An announcement that India will spend more than $10
billion to scale up it’s navy’s undersea
combat capabilities has sent ripples in the defence industry world over. An
existing submarine fleet consisting of just ten Russian Kilo-class, four German
HDWs and an Akula-2 nuclear-powered attack submarine leased from Russia,this
procurement plan definitely made militaries turn their heads.
India's
indigenously designed and built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines of
the Arihant class are expected to be commissioned soon. The lead vessel of the
class, INS Arihant, was launched for sea-trials
in Visakhapatnam. The Navy plans to have six SSBN's in service
in near future. These nuclear-powered submarines will be a vital part of the
nation's much desired nuclear triad.
The Indian Navy operates a sizeable fleet of
Sindhughosh and Shishumar class submarines. India has started construction of
six Scorpène class submarines . These submarines will join the Indian Navy
starting from the second half of 2015. India issued a request for
information for another six submarines in 2011.
Whether patiently stalking their prey in two World
Wars or carrying devastating nuclear missiles as a deterrent in the Cold War,
submarines have played an often unseen but crucial role in the conflicts of the
20th century. A concealed military submarine is a real threat, and because of
its stealth, can force an enemy navy to waste resources searching large areas
of ocean and protecting ships against attack. This advantage was vividly
demonstrated in the 1982 Falklands War when
the British nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine cruiser
General Belgrano. After the sinking the Argentine Navy recognized that they had
no effective defense against submarine attack, and the Argentine surface fleet
withdrew to port for the remainder of the war, though an Argentine submarine
remained at sea.
The first submersible was built in 1620 by Cornelius
Drebbel, a Dutchman in the service of James I of England. It was created to the
standards of the design outlined by English mathematician William Bourne. It
was propelled by means of oars. The first military submarine was the Turtle
(1775), a hand-powered acorn-shaped device designed by the American David
Bushnell to accommodate a single person. It was the first verified submarine
capable of independent underwater operation and movement, and the first to use
screws for propulsion. During the American Civil War both sides successfully
built working submarines. The Confederate States of America submarines were all
designed to attack the Union blockade of Southern ports.
In 1870, the French writer Jules Verne, published the
science fiction classic 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, which concerns the
adventures of a maverick inventor of the Nautilus, a submarine more advanced
than any at the time. An international success, the story encouraged inventors
around the world to work towards making such a vehicle a reality. The first
mechanically powered series of submarines to be put into service by navies,
which included Great Britain, Japan, Russia, and the United States, were the
Holland submersibles built by Irish designer John Philip Holland in 1900.[18]
Several of each of them were retained in both the Imperial Russian and Japanese
Navies during the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-1905.
At the very outbreak of war Germany had only 20
submarines immediately available for combat, although these included vessels of
the diesel-engined U-19 class with the range (5,000 miles) and speed (eight
knots) to operate effectively around the entire British coast. By contrast the
Royal Navy had a total of 74 submarines, though of mixed effectiveness.
During World War II the submarine force was the most
effective anti-ship and anti-submarine weapon in the entire American arsenal.
Submarines, though only about 2 percent of the U.S. Navy, destroyed over 30
percent of the Japanese Navy, including 8 aircraft carriers, 1 battleship and
11 cruisers. U.S. submarines also destroyed over 60 percent of the Japanese
merchant fleet, crippling Japan's
ability to supply its military forces and industrial war effort. Allied
submarines in the Pacific War destroyed more Japanese shipping than all other
weapons combined. This feat was considerably aided by the Imperial Japanese
Navy's failure to provide adequate escort forces for the nation's merchant
fleet. The Royal Navy Submarine Service was used primarily in the classic
British blockade role. During the Second World War, its major operating areas
were around Norway, in the
Mediterranean (against the Axis supply routes to North Africa), and in the Far East. In that war, British submarines sank 2 million
tons of enemy shipping and 57 major warships, the latter including 35
submarines.Before and during World War II, the primary role of the submarine
was anti-surface ship warfare.
The first launch of a cruise missile (SSM-N-8 Regulus)
from a submarine occurred in July 1953 from the deck of USS Tunny, a World War
II fleet boat modified to carry this missile with a nuclear warhead. Tunny and
her sister boat Barbero were the United States's first nuclear
deterrent patrol submarines. They were joined in 1958 by two purpose built
Regulus submarines, Grayback, Growler, and, later, by the nuclear powered
Halibut.In the 1950s, nuclear power partially replaced diesel-electric
propulsion. Equipment was also developed to extract oxygen from sea water.
These two innovations gave submarines the ability to remain submerged for weeks
or months, and enabled previously impossible voyages such as USS Nautilus' crossing
of the North pole beneath the Arctic ice cap in 1958 and the USS Triton's
submerged circumnavigation of the world in 1960.
Most of the naval submarines built since that time in the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia have been powered by nuclear reactors. The limiting factors in submerged endurance for these vessels are food supply and crew morale in the space-limited submarine. In 1959–1960, the first ballistic missile submarines were put into service by both the United States (George Washington class) and the Soviet Union (Hotel class) as part of the Cold War nuclear deterrent strategy.
Most of the naval submarines built since that time in the United States and the Soviet Union/Russia have been powered by nuclear reactors. The limiting factors in submerged endurance for these vessels are food supply and crew morale in the space-limited submarine. In 1959–1960, the first ballistic missile submarines were put into service by both the United States (George Washington class) and the Soviet Union (Hotel class) as part of the Cold War nuclear deterrent strategy.
In naval warfare, the key is to detect the enemy while
avoiding detection. Much time and effort is spent to deny the enemy the chance
to detect your forces. A modern submarine is a multi-role platform. It can
conduct both overt and covert operations. In peacetime it can act as a
deterrent as well as for surveillance operations and information gathering. In wartime a submarine can carry out a number of missions
including surveillance and information gathering, communication of data,
landing of special operations forces, attack of land targets, protection of
task forces and merchant shipping and denial of sea areas to an enemy.
It has been thirty-five years since INS Khukri sank in
the Arabian sea after being torpedoed by a
Pakistani submarine. Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla chose to go down with his
ship. Indian Submarine arm has since then come a long way. The pioneers of the
Indian Submarine Arm underwent training in the UK
and in the USSR.
When our Navy set up its own Submarine Arm, it was natural that they should
start about choosing a badge for the new elite force. Out of a large number of
proposals a design was finally chosen that depicted two dolphins with the State
emblem, the Ashoka Lions in the middle. It is that worn by all submariners,
irrespective of rank.
The day of the inception of the Indian Navy's
Submarine Arm dawned cold and blustery on 8th December 1967, in Riga, USSR.
There was a freezing northerly wind and the mercury stood at – 15 degrees
Celsius. INS Kalvari entered her homeport of Visakhapatnam for the first time on 6th July
1968. She was received with great fanfare and the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral AK Chatterjee
came down to Visakhapatnam
to receive her. The then Flag Officer East Coast, Rear Admiral KR Nair, had the
distinction of becoming the Navy's first Submarine Operating Authority. And
four decades later we have a highly potent submarine arm which spearheads the
navy and is a force to reckon.
