Kockums Gotland Class, Stirling Powered Submarines

[vamoose]

Check this out!
I was doing a bit of a search on the Kockums Gotland subs, so decided to link a few videos and bits and pieces i came across.
Its just a loose compilation of stuff.
I'm sure there's plenty more info out there, so feel free to contribute if you know of, or find anything.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotland-class_submarine

I'm pretty sure this is a swedish Kockums (stirling) powered submarine entering & leaving Devonport NZ

HMS Uppland
Uploaded on May 26, 2011
HSwMS Uppland entering Devonport. 25/05/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJihd8GrgDA

Uploaded on Jun 15, 2011
Hmws uppland leaving devonport
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL535zIpbcE



OTHER VESSELS

HMS Gotland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMj1TjNTFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Khaa3y0i87s

HMS Halland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkeOrSak-M8

More Kockums related stuff..

RSS Archer - Singapore submarine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archer-class_submarine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLtJb0pLTS8

Proposed Next generation Kockums stirling powered subs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A26_submarine

Air-independent propulsion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air-independent_propulsion

Jump to 2:50 if you cant wait
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2tL0jRpCvg


PDF's

http://www.kockums.se/Documents/submarine.pdf

http://www.sesusa.org/submarine.pdf

vamoose

[Hopper]

More good stuff. The last SESUSA brochure link gives a pretty good overview and of the Stirling system on board. and the same modular building system used on the Aussie Collins versions. The plan was at one stage to retrofit the Stirlings to existing Collins subs by putting them up in the shed on the railroad carts, cutting them in half and welding in a new section containing the Stirlings and LOX tanks all ready to go.Never happened though. The government ran out of money and Kockums pulled out of the partnership with Australian Sub Corp.

[vamoose]

Hey Hopper,

I never realised that the Collins class was actually being considered for a Stirling retrofit, that would have been cool.
It sounds like you had some interaction with these subs, tell me, are they the lemons that the detractors are trying to tell us, or is the negativity more motivated by political point scoring?

Also, I had an interesting sighting of one off Perth years ago when sailing down the west coast of Australia. It was just before dawn (no moon), was on watch and kept looking to my port because i was sure something was there but couldn't see it (the eyes play tricks), then as dawn started to creep i caught the silhouette of a vessel, which turned out to be a Collins class based in Perth. I'm pretty sure they had been shadowing us for a while, for shits and giggles. Gave them a wave and woke a few on board to show them, then a bit later, whilst navigating, in between glances, she was 'gone', pretty spooky.

Just read a whitepaper where it stated that the Australian government is considering purchasing Soryu class subs from japan, to replace the Collins class when they are due for decommissioning.
Apparently these vessels use a diesel-electric propulsion system, comprising two Kawasaki diesel engines and four Kockums Stirling engines. So we still may have some Stirling powered subs yet. That gives me a potential a warm fuzzy feeling..

vamoose

[Hopper]

Vamoose,
Yes I had a job for a while writing the maintenance manuals for the Collins. Got to crawl all over the boats and look at pretty much anything I wanted except the classified weapons and sonar/radar systems etc.
It was very interesting. I worked mostly on the propulsion system and refrigeration plant. One thing though about the modular building system where they build the boat in sections with all the internals in place then join them together is that once it is together there was no way to access things like the food locker fridge plant without cutting a hole in the hull - not something you want to do on a deep sea pressure vessel.

No I don't think they are the lemon the media beat them up into. Building a sub is a big, complex job. There are some claims they are the most complex machine in the world. There were teething problems, but there always is with any newly commissioned plant. None of the failures were due to Australian made parts or processes, all were faulty parts from overseas, eg exhaust discharge valves leaking, Swedish diesels not standing up very well. (and no way to get the crankshafts out without cutting the sub open/in half!), Saab weapons control systems not working well etc. Once that was ironed out they are doing well. I think they went to US made Raytheon weapons systems in the end. ASC engineers used to go to Saab in Sweden to sort out problems and nobody spoke English all of a sudden.

Yes I think the Japanese are using Kockums-based Stirlings, but not sure if they are the ones in the subs you mentioned. Something was going on in Singapore with them too.

Would be neat to have Stirlings in actual service in Oz in this way.

[vamoose]

OK, Hold onto your Wigéns,
because here's a series of 4 videos that give a full breakdown of the Kockums submarine, with some very tantalising footage of the Stirling engines and components in a partly assembled state.
BUT,Unfortunately, its not in English.
My understanding of Swedish mainly consists of some chat up lines and a few choice swear words, so when watching, I was making my own dialogue up as I went along.
As a kid, I must thank the Swedish Chef in the Muppets, he helped my translation greatly,
(I think I might have even caught a glimpse of him in the galley).

Stirling engine footage starts at about 5:30, and on untill the end of the first video.
The rest of the videos are based around the submarine disassembly and installation of the Stirling module, and its other operational aspects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4jgCXs3Mhw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zABoYJBU4qM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--WM-LudiJI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlFkF5BfsqM

Here's the video Explanation:

During 1988 extended HMS Näcken with about 8 feet to make room for two Stirling engines, and thus became the first military submarine to utilize this type of machinery. The modification made ​​to the sustainability of the U-mode increased from one-two days to two to four weeks, which was previously reserved for nuclear submarines.
Enjoy!
vamoose