On August 24, 2024, the Turkish naval base Aksaz on the southeastern coast of the Aegean Sea hosted the official ceremony of commissioning into the Turkish Navy a new non-nuclear submarine with an air-independent power plant S 330 Pirireis - the lead in a series of six units of submarines of the German project 214TN, built in Turkey under license and with with the assistance of the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended the ceremony.
The non-nuclear submarine with an air-independent power plant S 330 Pirireis, introduced into the Turkish Navy, is the lead in a series of six submarines of the German 214TN project, which is being built at the Turkish naval shipyard in Gelcük (Gölcük Naval Shipyard) under license and with the assistance of the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Aksaz, 08/24/2024 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Turkey
At the ceremony, it was announced that Turkish submarines of the 214TN project (Reis) will receive Turkish-made weapons, including the 533 mm Akya torpedo and the Atmaca anti-ship missile launched from torpedo tubes and the promising Gezgin cruise missile
A contract worth 2.06 billion euros for the licensed construction at the Turkish naval shipyard in Gelcük (Gölcük Naval Shipyard, Turkish Gölcük Donanma Tersanesi) for the Turkish Navy of six submarines of the 214TN project was concluded with the German side (then Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft GmbH (HDW), now part of TKMS) back in July 2009, but the program turned into a long-term project.
According to the contractual agreement, the lead boat of this type was supposed to be handed over to the Turkish navy back in 2015. The actual construction of the lead boat S 330 Pirireis (in the Turkish navy, the names of boats of this type are written together) was started in Geljuk in 2013 and it was officially laid down only on October 10, 2015. The boat was launched on December 22, 2019, but it was not until December 1, 2022 that Pirireis first went to sea for tests that lasted more than a year and a half.
The second boat of the same type, S 331 Hizirreis, has been under construction in Geldjuk since 2017 and was launched on May 23, 2023, at a ceremony on August 24, 2024, the start of her sea trials was announced. The third boat, S 332 Muratreis, has been under construction since 2018 and was launched on June 7, 2024. The submarines S 333 Aydinreis, S 334 Seydialireis and S 335 Selmanreis are also under construction in Geljuk, the planned delivery dates for the Turkish navy of five submarines under construction are 2025-2029 (one per year). All boats of this type were named after the Ottoman admirals of the XVI century.
Currently, the Turkish Navy has 12 diesel-electric submarines of various modifications of the German project 209 in service, including four Ay type boats (project 209/1200), four Preveze types (project 209T/1400) and four Gür types (project 209T2/1400).
The ceremony of commissioning into the Turkish Navy a non-nuclear submarine with an air-independent power plant S 330 Pirireis - the lead in a series of six submarines of the German project 214TN, under construction at the Turkish naval shipyard in Gelcük (Gölcük Naval Shipyard) under license and with the assistance of the German shipbuilding association thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS). Aksaz, 08/24/2024 (c) Ministry of National Defense of Turkey
Non-nuclear submarine built for the Turkish Navy with an air-independent power plant S 330 Pirireis of the German project 214TN during testing, 2024 (c) Tayfun Ozberk @TayfunOzberk
