First Greek built sub launched
Monday, 06 October 2014 11:08



The second of a total of four Type-214 submarine S-121 "Pipinos" was launched at Hellenic Shipyard in Skaramanga, Attica. This is the first of the class built in Greece, and is to be followed by a further two of the class.

The sub will undergo sea and port trials before joining the fleet. These are expected to take 8-10 months.

The submarine's launch and naming ceremony took place in the presence of the government leadership including PM Antonis Samaras and deputy government president Evangelos Venizelos, and many political personages.

The launching marks an end to the multi-year saga of scandalous contentions between the designer HDW-Thyssen and the Greek government, that left shipyard workers idle and the hulls of the nearly completed hulls rusting.

Papanikolis (S120), the first-of-class U-214, was laid down in Kiel, Germany in February 2001 and launched in April 2004. In January 2005, HDW’s ThyssenKrupp Marine (TKMS) parent company bought Hellenic Shipyards near Athens, Greece, and invested in modernizing it. Submarine work had already been underway since 2002, and Hellenic Shipyards built the next 3 Greek U-214 submarines: S121 Pipinos, S122 Matrozos, and S123 Katsonis.

Once the Papanikolis’ sea trials began in 2006, however, the Hellenic Navy found a host of issues with the new submarine. Poor performance from the AIP system that supplements its diesel engines for long underwater operations, problems with the ISUS combat system, poor surface seakeeping in high seas, and hydraulic system issues were among the major flaws reported. The Navy refused acceptance, leaving HDW to fix the boat.

HDW set to work on Papanikolis, but the submarine was docked in Kiel since 2006 waiting for Greek acceptance. In 2010, a provisional agreement was reached. Greece would accept the U214s, and would shift Project Neptune II from 3 upgraded Poseidon Class boats to 1 upgrade plus 2 new U214 submarines, giving Greece a total of 6 U214s on order.

HDW doesn’t seem to be part of that deal, and as of January 2014, S121 Pipinos, S122 Matrozos, and S123 Katsonis are all reportedly still in sea trials, instead of acting as operational boats. Actually, they’re That is somewhat odd, given that the last of these boats was launched back in 2008, but Hellenic Shipyards itself is in dire straits.

The program was re-set by erstwhile defense minister Dimitris Avramopoulos.

Type 214 has an increased diving depth of more than 400m, due to improvements in the pressure hull materials. Hull length is 65m and displacement 1,700t. Four of the eight torpedo tubes are capable of firing missiles.

Type 214 submarines for the Hellenic Navy are armed with the WASS (Whitehead Alenia Sistemi Subacquei) Black Shark heavyweight torpedo. The Black Shark is a dual-purpose, wire-guided torpedo which is fitted with Astra active / passive acoustic head and a multitarget guidance and control unit incorporating a counter-countermeasures system. It has an electrical propulsion system based on a silver oxide and aluminium battery.

Performance of the AIP system has been increased with two Siemens PEM fuel cells which produce 120kW per module and give the submarine an underwater endurance of two weeks. A hull shape, which has been further optimised for hydrodynamic and stealth characteristics, and a low-noise propeller combine to decrease the submarine's acoustic signature.

The integrated sensor underwater system ISUS 90, from ATLAS Elektronik, integrates all sensors, command and control functions onboard the submarine. BAE Systems provides the link 11 tactical data link. The sensor suite of the U214 submarine consists of the sonar systems, an attack periscope and an optronic mast. The submarine's electronic support measures system and global positioning system sensors are also installed on the optronic mast.

http://www.newgreektv.com/index.php/...t-sub-launched