A Dutch tug has taken part in a special towage operation of the decommissioned submarine ‘Walrus’ class namesake from the Royal Netherlands Naval Base in Den Helder to Amsterdam for dismantling, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The tug Ems Warrior, operated by Amasus Shipping of Delfzijl, Groningen, was in a convoy that passed off the coast of IJmuiden (a ferry port for Amsterdam) and is seen above with the non-nuclear-powered submarine mounted on the barge.
HNLMS Walrus (2,650 tonnes submerged) which visited Ireland (see below) was an attack-reconnaissance submarine built by the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij (Rotterdam Dry Dock Co.) for the Dutch Navy as the first of its class. It measured 68m long and draw a draft of 7.5m.
However, during construction in 1979, a serious fire broke out, causing its delay until work to repair and resume building eventually led to the commissioning into service that finally took place in 1992.
HNLMS Walrus was the leadship of a quartet of the class of stealth-design submarines to make it more difficult to be detected by ships, aircraft, or other submarines when deep under the ocean waves. It was equipped with almost 40 torpedoes, and they were regarded as among the most sophisticated non-nuclear submarines in the world.
They were the only submarines of the Dutch Navy but played a pivotal role in operations and had responsibility for patrolling their territories in the Caribbean, where there are two naval bases in Curaçao north of Venezuela and, to the southeast, one in Aruba, also in the Dutch Antilles.
What also made the ‘Walrus’ class more unusual to other submarines is its stern design.
Instead of a conventional cross-shaped assembly of stern diving planes and rudders, the Walrus series had four combined rudders and diving planes in an "X" tail configuration (see photo above) from Afloat's coverage during a visit to Dublin Port. The call was part of a NATO flotilla that took place over a decade ago.
Afloat again reported the visit in 2018 of HNLMS Walrus's courtesy call to Cork Harbour by navigating Lough Mahon before reaching the city’s central quays.
The submarine which had a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h), was achieved when surfaced, and submerged was reported to be 20 knots (37 km/h).
The former submarine, at almost 25 years old, is now to be dismantled, marking another chapter for the Dutch navy, which is the oldest of the 4 services of the Netherlands armed forces.
