SHISHUMAR (HDW 209) CLASS

Vessel Type: Submarine, Type 1500.
Names & Pennant Numbers with commission dates:
INS Shishumar S44 (22 September 1986) - Refit Complete
INS Shankush S45 (20 November 1986)
INS Shalki S46 (07 February 1992)
INS Shankul S47 (28 May 1994) - Refit Complete
Structure: The Shishumar Class have a central bulkhead and an IKL designed integrated escape sphere which can carry the full crew of 40 personnel, has an oxygen supply of 8 hours and can withstand pressure at least as great as those that can be withstood by the submarine's pressure hull.
Displacement: Surfaced; 1450 tons.
....................Dived; 1850 tons.
Dimensions: Length - 64.4 metres.
.................Beam - 6.5 metres.
.................Draught - 6 metres.
Diving Depth: 260 meters (853 feet)
Main Machinery: Four diesel-electric 2400 hp motors, one Siemens 4600 hp motor, four Siemens 1.8 MW alternators and one shaft.
Maximum Speed: Surfaced; 11 knots.
.......................Dived; 22 knots.
Maximum Range: 8000 miles at 8 knots. snorting
......................13,000 miles at 10 knots. surfaced.
Complement: 40 (incl. 8 Officers).
Radar: Surface; One Thomson-CSF Calypso radar at I-band frequency.
Sonar: One Atlas Elektronic CSU-83; active/passive search & attack with medium frequency. Also fitted with a Thomson Sintra DUUX-5 with passive ranging & intercept. Six Thomson-CSF Eldone TSM 2272 sonars were purchased from France in the 1990s and they could be installed onboard the Shishumar Class submarines, during their mid-life refits.
Weapons: Has eight 21" torpedo tubes which can fire the AEG-SUT Mod-1 wire-guided, active/passive homing torpedo, with a 250 kg warhead weight, at 15.3n miles; 28 km at 23 knots. The Type 1500 carries 14 torpedoes in total. Can carry 24 mines as an external strap-on type.
Weapons Control: Singer Librascope Mk.1
Countermeasures: ESM; Argo Phoenix II AR 700.
.........................Kollmorgen Sea Sentry.
Comments: After several years of discussion with Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG Kiel, the Indian Navy came to an agreement on 11 December 1981. This was in four basic parts;
1) The building in West Germany of two HDW 209 Class subs.
2) The supply of packages for building of two more at Mazagon DY.
3) Training of various groups of specialists for the design & construction of last the two submarines.
4) Provide logistics services during the trials and commissioning as well as consultation services in Bombay.
The first two submarines sailed for India in February 1987, while the last two were delayed by assembly problems caused by faulty welding. In 1984 it was announced that two more submarines would be built at the Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) in Mumbai, but this was overtaken by events in 1987-88 and the agreement with HDW was terminated at just four submarines. This was reconsidered in 1992 and again in 1997, but no orders were placed. It was reported that INS Shishumar suffered some minor damage, in early October 2003 off Goa, when it hit an underwater object.
The then-incumbent Defence Minister - George Fernandes - in a Parliamentary session on 22 November 2001, stated that equipment & spares of various supplies of American origin for the submarines was expected to arrive in the coming months and the target set for completion of the project is August 2002. Press reports state that the equipment and spares are fire control systems, radar warning systems and other related equipment worth $50 million. Captain S V Nair (Retd.), the then-incumbent Chairman & Managing Director of Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL), in an interview which appeared in a July/August 2000 issue of Business India, stated that INS Shishumar completed a mid-life refit at MDL in Mumbai and that INS Shankul was undergoing a similar refit.
Jane's Foreign Report [February 2005 issue] quoted a July 2004 report from India's Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG), which said that a Shishumar Class submarine had been non-operational since 2000, due to improper planning in the refit & modernisation process and would continue to do so till the end of 2005. The boat was most likely INS Shankul, as Captain S V Nair indicated that this particular submarine was undergoing a mid-life refit back in 2000. INS Shankul was back in service as of 2006, as she participated in the joint US & Indian Navy exercise - Malabar '06. Not much is known about these refits, other than the 'possible' installation of the Thomson-CSF TSM 2272 sonar. Also, there have been no official press communiqués if INS Shankush or INS Shalki will be undergoing similar refits. While the details of these refits would be interesting to document, Vice Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi - currently the FOC-in-C Southern Naval Command - once said, "...the Navies of the world do not talk about their submarines."
The United News of India (UNI) reported on 06 September 2004, that Siemens of Germany has offered the Indian Navy an upgrade for the Shishumar Class submarines, which will involve the installation of an Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) system. Siemens has developed the PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) fuel cell modules which generate energy by converting hydrogen and oxygen into electricity. Dr Albert Hammerschmidt, Siemen's Director of PEM Fuel Cells for Submarines, stated that fuel cells are small, silent, produce only little heat, generate no exhaust gases and are highly efficient. He also mentioned that they have no moving parts, are practically maintenance-free and that they meet all military requirements for submarines with regard to magnetic behaviour, acoustic properties, and stray fields. Siemens Sales Manager, Richard Schmitzer, and Dr Hammerschmidt also mentioned that installing the AIP system will improve a submarine's functioning, by making less noise, have a lower magnetic and thermal signature, have lesser tell-tale emissions and can stay submerged longer.
Naval insiders feel that the four Shishumar Class submarines will approach the end of their combat life between 2016 and 2024, and thus the time is ripe to think about an upgrade. Talking about the upgrade process, Mr Schmitzer said it will involve cutting open the submarine, inserting the fuel cell module and then welding it back again and re-establishing all connections. Siemens has already carried out the upgrade of five HDW 209 Class submarines for the Greek Navy. The technology finds place in the U212 and U214 classes of submarines, being built by HDW, which are or shortly will be in service of German, Italian, Greek and South Korean navies. However, the Indian Navy is concerned with some aspects of design of this new technology, specially the storage of hydrogen (the raw fuel in the process) ashore. Navy sources state that while the submarine is at sea, there are no problems. But there are concerns about the storage of hydrogen, which is extremely flammable, on shore. According to the Siemens design, the hydrogen and the oxygen tanks are on opposite sides to reduce danger of an accident.