Farewell HMS Gotland, We Don't Need Ya Anymore

The departure of HMS Gotland in July ended the two year lease of the submarine. Several observers were disappointed to see HMS Gotland go, but not this one. The HMS Gotland has been only 1 piece of a larger 6 year old program called the Diesel Electric Submarine Initiative (DESI), a program few non submariners know much about. While HMS Gotland has captured all of the headlines over the last few years, DESI has been very active behind the scenes.

Last month the Brazilian submarine Tikuna (S 34) visited Mayport during its first deployment to a foreign country Aug. 3-13. Deployed in May, the submarine recently completed its exercises with the US Navy and is expected to return to Brazil in October.

Units from Canada, England, France and Peru worked together with Tikuna and the U.S. Navy to train in anti-submarine warfare. Tikuna participated in the following exercises: Composite Training Unit Exercise; Antisubmarine Warfare Exercise; and joint-service Exercise Valiant Shield 2007, which included Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower Strike Groups, along with British carrier HMS Illustrious (R06).

The unit from Puru mentioned in the article the submarine Chipana (SS 34), a Type 209 German-made diesel-electric submarine. The Chipana (SS 34) deployed in April for SUBDIEX 07, and is scheduled to return home on September 30th.

During SUBDIEX, Chipana, homeported Callao, Peru, will train in anti-submarine warfare with U.S. ships off the coast of Mayport and Norfolk. This is the 6th annual SUBDIEX, which started in 2002.

“This exercise is very important to Peru; we have the chance to work with the U.S. Navy, the most important and powerful Navy in the world. This is an excellent opportunity to train and improve the level of operation for both of our countries,” said Chipana’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Alessandro Mogni.

Chilean Type 209 CS Simpson (SS 21) arrived in San Diego last week to begin exercises in the Pacific until November.

“DESI brings South American submarines to train with our strike groups,” said Cmdr. Dan Bacon, Jr., anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training officer at Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet. “Their abilities, tactics and capabilities allow our strike groups to test and enhance our ASW aptitude.”

During their three-month deployment to North America, Simpson will conduct training with Tarawa and Abraham Lincoln Strike Groups as they continue to make preparations for future operations and deployments.

I for one think this is a much better way to run the program than the lease of the HMS Gotland, because while the Gotland is a fine submarines with a fine crew (I can verify that btw, I drank with them last year), increasing partnership with South American nations through ASW training is a smarter way to go. Partnership trumps contracting every time.

Also noteworthy, Chile the Type 209s for Chile and Peru were commissioned in the 80s, the submarines for Canada and Brazil have only been added into service since the Gotland lease for the most part. For the South American Navies the US Navy offers a unique training capability that many nations simply don't have easy access to due to distance. In many ways this is a major win in training for both participants.

Hat Tip: Bubblehead