HMAS Farncomb (SSG 74) - Operational History

Operational History

In May 1997, two groups of six female sailors were posted to Collins and Farncomb as a test on the feasibility of mixed-sex crews aboard submarines. Following the trial's success, eleven female sailors and one female officer commenced training for the submarine service in 1998.

In 1998, while returning from Timor, all three of Farncomb's diesel generators broke down. The submarine limped to Darwin, where she waited several weeks for replacement parts to be organised and transported.

As part of combat system trials, Farncomb fired a live Mark 48 Mod 4 torpedo at HMAS Torrens on 14 June 1999, sinking the decommissioned destroyer escort.

On 19 March 2007, during a five-month intelligence-gathering mission in Asian waters, fishing lines became entangled in Fancomb’s propellor. The submarine surfaced in international waters during the calm night, and five sailors were out on the casing attempting to free the propellor when the weather suddenly worsened and the sailors were washed overboard. A rescue party, involving three volunteer swimmers was successful in retrieving the five sailors during a ninety-minute effort, and the submarine continued on without detection. The incident remained classified until August 2009, when the RAN nominated the three rescue swimmers for bravery decorations, the first submariners to be nominated since a 1981 incident aboard HMAS Onslow.

In 2008 and 2009, personnel shortages reduced the number of submarines able to be deployed to three, with the maintenance schedule and battery malfunctions on several boats combining to reduce this to one, Farncomb in mid-2009.

On the morning of 13 March 2009, Farncomb was one of seventeen warships involved in a ceremonial fleet entry and fleet review in Sydney Harbour, the largest collection of RAN ships since the Australian Bicentenary in 1988. The submarine did not participate in the fleet entry, but was anchored in the harbour for the review.

In January 2010, Farncomb was forced to return to port for urgent repairs after a generator failure. This left sister boat Waller as the only fully operational submarine, with Collins on restricted duties, and the other four submarines undergoing repairs or maintenance.

Farncomb was deployed to Hawaii to participate in the 2012 Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational exercise. On 24 July, the submarine fired a Mark 48 torpedo at the former ammunition ship USNS Kilauea, breaking the ship in two and sinking her. A few days later, a hose in the submarine's weight compensation system split while the boat was recharging her batteries, causing flooding. Farncomb surfaced from periscope depth without major incident and sailed to Pearl Harbor for repairs.