HOW TO CLEAN A SUBMARINE

Join Lochie Daddo, Fleet Manager Phil McKendrick and Fleet Hull Surveyor Warwick Thomson as they take former Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Onslow away from its home at the Australian National Maritime Museum and out into a Sydney Harbour dry-dock for a spit and polish.
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Australian National Maritime Museum
Australians are closely linked to the sea through commerce, defence, exploration, adventure, sport and play. Our oceans and waterways have influenced our development, and who we are. The museum captures these themes with fascinating artifacts, lively exhibitions, exhibition programs, fun activities, and even the chance to board ships and experience life on the water.
www.anmm.gov.au
HMAS Onslow, Oberon class submarine (1968) is on permanent display at the Australian National Maritime Museum wharves, Darling Harbour Sydney. Come aboard!
www.anmm.gov.au/site/page.cfm?...
Thales Dockyard
www.thalesgroup.com.au
Video Transcript
Hi, I'm Lochie Daddo for the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Now I don't know about you but I've often thought there's got to be an easier way to clean my SAAB. It just takes the kids too long on a weekend. So I thought I'd come and have chat to the experts and I'm with Phil McKendrick the Fleet Manager at the National Maritime Museum. He's in charge of 14 vessels here including this, the HMAS Onslow. How often do you have to go through the process of cleaning them?
Well the process of cleaning's done every three years. It's taken over to the dockyard and docked, and given a clean and a spruce up.
Phil, so how do we know when a sub is substandard?
That's very good, that's a very question so we do inspections on the hull of the submarine. We have marine divers in the museum and that's how we know it's substandard.
But it's not like the subs out and about so why is it necessary?
No that's true. It is good food for the fish but it tends to, the marine growth breaks down the coating, the paint scheme, on the bottom of the ship and it can cause rust and corrosion.
So tell us, what's going to happen?
We're now in transit to go to Thales at Garden Island, and we'll take it into the outer Captain Cook Dry Dock and then we'll dock down the submarine on the blocks, empty out the dock, pump out the water and then we'll start to hydro blast the underwater side of the vessel. So really you can only see so much from the water but once it's dry you'll be able to see a lot of the growth and that will determine how long it'll take but possibly two to three days.
From a carwash point of view I pay $2 for two minutes to spray down my car. What are we paying for this sort of project?
Well you could probably multiply that by a couple of thousand I think. The price to dock it down and get the hydro blast done is $120,000. Well here we are at Thales Dockyard, Garden Island and the submarine now sitting on the blocks in the outer Captain Dock. And now we're in the process of cleaning the submarine. They've got high pressure water blasters and they run at about 3,000 to 5,000 PSI but it really depends on the extent of the marine growth on the vessel at what pressure they set. So they've got to set those machines up to remove the marine growth and the rust on the vessels hull. Well what happens is the marine growth breaks down the paint scheme on the steel hull and that can cause corrosion and also breach the watertight integrity of the vessel. So it's very important that these are done every three to four years to protect the vessel's steel hull. Well it's not typically like your car, it takes two days to clean the hull of the vessel and then over the next 10 days we'll be doing the survey of the submarine's hull with our Fleet Surveyor Warwick Thomson.
We need to know firstly how our antifoul paint systems work and what problems there are so that we can have good interaction with the paint manufacturer to solve any problems.
We use the paint that the navy use on their submarines but its stealth black so you can't see me and that's what the submarine's all about, not to be detected. But it's an international paint but it's a navy paint scheme so we follow the guidelines that the navy use on their submarines that are in commission today.
Well that was a blast. Okay so let's have a look at what's involved. Always get a scuba diver to check the hull condition. Make sure your sub is ready for the open water. Get it to a dry dock then make sure, now this is important, make sure you blast the gunk while it's still wet otherwise you'll never get it off, and finally have an open cheque book. This is not a cheap process. Really it makes washing the car on the weekend a walk in the park, doesn't it?

[@petergiles80]

This is good, good to see a Daddo delivering.

[@extra90marge]

it might not comes in handy when will wash my car but it always good to know more.

[@Sparrowabce]

many, many thanks for sharing this. I have never expected that clip about washing submarine can be as much interesting!

[@OrangeDevil12]

Another really good video from Australian National Maritime Museum!

[@JaneMontyXX]

As I am quite interested in submarines (especially Germans U-Boots) i was quite intrigued if this kind of processes. Many Many Thanks for this.

[@MaritimeMuseum]

Hey there, Andy, thanks for your message. Thanks to Lindsey (our Navy curator) we have an answer for you:The Royal Australian Navy currently has six Collins class submarines in operation; for museum vessels, the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle has HMAS Ovens, we have HMAS Onslow here in Darling Harbour, and the Holbrook Submarine Museum in NSW has most of HMAS Otway (the fin, outer hull and stern); HMAS Otama is in Victoria awaiting funding for restoration and display. cheers

[@MaritimeMuseum]

Hi there, thanks for your comment - a very good question. According to Lindsey (our maritime technology & Navy curator) an Oberon class submarine (similar to our Onslow) was put up on eBay for $1million a few years ago - didn’t sell but it’s the only one on the market. Hope that gives you a bit of a ball park figure anyway.

[@ThomasCraver12]

thanks for this info! 180 million is way more I have expected!

[@roycejenkinson3132]

My dad use to work on all 6 of them

[@Laguna2013]

Can anyone please tell me the make and spec of the prime and paint used here? I need this level of toughness for my steel dock repair. Thank you!

[@AndyRobyn555]

how many submarines is in Australia right now?

[@ThomasCraver12]

120 000 thousands??! wow, that is really alot. can ya tell me how much this kind of submarine could cost?

[@AdstarAPAD]

Have they ever considered pulling her out of the water and placing her on stands for display rather then putting her back into sea water?

[@ProudToWearAMurkin]

PUNS