NAVY NEWS, MAY 1992 Options
Ships of the Royal Navy
No. 438
Unseen beats rival out of sight. .. SECOND of the new Type 2400 patrol class submarines, HMS Unseen has successfully completed weapons trials and beaten an American boat in underwater tests. The
Unseen
was
launched in November
1989 and commissioned at Birkenhead last summer in
Dived displacement: 2,400 tonnes. Length: 70.25 metres. Beam: 7.5m. Pennant no: S41. Speed: 12 knots s u r f a c e d , 20 knots dived and 12 knots snorting. Range: 8,000 miles at 8 knots snorting. Endurance: 49 days stores and 90 hours at 3 knots dived.
a c e r e m o n y a t t e n d e d by
over 1.000 guests. Guest of h o n o u r was Lady Paddy
SPECIAL OPS VETERAN AND SCOURGE OF MERCHANT SHIPPING THERE has only been one previous HMS Unseen — P51. a U-class diesel electric submarine built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow during the 1940 work programme. After a short work up in the Clyde areas under the command of Lieut. Michael (Tubby) Crawford, she carried out an i n i t i a l U-boat patrol in the North Sea before sailing for the Mediterranean, arriving in Gibraltar in October 1942. During the following months P51 was involved in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. She was stationed off the coast of France conducting surveillance operations against the Vichy Republic. In March 1943 P51 was sent to the Northern Approaches to Messina to intercept the Italian b a t t l e fleet s h o u l d i t come south. She was then sent as part ol the I Oth Submarine Squadron to take part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Her main task was to lay navigational aids. During this time she also carried out several successful operations using Chariots manned torpedoes — against I t a l i a n ships in harbour. In August 194:1 she was released from special operations and returned to normal duties w i t h a patrol off Bari. On the 27th she sighted the Rastrclla. an I t a l i a n m e r c h a n t m a n of 1,530 tons, escorted by two destroyers. She closed to a good
provide bearings, range estimation, still photography, TV recording and thermal imaging.
Thomas, the boat's sponsor. The main h u l l structure of the submarine is composed of high tensile steel and is of circular cross-sections stiffened by i n t e r n a l h i g h t e n s i l e steel frames. The Unseen is designed to dive deeper than 200 metres. Her armament comprises six weapon tubes with positive discharge, capable of firing a range of 21-inch diameter weapons, including Tigerfish. Royal Navy sub Harpoon. Mark 5 m i n e and Spcarfish. In addition. 12 torpedoes can be carried for reloading. A design fault in the torpedo bow doors was identified in HMS Upholder, first submarine of the class, and she is curr e n t l y undergoing repair. In due course HMS Unseen will also go i n t o dock to have the problem rectified. In light of this hitch. HMS Unseen's performance in the weapons trials came as a very welcome fillip. She accurately fired 23 d u m m y torpedoes and outshone the American submarine in underwater war games. HMS Unseen's sonar suite is fully integrated and uses the latest technology developed for the RN. It includes 2040 passive bow sonar, capable of simultaneous low frequency and high frequency hand operation, with adaptive processing channels to provide good target discrimination. Simultaneous automatic tracking of several targets is possible. 2040 also has an active and an active intercept ability. There is also: 2046 long range passive sonar using towed array or flank a r r a y ; 2041 passive triangulation sonar: PIPRS triangulation sonar for active intercepts: UAC. an electronic s u p p o r t measures system providing multi-target detection and analysis, w i t h h i g h b e a r i n g accuracy; a n d 1007 g e n e r a l n a v i g a t i o n a l radar. Search and attack periscopes POSTCARDS of Ships of the Royal Navy are obtainable at Bop each (minimum order £1.80) from Navy New*, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth P01 3HH. An order for 12 carde Is priced at £6.50 and a standing order for the supply of each of 12 cards on publication can be arranged on receipt of £10/forelgn £11.50. Prices Include postage and packing, and postcards will be despatched on receipt of stamps, postal order or cheque. No postcards are stocked of ships which paid off before 1956.
Lieut. Tubby Crawford (right), commanding officer of HMS Unseen throughout the Second World War, is pictured in the Ops Room of Malta's submarine base. With him is Lieut. Thomas Barlow, CO of HMS United.
a t t a c k i n g position and tired four torpedoes. One of them hit abaft the funnel. After waiting for 40 minutes, during which time retaliatory depth charges were dropped, P51 returned to periscope depth to see the escorts making for Bari. A l i t t l e wreckage and some survivors on a raft were all that remained of the Rastrella. The Unseen returned to Malta at the beginning of September with four of the survivors and was then sent to Spe/ia. At
this time she attacked two more merchantmen, sinking one and damaging the other. Following a short stop at Algiers she returned to sea, but shortly afterwards was attacked, sustaining minor damage. She was forced to return to Malta. She left the island on December 12. 1944 for her final pat r o l , d u r i n g w h i c h she was depth charged by an anti-submarine vessel she had failed to detect. Fortunately, again the damage was only minor.
12 MONTH GUARANTEE
Nit temere neque timore (Neither foolhardy nor afraid), the motto of the original HMS Unseen, has been dropped by the present crew in favour of one they feel more apt — Venimus invisi (We come Unseen). The vessel's submarine message handling and distribution system provides transmission
and reception on HF. U H F and Satcoms. Reception is available on LF and MF. and on V L F even when submerged. A five man lock out chamber is provided for use by d i v e r s when the boat is submerged. I n f l a t a b l e dinghies, outboard motors and other equipment can be carried in the superstructure aft of the bridge f i n . H M S Unseen's propulsion system consists of two motors on a common frame d r i v i n g a single propeller. Two Paxman Valenta diesel generators arc fitted, each with a n o m i n a l rating of 1.25 MW. Two lead acid batteries are fitted, g i v i n g a long submerged endurance. The ship's company n u m b e r s 48: seven officers. 17 senior rates and 24 j u n i o r rates. All of the boat's systems are highly automated to enable the submarine to run w i t h a very small complement. Most of them are remotely operated from a central control panel. There is a ship-wide s u r v e i l lance system p r o v i d i n g remote monitoring.
Battle honours: Sicily 1943, Mediterranean 1943 and Channel 1944.
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