page_title: Collins-class submarine
section_title: Characteristics
hierarchical_section_title: Collins-class submarine / Characteristics
context_page_description: The Collins class of six Australian-built diesel-electric submarines is operated by the Royal Australian Navy. The Collins class takes its name from Australian Vice Admiral John Augustine Collins; all six submarines are named after significant RAN personnel who distinguished themselves in action during World War II. The boats were the first submarines to be constructed in Australia, prompting widespread improvements in Australian industry and delivering a sovereign sustainment/maintenance capability.
  Planning for a new design to replace the RAN's Oberon-class submarines began in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Proposals were received from seven companies; two were selected for a funded study to determine the winning design, which was announced in mid-1987. The submarines, enlarged versions of Swedish shipbuilder Kockums' Västergötland class and originally referred to as the Type 471, were constructed between 1990 and 2003 in South Australia by the Australian Submarine Corporation.
context_section_description: The Collins class is an enlarged version of the Kockums Västergötland class submarine. The design was referred to as the Type 471 Submarine until it was decided to name the lead boat, HMAS Collins, after RAN Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins. The names of the six submarines was first announced during Collins' laying down ceremony: Collins, Farncomb, Waller, Dechaineux, Sheean, and Rankin; all named after Australian naval personnel who distinguished themselves during World War II. The Collins-class submarines are classified by the RAN as SSGs, or guided missile carrying submarines, although some defence industry websites refer to the boats as hunter-killer submarines, or SSKs.
  At 77.8 metres (255 ft) in length, with a beam of 7.8 metres (26 ft) and a waterline depth of 7 metres (23 ft), the six boats were the largest conventionally powered submarines in the world at the time of their commissioning. The submarines are single-hulled, and have two continuous decks. Each boat displaces 3,100 tonnes (3,100 long tons) when surfaced, and 3,407 tonnes (3,353 long tons) when submerged. The depth that the submarines can dive to is classified: most sources claim that the diving depth is in excess of 180 metres (590 ft), although some give the maximum depth as over 300 metres (980 ft). Following the near-loss of Dechaineux in 2003 when a seawater hose burst during a deep dive, the diving depth was reduced.
  The hull is constructed from a high-tensile micro-alloy steel, developed by Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB, and improved by BHP of Australia, which was lighter and easier to weld than the HY-80 or HY-100 nickel-alloy steel used in contemporary submarine construction projects, while providing better results in explosion bulge testing. The submarines are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar: Collins was retrofitted with the tiles after the standard sonar signature of the submarine had been established, while the other five boats were covered during construction. These tiles were developed by the Australian DSTO: as the United States and United Kingdom would not share their information on the tiles used on their nuclear submarines, Australian researchers had to develop the tiles from scratch. The tiles were moulded in the shape of the hull, and are secured by a commercial adhesive normally used to fix cat's eyes to road surfaces: although British and American submarines are often seen with missing tiles, as of March 2007, none have been lost from a Collins-class boat.
caption: Captain (later Vice Admiral Sir) John Augustine Collins, namesake of the Collins class
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