Indian Naval Ship Shishumar (S44) , The First of the Shishumar class submarines, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 22 Sep 1986. The submarine has a displacement of 1,800 tonnes, a length of 64 mtrs, beam of 6.5 mtrs and manned by a crew of 15 officers & 55 sailors.
The submarine is equipped with an array of weapons & sensors, which enables her to participate in various fleet, tactical & theatre level exercises. ‘Shishumar’ has been named after a local species of Bottlenose Dolphin.
The boats of the Shishumar-class taken into service became lead-ship INS Shishumar (S44), INS Shankush (S45), INS Shalki (S46), and INS Shankul (S47). The first two boats were built in Germany by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (of Kiel) with the last two built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd shipyard in India (these from premade components delivered from Germany). All remain in active service as of this writing (January 2019) and homeport out of Mumbai.
Aboard is a crew complement of forty that includes eight officers (the entire crew can escape via the integrated emergency escape sphere – which is pressure rated to the exact specifications as the hull proper, holds an 8-hour oxygen supply, and its own communications system). Armament is 8 x 533mm (21″) torpedo tubes at the bow and carries six to fourteen reloads (from the German wire-guided, active-passive AEG-SUT Mod 1 torpedo family). An external mine-carrying/dispensing capability is also built-in (a standard of the German boat design series). Up to 24 naval mines can be hauled in a single sortie.
Its design is largely standard and conventional for the period. The hull is well-contoured as expected and the sail sits at midships. The tailplane arrangement is of a basic cruciform pattern with the propeller unit extended out beyond the planes. The dive planes are positioned on the hull as opposed to the sail. A single, central bulkhead is used internally.
The crest design depicts a Bottlenose Dolphin swimming in the deep sea depicted in Blue colour. The submarine proudly lives up to her motto ‘Determined to Win’.
JaiHind!
