HMAS Collins (SSG 73) - Operational History

Operational History

In May 1997, two groups of six female sailors were posted to Collins and Farncomb as a test on the feasibility of mixed-sex crews aboard submarines. Following the trial's success, eleven female sailors and one female officer commenced training for the submarine service in 1998.

In mid-2000, Collins was sent to Ketchikan, Alaska for noise testing with the United States Navy. Although noise testing in Australia was believed to have been affected by natural background noise, the Alaskan tests confirmed the Australian results. Low-speed testing showed that the Collins class was almost undetectable at patrol speed.

In August 2000, Collins became the first of her class to fire a Harpoon missile.

When Collins returned to the ASC facility in April 2001 for a year-long maintenance docking, multiple welding defects were found in both the bow and escape tower sections of the submarine—the two sections constructed by Kockums, while almost no problems were found in the welding of the four Australian-built sections. Repairing these welds quadrupled the time Collins spent in dock.

In July 2009, while exercising in the Great Australian Bight, two of the three diesel generators aboard Collins failed, forcing the submarine to limp back to base. The cause was believed to be errors during the submarine's last refit, with the boat undergoing major maintenance as of December 2009. Althougn back in service by February 2010, the boat is limited in her duties, but is predicted to be fully operational by May 2010. The Australian government is seeking A$5 million in compensation from ASC for the error.

The submarines are predicted to have an operational life of around 30 years, with Collins to be decommissioned around 2025.