HMAS Collins (SSG 73) - Construction

Construction

Collins was laid down in February 1990. The two most complex sections of the first submarine were constructed by Kockums' shipyard in Malmo, Sweden, while the other four sections and complete assembly of the submarine occurred at Australian Submarine Corporation's facility in Port Adelaide, South Australia. It was originally planned to construct the first submarine completely overseas, but by the time the tender was awarded, it had been decided to build all six submarines in Australia; the increase in cost by not building the lead ship in the winning designer's home shipyard were believed to be offset by the additional experience provided to Australian industries.

While the bow section of the first boat was being assembled in Sweden, multiple defects in the hull welding were discovered. Different reasons were given by different parties for the problems: the steel alloy used for the hull required different welding techniques to those normally used by Kockums; the Swedish navy always requested partial penetration welds for their submarines, while the RAN wanted full penetration welding but failed to make this clear; delays in delivering the steel plates to Kockums resulted in rushing the work and the resulting drop in quality. It was proposed that the section be kept by Kockums to repair the welds, but it was decided to accept the section as-is and repair the welds at ASC to minimise delays in the project.

The launch of Collins was originally planned for 1994, but was later set for August 1993. The submarine was launched by shiplift on 28 August 1993. Although launched on schedule, she was not complete: the design of the submarine had not been finalised, important internal pipes and fittings had not been installed, the components of the combat system had not been delivered, and some sections of 'hull' were sheets of timber painted black so the submarine would appear complete in photographs of the launching ceremony. Within weeks of the launch, the boat was removed from the water, and it was not until June 1994 that she was completed. Work on the other submarines in the class was delayed by the extra effort put in for Collins to meet her launching date, and by the subsequent work to complete her. The submarines are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar: Collins was retrofitted with the tiles after the standard sonar signature of the submarine had been established, while the other five boats were covered during construction.

Collins was named for Vice Admiral Sir John Augustine Collins; famous for commanding HMAS Sydney during her Mediterranean deployment in 1940—41, and becoming the first Australian to command a naval squadron in 1944.