HMAS Waller's 2014 Electrical Fire Incident
Australian Defence Magazine (ADM), August 26, 2021, reports an earlier, 2014 electrical fire on Australia's Collins-class submarine HMAS Waller:
"In February 2014 a fire broke out in a starting resistor cabinet
for Waller’s main propulsion motor in the aft compartment of the 3,407 tonne
submarine while surfaced off the West Australian coast.
The fire was smothered by an emergency fire suppression system but four crew were evacuated by helicopter after inhaling halon gas from the suppression system.
Repairs were carried out in conjunction with a scheduled major docking which was advanced by several months, and the submarine was out of service for about two years."
Pete Comment/Questions
Did the major 2014 fire incident weaken or damage Waller's electricals increasing Waller's vulnerability to the second (2021 flood) impact on Waller's electricals? Put another way - did the 2014 fire make the 2021 fire more likely?
------------------
HMAS Waller's 2021 Electrical Flood then Fire Incident
Andrew Tillett for Australia's Financial Review, has written an excellent article dated April 6, 2021. Here is part:
"New doubts over ageing submarines after floods, fire onboard"
"One of the Navy’s ageing Collins class submarines flooded twice in the weeks leading up to an electrical fire on board that has taken it out of action for months.
In response to [the Australian Labor Party's] questions on notice asked at Senate estimates, the Defence Department revealed HMAS Waller will return to service in September after undergoing extensive repairs following the fire on April 8, [2021] when it was docked at Perth’s naval base.
Defence said the the fire was caused by a flash-over of an electrical motor in what it described as an auxiliary machinery space.
While the fire was extinguished, it reignited several hours later before finally being put out. The air compressor motor and damaged electrical cables needed to be replaced.
“The root cause of the electrical fault, leading to the flash-over, is still under investigation,” Defence said.
But the department also revealed there had been two floods on board HMAS Waller in March.
In the first incident on March 22, HMAS Waller was surfaced off the West Australian coast when water flowed into the submarine through the conning tower hatch.
“All procedures and safety systems operated correctly. However, this water ingress caused numerous electric failures that required the submarine to return to Fleet Base West for repairs,” Defence said.
“The water ingress was caused by the combination of a large sea and swell allowing a wave to enter down an open hatch. This happened during a surfaced training activity being conducted at night.”
‘Sketchy details’
Four days later, during a diving exercise, a seawater pump failed, resulting in some flooding of the bilge.
“All procedures and safety systems operated correctly [Pete comment: except for the seawater pump failing?] and the submarine returned to the surface,” Defence said.
The department said procedural changes had been made to ensure training was conducted during appropriate weather conditions..."
SEE THE WHOLE EXCELLENT FINANCIAL REVIEW ARTICLE HERE
--------------
Waller is due to return to service in September 2021.
If “All procedures and safety systems operated correctly” is correct, something is wrong with procedures and safety systems. Then, they should be fully reviewed.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous
ReplyDeleteYes. The snappy answer (maybe from an Admiral to the Senate Committee) is patently incorrect if the pump didn't pump out the water fast enough or at all. The water then causing sufficient damage to the electricals to cause a fire.
Also the post-flood inspection procedures of damage to the electricals might well have been insufficient?
Regards
Pete
"water in the conning tower hatch".
ReplyDeleteI can remember a couple of times we actually had everyone clear the bridge and close the hatch due to big water. Kind of scary transiting on the surface near some islands with only the periscope manned.
Seem to remember I was puking my guts out praying the boat would dive, but that was a long time ago, and memories are fuzzy. Nukes usually stayed deep enough to preclude revisiting the last meal you ate on a regular basis.
It sounds like the crew has it's hands full keeping that old hull viable.
We made it 30 years on the Seawolf, and the last 10 were challenging enough. Gear wears out, and old gear is damned near irreplaceable, since many/most of the manufacturers went out of business, or at a minimum quit making those components we usually desperately needed to get underway. Got good at making do with odds and ends of stuff laying around
@pete
ReplyDeleteIf the Express is correct, the PRC deployed three out of six Type 93 SSNs to shadow the Queen Elizabeth CSG, after it crossed the Palawan Straits.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1473924/china-news-britain-aircraft-carier-south-china-sea-pacific-ocean-royal-navy
The article states that all three submarines were tracked, by the CSG’s Type 23 frigates and Astute-class SSN escort (which if true would scare the whey out of any Opfor SSN captain), so I guess the CSG got some useful practise before reaching Guam, where they’re going to take part in anti-submarine exercises.
The waters around Guam aren’t very safe for lurking PRC or Russian submarines, as there’s a big underwater range that’s probably wired for sound. The Singapore Navy and Air Force just did Ex Pacific Griffin with the USN in Guam in July, and got some valuable ASW training,
https://www.naval-technology.com/news/singapore-us-navies-conduct-bilateral-exercise-pacific-griffin/
But it's all OK now - we only have to use the boats "during appropriate weather conditions."
ReplyDeleteThanks Shawn C
ReplyDeleteA very significant happening in the sub-osphere and overall.
Regards
Pete
Hi bothenook [at Aug 9, 2021, 3:10:00 AM]
ReplyDeleteAgree. If a much higher sub's sail, on a US SSN, can score water down the hatch, then water is even more likely to find its way into the hatch on the lower sail of a Collins SSK.
True that much of the no longer produced equipment for the only 6 Collins class ever built will cause problems obtaining spares. I'd say one of the 6 Collins (probably HMAS Collins itself) will be decommissioned early to be a cannibalised source of spares.
Then only having 5 usable Collins will remain availability, spare and repair problems through to about 2037.
Regards
Pete
Hi Anonymous [at Aug 9, 2021, 9:12:00 AM]
ReplyDeleteIf HMAS Waller's seawater expulsion pump was working then water down the hatch in heavy seas could have been pumped out.
But the poor pump may be out of production - so was left broken?
Hi Pete,
ReplyDeleteIs't not better to do a MLU of the Collins class than using one as spare parts? Do as Saab Kockums did with the Gotland class cut it in two and remove all old stuff.
/Kjell
Hi /Kjell
ReplyDeleteSHORT ANSWER
Doing a Gotland-like Mid-Life Update (MLU) including replacing the Hedemora diesels with MTUS would make good sense.
LONG ANSWER
Politics trumps good sense.
A MLU for the Collins is supposed to have been Australian Government policy since 2017. Aus calls it the Life of Type Extension (LOTE).
Much depends on convincing South Australian (SA) voters this side of the next Federal Election (ie. by May 2022) that the LOTE (costing around US$12 Billion) will be done in Adelaide's, Osborne, SA, shipyard.
But the Henderson shipyard in southern Perth, Western Australia (WA) also wants to do the LOTE work.
But the Federal Government realises both SA and WA are swing voting states in the comming Election. Their voting results may determine whether the Morrison Government survives the Election.
So decisions regarding doing the LOTE in SA or WA or just a partial LOTE (maybe just the combat system) are being kept vague and secret until
AFTER the ruling Morrison Government wins votes from SA and WA in the by-May 2022 Election.
Regards
Pete
Hi Pete,
ReplyDeleteMaybe this post is the place for this off topic input.
Maybe the FMV sponsored Master of Science Thesis A Conceptual Design of a Reliable Hard Docking System
Docking of an autonomous underwater vehicle to
the new generation A26 submarine can be of interest, and it's in English.
"Abstract
In year 2024 and 2025 the Royal Swedish Navy is expected to launch two new submarines with new possibilities to dock underwater vehicles. The submarines are part of the new Blekinge Class (A26) and will aid the Swedish Armed Forces and the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) in their aim to develop and use more autonomous systems, to increase staff efficiency and to face the technological challenges of tomorrow.
This thesis was carried out at FMV, with the purpose of investigating the physical requirements put on the new submarines, when docking an autonomous underwater vehicle. These requirements were identified through an analysis of qualitative and quantitative research. The analysis resulted in ten key insights, which led to thirteen requirements.
The requirements were combined with project specific data of the AUV62 system and A26 submarine, to develop three conceptual designs of hard docking systems. The concepts were verified through analysis of material, stress and deflection, and geometric constraints.
The concepts were evaluated based on how well they were fulfilling each requirement. A hammock-alike concept was shown to have most potential in being the most reliable hard docking system. The thesis ended with concluding that its purpose had been fulfilled, followed with recommendations for continued work."
/Kjell