Máni-class submarine

Máni-class submarine

GCNS Thor underway in 2005
Class overview
Name:	Máni-class submarine
Builders:	Yanmei Shipyard Co.
Operators:	Huliean People's Liberation Army Naval Force Grand Chilokveri Navy
Preceded by:	Jupiter class
Succeeded by:	Aries class
Cost:	¥83.18 billion Huliean yuan (FY1980)
Built:	1979–1988
In commission:	1983–2014
Planned:	7
Completed:	7
Retired:	7
Preserved:	1
General characteristics
Type:	Nuclear attack submarine
Displacement:	4,800 tonnes (surfaced) 5,300 tonnes (submerged)
Length:	85.4 m (280 ft 2 inches)
Beam:	9.8 m (32 ft 2 inches)
Draft:	9.5 m (31 ft 2 inches)
Installed power:	1 x Fushan Atomics SS4 nuclear reactor producing 15,000 shp (11 MW)
Propulsion:	1 shaft, pump-jet propulsor
Speed:	30 knots (56 km/h) submerged
Range:	Unlimited
Test depth:	400 m (1312 ft)
Crew:	130
Armament:	5 × 533 mm (21 inch) torpedo tubes with stowage for up to 30 weapons, including: (initially) Hammerhead heavyweight torpedoes US-180 Trident anti-ship missiles (post-2004) Tigershark heavyweight torpedoes US-660 Spear anti-ship missiles US-2500 Spear cruise missiles or up to 50 naval mines, including: Stonefish influence mines Stingray mobile mines Coneshell homing mines

The Máni class were a class of nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSN) in service with the Huliean People's Liberation Army Naval Force (HPLANF) and the Grand Chilokveri Navy (GCN). Essentially an improved variant of the preceding Jupiter class, the Mani class were the third generation of Huliean SSNs to be designed and constructed by Yanmei Shipyard. The first boat of the class, the Máni, was laid down in 1979 and launched in 1981. Altogether, the class comprised 7 submarines and remained in service for 31 years. Beginning in 2006, the class was replaced by the larger and more capable Aries class, which also replaced the Jupiter-class submarines.

In a slight break from previous SSNs, which were named after sets of gods from particular mythologies, the class were named after the deities from which the days of the week take their name, i.e. Máni for Monday, Tyr for Tuesday etc.

Design

General characteristics

As a refinement of the previous Jupiter-class submarine, the design of the Máni class is largely identical. The submarines feature an internal layout nearly identical to Jupiter class and have the same hull design notwithstanding a lengthening by 2.5 metres. Their overall length is 85.4 m (280 ft 2 inches), and their beam measures 9.8 m (32 ft 2 inches). The class has a surfaced displacement of 4,800 metric tonnes when surfaced, and a submerged displacement of 5,300 tonnes. Draft is 9.8 m (31 ft 2 inches). Máni-class submarines were crewed by a complement of 130 men.

Armament

The Máni class are armed with five 533 mm (21 inch) torpedo tubes, with stowage for up to 30 torpedoes or missiles. In line with its primary mission as a fast attack submarine, the majority of these weapons were homing torpedoes designed to sink other submarines or surface ships. Up until 2004, the Mani-class submarines fielded Hammerhead wire-guided heavyweight torpedoes, which were equipped with a 295 kg (650 lb) H6 warhead and had a range of 50 km (31 mi; 27 nmi) at 40 kn (74 km/h; 46 mph). Hammerhead torpedoes were also designed to use their own passive/active sensors for guidance and terminal homing. The Mani class also carried US-180 Trident cruise missiles for use against surface ships at long range (up to 140 km). According to the Grand Chilokveri Navy, the typical loadout was 25 Hammerhead torpedoes and 5 Tridents.

A submerged Máni-class submarine firing a US-2500 Spear missile.

Beginning in 2004, the class received upgraded weapons in the form of the new Tigershark heavyweight torpedoes and cruise missiles of Spear missile family. The Tigershark torpedoes replaced the Hammerhead as the mainstay sub-launched torpedo, with superior performance and reliability compared to the latter. In April 2004, the Thor became the first boat of the class to be fitted with the Spear missile. Two variants of the Spear missile armed the Máni class- the US-660 replaced the Trident in the sea-skimming anti-ship role, while the US-2500 added a secondary land attack capability to the class. The US-2500 missile has a maximum range of 2,500 km and a maximum speed of Mach 0.8. Similar to the Trident missiles, Spear missiles were also fired from the 533 mm torpedo tubes.

Alternatively, the class could be loaded with up to 50 naval mines in place of their typical loadouts of torpedoes and missiles. Such a minelayer loadout could include:

• Stonefish influence mines
• Stingray mobile mines
• Coneshell homing mines

Service history

Decommissioning and replacement

Initially, the Máni class were to be slated to be supplemented and predominantly replaced by the boats of the New SSN (NSSN) project, later named the Aries class. However, as a result of budget constraints following the end of the Parabellum period, it was decided that the submarine force would be downsized and the Mani class completely retired. The first vessel of the class, the Máni was decommissioned in September in 2006, with the Sól remaining in service until March 2014 as the last active vessel of the class. As a result, the Grand Chilokveri Navy now operates the 13 Aries-class submarines as its sole class of attack submarines.

Freya undergoing conversion into a MTS at the Seuimuhn Naval Complex.

Alone among her sister ships, the Freya was preserved from scrapping thanks to a decision to convert her into a moored training ship (MTS). Beginning immediately after her decommissioning in early 2011, she underwent a 32 month conversion program at the Seuimuhn Naval Complex. Her hull was cut into three sections, with the center being scrapped and replaced by three new sections manufactured by Yanmei Shipyards, before being rejoined. The additional room added by the new hull modules was used to accommodate training and office spaces, as well as an emergency reactor safeguard system. The modifications led to a length extension of the boat by 23 metres (75 ft 6 inches), and were completed by November of 2013. Freya is permanently moored at the Nuclear Power Training School in Fafo, Linglaai, where she joined the similarly converted nuclear ballistic missile submarine ex-GCNS Ask in training personnel in the operation and maintenance of nuclear submarines and their reactors.

Boats in class

Name	Hull No.	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Status
Máni	SSN-13	Yanmei Shipyard Co., Yanmei	25 April 1979	1 July 1981	27 May 1983	Decommissioned 10 September 2006, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Týr	SSN-14		8 May 1980	18 September 1982	1 October 1983	Decommissioned 15 January 2008, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Odin	SSN-15		24 July 1981	27 August 1983	21 July 1984	Decommissioned 14 December 2008, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Thor	SSN-16		10 November 1981	24 September 1983	6 July 1985	Decommissioned 2 November 2009, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Freya	SSN-17		1 April 1983	21 January 1984	19 January 1985	Decommissioned 4 February 2011, converted into Moored Training Ship
Saturn	SSN-18		28 March 1985	28 June 1986	11 July 1987	Decommissioned 25 June 2010, to be disposed of by submarine recycling
Sól	SSN-19		24 October 1986	12 November 1988	30 June 1990	Decommissioned 28 March 2014, to be disposed of by submarine recycling