The title could have been true, if sinking was the intention by the sub crew. Now it was an US exercise in the Pacific and the Swedish diesel submarine Gotland didn't fire any torpedoes after sneaking undetected through the screen of escorting destroyers and other vessels. Instead it took some nice pictures through the periscope. More info at Kockums. Cheers Olle
Hehe.. The Swedes have great AIP subs. I think the AIP (air-independent propulsion) subs will pose a real threat to nuclear boats. Very exciting development for countries that do not or cannot go the nuke way.
One part of this story I find very interesting is where it happened. Swedish subs are designed (and used) to operate in relatively shallow coastal waters, and very often within archipelagos where it's just as easy to hide a sub as it is to make it run aground or collide with rocks and cliffs. The exercise mentioned above took place in the vast and deep Pacific ocean, where the US fleet operates at it's best and there are no islands and reefs for the sub to hide at. The only "concealment" occasionaly at hand are thermal layers, and those aren't that effective if there are other subs searching. Cheers Olle
As sub warfare is mostly carried out by means of passive sonar, silence is paramount. I guess AIP has come a long way in allowing non-nuc subs to achieve the kind of silence that the Americans have had with their nuc boats.
Yes it is. But it's a lot easier to be silent with the sub "parked" on the sea bottom than moving around in the deep open sea. Surface vessels also have little to lose by using active sonar when looking for subs. Cheers Olle
