be difficult to attract foreign customers. Most importers of such products preferred to place orders in Germany, whose experience in the field of construction and combat use of submarines is much richer and more extensive.
ItalyAnother European country where submarines have long been designed and built is Italy.
Italy entered the First World War with its submarines and even managed to sell one to Russia. The Tsarist government bought the St. George submarine in pursuit of the goal of creating an underwater detachment in the Arctic. This submarine (commander – Senior Lieutenant Ivan Riznich) from May to September 1917 made the world's first unprecedented long-distance crossing of 5,000 miles around Europe, from Spezia to Arkhangelsk across two oceans and five seas. During the distillation to the place of service, many of its shortcomings were revealed, which, together with the cataclysms of the Civil War, led to the loss of both this boat and others delivered by rail.
In the 30s, Italy helped the Soviet Union in the field of military shipbuilding, mainly surface. For submarines, the case was limited to the transfer of outdated documentation and educational literature, which, due to the lack of something better, was used by Boris Malinin and his associates in the design of the first Soviet submarines (the "D" series).
Italy entered World War II with a large submarine fleet. Although Italian submariners cannot boast of such great successes as German or American, they opened a combat account and accumulated some experience.
According to reparations, the surviving Italian boats went to the allies, but no one began to commission them in their fleet due to technical backwardness.
The state of the Italian economy after the war did not allow for a long time to engage in underwater shipbuilding. In 1968, the local industry handed over four Toti-type diesel-electric submarines to the fleet, they served for about 30 years. The next was a series of eight Nazario Sauro-type diesel-electric submarines, the construction was carried out by the shipyard of Fincantieri Monfalcone (Gorizia). The lead boat was accepted by the customer in 1980. The first four were written off after 20-30 years of service. The possibility of transferring them to Taiwan after a major overhaul with an extension of the service life for 15 years was discussed, but the deal did not take place.
To date, only four of the boats of Italian design and construction have survived in service, commissioned by the industry from 1988 to 1995. The oldest of them are Salvatore Pelosi and Giuliano Prini, with a displacement of 1,658 tons (full 1867 tons). Length – 66 m, width – about 7 m, armament – six torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber. The final pair of submarines in this series is named Primo Longobardo and Gianfranco Gazzana.
In the new century, the Italian government decided to cooperate with Germany by building submarines of the German type 212A project at the local shipyard Cantieri del Muggiano. Four boats were commissioned – in 2006, 2007, 2016 and 2017. Negotiations are underway between Berlin and Rome to continue the series.
At the turn of the century, Italy and Russia tried to join forces on a joint project S1000 – a relatively simple and cheap torpedo submarine with a displacement of 1000 tons. The development of the project was initially carried out by the design bureau of marine equipment "Rubin" since 2004. Conceptual design was completed five years later. Serial production was supposed to be carried out at the Fincantieri shipyard.
For the first time, the project of a new boat was presented to the world community in 2008. A large-scale model of the ship was demonstrated at the Euronaval exhibition. It was noted that the submarine of the S1000 project is designed to conduct anti-submarine warfare, perform reconnaissance tasks, as well as support special operations forces. The boat can perform these tasks both in shallow water and in deep sea areas.
In addition, the S1000 armed with torpedoes could fight enemy shipping and set up minefields. The submarine was designed with the expectation of operation in tropical conditions. Its concept was based on high combat effectiveness, ease of operation and affordable price.
Due to its small size (length 56 m, hull diameter 5.5 m) and high automation, the boat could be operated by a crew of 16 people. At it, the parties wanted to work out the main systems and mechanisms for small boats, believing that a number of importing countries would show interest in them. On the Russian side, the head of the commission on underwater shipbuilding was Igor Vladimirovich Vilnit, General Director of the Central Design Bureau of MT Rubin. The project has not reached the stage of practical implementation due to lack of interest in the market. With the actual termination of the S1000 project, Italy's presence in the market of underwater equipment with its own products ceased to take place.
Vyacheslav IvanovVyacheslav Viktorovich Ivanov is a military expert and historian.
