List of Oberon-class submarines

The Oberon class was a ship class of 27 British-designed submarines operated by five different nations. They were designed as a direct follow-on from the Porpoise class: physical dimensions were the same, but stronger materials were used in hull construction, and updated equipment was fitted.[1]

Main article: Oberon-class submarine

Oberon-class submarine HMS Ocelot underway in 1989

The submarines were built between 1957 and 1978 by four shipyards: Cammell Laird (4), Chatham Dockyard (6), Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company (11) and Vickers-Armstrongs (6).[2] Thirteen of the submarines were operated by the Royal Navy, six by the Royal Australian Navy, three by the Brazilian Navy, three by the Royal Canadian Navy/Canadian Forces Maritime Command (plus two ex-Royal Navy boats later acquired for non-commissioned roles), and two by the Chilean Navy.[2]

The Oberons operated during the height of the Cold War, with duties including surveillance, tracking of other ships and submarines, delivery and retrieval of special forces personnel, and serving as targets for anti-submarine training. Submarines of the class were in service until 2000. As of 2015, eight of the submarines are preserved intact as museum vessels, another three are partially preserved (with some exterior portions of the submarine on display), and one is in private ownership and awaiting conversion for display. The rest have been sold for scrap, including one former museum vessel.

Nation[2] Name[2] Pennant[2][lower-alpha 1] Builder[2] Laid down[2] Launched[2] Commissioned[2] Decommissioned Status/Fate Notes
United Kingdom Oberon S09 Chatham Dockyard 28 November 1957 18 July 1959 24 February 1961 1986 Sold for scrap in 1991 Lead ship of class
United Kingdom Ocelot S17 Chatham Dockyard 17 November 1960 5 May 1962 31 January 1964 August 1991 Preserved since 1992 at Chatham Historic Dockyard
United Kingdom Odin S10 Cammell Laird 27 April 1959 4 November 1960 3 May 1962 18 October 1990 Sold for scrap in 1991
United Kingdom Olympus S12 Vickers-Armstrongs 4 March 1960 14 June 1961 7 July 1962 1980s Sold for scrap in 2011 Operated by Canada from 1989 to the 1990s as a non-commissioned training vessel.
United Kingdom Onslaught S14 Chatham Dockyard 8 April 1959 24 September 1960 14 August 1962 1990 Sold for scrap
United Kingdom Onyx S21 Cammell Laird 16 November 1964 18 August 1966 20 November 1967 1991 Sold for scrap in 2014 A previous Oberon named Onyx became the Canadian Ojibwa during construction: this submarine was ordered as a replacement. Preserved from 1991 to 2006 by the Warship Preservation Trust, then from 2006 to 2014 by the Submarine Heritage Centre.
United Kingdom Opportune S20 Scotts Shipbuilding 26 October 1962 14 February 1964 29 December 1964 2 June 1993 Sold for scrap
United Kingdom Opossum S19 Cammell Laird 21 December 1961 23 May 1963 5 June 1964 August 1993 Sold for scrap
United Kingdom Oracle S16 Cammell Laird 26 April 1960 26 September 1961 14 February 1963 18 September 1993 Sold for scrap in 1997
United Kingdom Orpheus S11 Vickers-Armstrongs 16 April 1959 17 November 1959 25 November 1960 ? Sold for scrap in 1994
United Kingdom Osiris S13 Vickers-Armstrongs 26 January 1962 29 November 1962 11 January 1964 1989 Sold for scrap in 1991 Between 1988 and 1991, used by Canada as a parts hulk.
United Kingdom Otter S15 Scotts Shipbuilding 14 January 1960 15 May 1961 20 August 1962 31 July 1991 Sold for scrap in 1992
United Kingdom Otus S18 Scotts Shipbuilding 31 May 1961 17 October 1962 5 October 1963 1990s Preserved at Sassnitz, Germany
Australia Onslow S60 Scotts Shipbuilding 4 December 1967 3 December 1968 22 December 1969 30 March 1999 Preserved since 1999 at the Australian National Maritime Museum
Australia Orion S61 Scotts Shipbuilding 6 October 1972 16 September 1974 15 June 1977 1996 Sold for scrap in 2003. Fin preserved at Rockingham Naval Memorial Park.
Australia Otama S62 Scotts Shipbuilding 25 May 1973 3 December 1975 27 April 1978 15 December 2000 Sold for preservation in 2001
Australia Otway S59 Scotts Shipbuilding 29 June 1965 29 November 1966 23 April 1968 17 February 1994 Sold for scrap in 1995. Fin and upper casing preserved at Holbrook, New South Wales
Australia Ovens S70 Scotts Shipbuilding 17 June 1966 4 December 1967 18 April 1969 1 December 1995 Preserved since 1998 at the Western Australian Maritime Museum
Australia Oxley S57 Scotts Shipbuilding 2 July 1964 24 September 1965 21 March 1967 February 1992 Sold for scrap. Fin preserved at HMAS Stirling. Bow preserved at the Western Australian Maritime Museum
Brazil Humaitá S20 Vickers-Armstrongs 3 November 1970 5 October 1971 18 June 1973 1996 ?
Brazil Tonelero S21 Vickers-Armstrongs 18 November 1971 22 November 1972 10 December 1977 ? ?
Brazil Riachuelo S22 Vickers-Armstrongs 26 May 1973 6 September 1975 March 1977 1997 Preserved at the Navy Cultural Centre, Rio de Janeiro
Canada Ojibwa S72 Chatham Dockyard 27 September 1962 29 February 1964 23 September 1965 21 May 1998 Preserved since 2012 at the Elgin Military Museum Originally laid down for the Royal Navy as Onyx, sold prior to launching.
Canada Okanagan S74 Chatham Dockyard 25 March 1965 17 September 1966 22 June 1968 14 September 1998 Sold for scrap in 2011
Canada Onondaga S73 Chatham Dockyard 18 June 1964 25 September 1965 22 June 1967 28 July 2000 Preserved since 2009 at the Site historique maritime de la Pointe-au-Père
Chile O'Brien S22 Scott Lithgow[lower-alpha 2] 17 January 1971 21 December 1972 15 August 1976 ? Preserved in Valdivia, Chile
Chile Hyatt S23 Scott Lithgow[lower-alpha 2] 10 January 1972 26 September 1973 27 September 1976 ? Sold for scrap in 2003

See also

Footnotes
  1. In the Royal Australian Navy, pennant numbers are normally rendered with a space between the letters and numbers, and use an expanded identifier similar to the United States Navy's Hull classification symbol (for example: HMAS Onslow's pennant is "SSG 60"). For this list, the Australian pennant numbers have been rendered in a style similar to the other nations in the list (single-letter flag superior, no space between letter and number)
  2. Company formed following the 1967 merger of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows

References
  1. Chant, Christopher (2005). Submarine Warfare Today: The World's Deadliest Underwater Weapons Systems. Wigston: Silverdale Books. p. . ISBN 1-84509-158-2. OCLC 156749009.
  2. Moore, John, ed. (1977). Jane's Fighting Ships 1977-78. Jane's Fighting Ships (80th ed.). London: Jane's Yearbooks. pp. 26, 44, 63, 81, 490. ISBN 0531032779. OCLC 18207174.
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