HMAS Rankin (SSG 78)

HMAS Rankin underway in 2006
History
Australia
Name:	Rankin
Namesake:	Lieutenant Commander Robert Rankin
Builder:	Australian Submarine Corporation
Laid down:	12 May 1995
Launched:	7 November 2001
Acquired:	18 March 2003
Commissioned:	29 March 2003
Motto:	"Defend the Weak"
Nickname(s):	The Black Knight
Status:	Active as of 2016
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Collins-class submarine
Displacement:	3,051 tonnes (surfaced) 3,353 tonnes (submerged)
Length:	77.42 m (254.0 ft)
Beam:	7.8 m (26 ft)
Draught:	7 m (23 ft) at waterline
Installed power:	3 × Garden Island-Hedemora HV V18b/15Ub (VB210) 18-cylinder diesel motors, 3 × Jeumont-Schneider generators (1,400 kW, 440-volt DC)
Propulsion:	Main: 1 × Jeumont-Schneider DC motor (7,200 shp), driving 1 × seven-bladed, 4.22 m (13.8 ft) diameter skewback propeller Emergency: 1 × MacTaggart Scott DM 43006 retractable hydraulic motor
Speed:	10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) (surfaced and snorkel depth) 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) (submerged)
Range:	11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km; 13,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced) 9,000 nautical miles (17,000 km; 10,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (snorkel) 32.6 nautical miles (60.4 km; 37.5 mi) at 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) (submerged) 480 nautical miles (890 km; 550 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) (submerged)
Endurance:	70 days
Test depth:	Over 180 m (590 ft) (actual depth classified)
Complement:	Originally 42 (plus up to 12 trainees) Increased to 58 in 2009
Sensors and processing systems:	Radar: GEC-Marconi Type 1007 surface search radar Sonar: Thales Scylla bow and distributed sonar arrays Thales Karriwarra or Namara towed sonar array ArgoPhoenix AR-740-US intercept array Combat system: Modified Raytheon CCS Mk2
Armament:	6 × 21-inch (530 mm) bow torpedo tubes Payload: 22 torpedoes, mix of: Mark 48 Mod 7 CBASS torpedoes UGM-84C Sub-Harpoon anti-ship missiles Or: 44 Stonefish Mark III mines
Notes:	The sonars and combat system are in the process of being updated across the class, to be completed by 2010. These characteristics represent the updated equipment.

HMAS Rankin is the sixth and final submarine of the Collins class, which are operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named for Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin, the boat was laid down in 1995, and commissioned into the RAN in March 2003, following major delays.

Early in her career, Rankin was the subject of a documentary series and a coffee table book. She was the first submarine since 1987 to be awarded the Gloucester Cup.

Rankin was laid down by Australian Submarine Corporation on 12 May 1995. The boat was launched on 7 November 2001. She was delivered to the RAN on 18 March 2003 and commissioned on 29 March 2003, 41 months behind schedule, after major delays in the completion and fitting out of the boat due to the diversion of resources to the "fast track" submarines Dechaineux and Sheean and repeated cannibalisation for parts to repair the other five Collins-class boats.

Rankin was named for Lieutenant Commander Robert William Rankin, who died when the ship he commanded, HMAS Yarra, engaged a force of five Japanese warships on 4 March 1942, to allow an Allied convoy to escape. The boat is nicknamed "The Black Knight".

The Collins class is an enlarged version of the Västergötland-class submarine designed by Kockums. At 77.42 metres (254.0 ft) in length, with a beam of 7.8 metres (26 ft) and a waterline depth of 7 metres (23 ft), displacing 3,051 tonnes when surfaced, and 3,353 tonnes when submerged, they are the largest conventionally powered submarines in the world. The hull is constructed from high-tensile micro-alloy steel, and are covered in a skin of anechoic tiles to minimise detection by sonar. The depth that they can dive to is classified: most sources claim that it is over 180 metres (590 ft),