Tag Archives: HMS Saga

The Ghosts of Da Gama off Greenland

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We’ve covered the hectic op-tempo of the Portuguese Navy’s submarine force a few times in recent years. Their pair of very modern fuel cell AIP variants of the German Type 209PN/Type 214PNs, including NRP Tridente (S160) and NRP Arpão (S161), in particular, have been clocking in around the globe, with the latter accomplishing a 120-day patrol last year that included transiting the length of the African continent, while completely submerged, in just 15 days.

Well, Arpão, just left Portugal on 3 April for another 70-day stint as part of NATO’s Operation Brilliant Shield, with her first stop being the frigid waters of the Davis Strait off Greenland where she will be the first submarine of the Marinha Portuguesa to navigate under the Arctic ice, where she will be in operations with the militaries of Canada, Denmark, and the U.S.

After lengthy practice dives, she made a port call at Gl.atlantkaj, Godthab, Greenland on 26 April.

Danish Arktisk Kommando (Joint Arctic Command) has said in a statement that the 1,800-ton Knud Rasmussen class patrol vessel HDMS Ejnar Mikkelsen (P571) acted as her support ship. She may also be an OPFOR, as the little vessel carries what has been described as a “mine-avoidance sonar” and has a fit for possible MU90 Impact ASW torpedoes.

Mikkelsen has also been hosting a Danish Navy MH-60R Seahawk helicopter of 723 Sqn off and on.

Meanwhile, in the nearby Faeroes Islands, NATO exercise Dynamic Mongoose is going on with 10 ships, 5 submarines and 9 aircraft, including the Danish 3,500-ton Thetis class OPV HDMS Hvidbjørnen (F360)-– with a SaabTech CTS-36 hull-mounted active sonar and towed Thomson Sintra TSM 2640 Salmon variable depth passive sonar– as well as the Faroese Fisheries Patrol (Fiskimanlastyrid) vessel Brimil out of Torshaven.

The Thetis-class’s Thomson Sintra TSM 2640 Salmon variable depth sonar fit

This comes as the Danish parliament has proposed a defense update that will include plans to put more Mark 54 ASW torpedoes on more platforms (which they have fielded since 2018) and call up 5,000 conscripts a year from 2026 (including women), up from the current 4,700, on six-to-nine-month tours.

Portugal’s sub force getting it done

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The modern Tridente-class submarine, a unique fuel cell AIP variant of the German Type 209PN/Type 214PN, has been in operation since 2010 with the Portuguese Navy. While three were envisioned, just two were completed– NRP Tridente (S160) and NRP Arpão (S161).

Tridente-class submarine of the Portuguese navy

The country has made good use of these in recent deployments and in bird-dogging passing Russian warships. Speaking to the former, Arpão in August wrapped up a 120-day patrol as part of the Open Sea Initiative 23.2, in the South Atlantic, which contributed to strengthening military and diplomatic relations between Portugal and each of the countries visited — Cape Verde, Brazil, South Africa, Angola, and Morocco– having traveled more than 13,000 miles and spent over 2,500 hours underway.

She reportedly covered the length of the African continent submerged in 15 days.

Arpão (FrigCapt. Taveira Pinto) arrived in Lisbon in August after her deployment which made her the first Portuguese submarine to carry out an equator-crossing mission.

Interestingly, her 35-member crew is co-ed.

You have to love Arpão’s patch. Of note, Arpão means “Harpoon”

Turning around just 60 days later, Arpão has deployed again, this time to the Med as part of NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian, on a patrol that will run into December and include taking part in Dynamic Mariner 23.

She is a good-looking boat for sure.

Portuguese Sub Heritage

As noted in this week’s Warship Wednesday, in 1914 Portugal had a single submarine to its name, a small Fiat-designed La Spezia-built boat, dubbed Espadarte (Swordfish). Ordered in 1910, this 148-foot/300-ton diesel-electric boat would remain in service until 1930.

Espadarte, seen here in Lisbon, was the first sub in the Marinha Portuguesa)

NRP Espadarte, the first Portuguese submarine delivered to the Navy, on April 15, 1913

She was very active, if nothing else providing an OPFOR for the fleet. 

ASW training between destroyer NRP Guadiana and submarine NRP Espadarte Portugal 1915

To replace their well-worn little Italian boat and expand their force, Portugal ordered a pair of modified Squalo class boats from C.R.D.A in Trieste in 1931. However, Mussolini ordered them seized on the ways in 1935 and pressed into service as the Glauco class off Spain, where the Italian “pirate submarine” fleet was very active.

To replace the undelivered Italian boats, Portugal turned to Vickers in Britain for a pair of 227-foot/1,000 ton boats that could carry a dozen torpedos and have a 5,000nm endurance while carrying a very English 4-inch gun in a streamlined semi-turret forward of the sail. All three– Delfim, Espadarte, and Golfinho were delivered in May 1934 and remained active through WWII.

The Vickers built Delfim class, as described in the 1946 ed of Jane’s

Class leader Delfim. Note the “D” on her fairwater as a designator. Logically, Golfinho carried a “G” while Espadarte had an “E”. The forward streamlined QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XII deck gun mount was similar to that seen on the RN’s O-class and, on a smaller scale, to the four-gunned experimental HMS X-1 cruiser submarine of the same era. 

To replace the Vickers boats, Portugal managed to pick up a trio of WWII surplus British 217-foot/990-ton S-class boats in 1948: HMS Spur/NRP Narval (S160), HMS Saga/NRP Náutilo (S161), and HMS Spearhead/NRP Neptuno (S162).

These remained in service into the late 1960s.

British RN S-class submarine HMS Spearhead, as NRP Neptuno (S162) in Portugal service 1950s

Then, in 1967, Portugal ordered a four-pack of French Daphné type SSKs that entered service as the Albacora-class by the end of the decade.

While one– NRP Cachalote (S165)— was sold to Pakistan after the Carnation Revolution and the military fell out of favor, the other three (Albacora S163, Barracuda S164, and Delfim S166) would be retained into the 2000s, replaced by the current German boats.

NRP Barracuda was NATO’s oldest active submarine when she was decommissioned in 2010. Laid down by the Dubigeon Shipyards of France in 1967, she is preserved as a museum ship in Portugal.