IRIS Taregh (901)

IRIS Taregh or Tareq (Persian: زیردریایی طارق‎) is the first Kilo-class attack submarine of Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, serving in the Southern Fleet. The submarine is part of the 33rd Flotilla, along with two other vessels.[2]

IRIS Taregh (901)
History
Iran
Namesake: Tariq ibn Ziyad
Operator: Islamic Republic of Iran Navy
Ordered: 1988
Builder: Admiralty Shipyard
Cost: $375 million
Laid down: 1988
Launched: 25 September 1991
Commissioned: 21 November 1992
Refit: 2005, 2012
Homeport: Bandar Abbas[1]
Identification: 901[1]
Status: In active service
General characteristics
Class and type: Kilo-class submarine
Displacement:
  • 2,356 tons surfaced,[1]
  • 3,076 tons submerged[1]
Length: 72.6 m (238 ft 2 in)[1]
Beam: 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)[1]
Draft: 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in)[1]
Installed power: Diesel-electric[1]
Propulsion:
  • 2 × 3,650 horsepower (2.72 MW) Generators[1]
  • 1 × 5,500 horsepower (4.1 MW) Propulsion motor[1]
  • 1 × 130 horsepower (97 kW) Economic speed motor[1]
  • 2 × 204 horsepower (152 kW) Auxiliary propulsion motor[1]
  • 1 × Shaft[1]
  • 2 × Diesels[1]
Speed:
  • Surfaced; 10 knots (19 km/h)[1]
  • Snorkel mode; 9 knots (17 km/h)[1]
  • Submerged; 17 knots (31 km/h)[1]
Range:
  • Snorkel mode; 6,000 mi (9,700 km) at 7 kn (13 km/h)[1]
  • Submerged; 400 mi (640 km) at 3 kn (5.6 km/h)[1]
Test depth: Normally 240 m (790 ft)[1]
Complement: 53 (12 officers)[1]
Armament:

It is the first ever submarine commissioned by any country to serve in the Persian Gulf[3] and the second Iranian-owned submarine after IIS Kousseh (SS 101), which never became operational in the country's fleet.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build Taregh was signed in 1988.[1] It was reportedly worth $750 million for two submarines, with an option for the third.[3]

Her keel was laid down at Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg in the same year.[1] She was launched in 1991 and was commissioned on 21 November 1992[1] at the naval base in Bandar Abbas.[3] Taregh was transferred to Iran via sailing in the Baltic Sea by Russian crew, which began in October 1992.[1]

It is named after a famous Muslim warrior.[3]

Service history

Shortly after acquisition of Taregh by Iran, American submarine USS Topeka (SSN-754) entered the Persian Gulf in order to monitor Taregh, while its declared mission was "routine maintenance".[3]

According to Jane's, there is no proof that the submarine has ever returned to Russia for a refit. However, following negotiations for an upgrade, a refit began inside Iran in mid 2000s reportedly with the assistance of Rosoboronexport and Sevmash.[1] Ever since, Iran is able to refit Kilo-class submarines on its own.[4]

Taregh fired electrically propelled torpedoes for the first time in December 2011, during a war-game named Velayat-90.[5]

In May 2012, Iran announced that it had relaunched Taregh after an overhaul in which some 18,000 components, including radar-evading cover, engine parts, propellers and radars were replaced.[5][6] In the ceremony to rejoin the service, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the Russians did not provide Iran with any "instructions on submarine's details and structure", adding that his men had to figure out everything themselves.[7]

In September 2012, it was deployed in the Persian Gulf as a response to the naval drills led by the United States Navy's Fifth Fleet,[8] before being fielded in Velayat-91 exercise for a test of its new armaments. The war-game lasted from December 2012 to January 2013 in the Arabian Sea.[9]

In January 2015, Taregh left home on a mission to provide security for shipping lines sailing from northern parts of the Indian Ocean to the Strait of Malacca and then South China Sea.[2] Almost a year later, the submarine took part in war-game Velayat-94, sailing as far afield as the Sea of Oman and northern Indian Ocean.[10] In November 2016, General Ataollah Salehi declared that Taregh is ready for dispatch as far as the Atlantic Ocean.[11]

Media reports indicate that as of February 2019, Iran has upgraded Taregh to fire submarine-launched cruise missiles.[12]

Taregh fights against American forces in Primary Target, a 2014 thriller war novel by Joe Weber.[13]

See also

References
  2. "Iran Sends New Naval Fleet to High Seas", Tasnim News Agency, 18 January 2015, retrieved 15 June 2020
  3. Faruqi, Anwar (23 November 1992), "Iranian Navy Commissions Russian-Built Sub, First In Gulf", Associated Press, retrieved 15 June 2020
  4. Cordesman, Anthony (2016), "The Gulf: How Dangerous is Iran to International Maritime Security?", in Krause, Joachim; Bruns, Sebastian (eds.), Routledge Handbook of Naval Strategy and Security, Routledge, p. 106, ISBN 9781138840935
  5. "Iran relaunches domestically overhauled submarine", Mehr News Agency, 29 May 2012, retrieved 15 June 2020
  6. Binnie, Jeremy (6 June 2012), "Iran Relaunches 'Kilo' Submarine", Jane's Defence Weekly, 49 (23)
  7. Isayev, S.; T. Jafarov, S. (29 May 2012), "Iran repairs and launches "Tareq" submarine", Trend News Agency, retrieved 15 June 2020
  8. "Iran deploys submarine in Persian Gulf", Associated Press, The Guardian, 18 September 2012, retrieved 15 June 2020
  9. "Iran Navy plans weeklong massive war games in southern waters", Khabaronline, 25 December 2012, retrieved 15 June 2020
  10. "Iran Navy drills go into main phase", Iranian Students' News Agency, 27 January 2016, retrieved 15 June 2020
  11. Majidyar, Ahmad (1 December 2016), Iran Plans to Stage War Game, Dispatch Warships to Atlantic Ocean, The Middle East Institute, retrieved 15 June 2020
  12. "Iran claims US sabotage of missile program used to its 'benefit'", Al-Monitor, 25 February 2019, retrieved 15 June 2020
  13. Weber, Joe (2014), Primary Target, Ignition Books, ISBN 9781937868307
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