PNS Hamza
{{Short description|Agosta-90B class submarine of the Pakistan Navy}}
{{For|the Iranian ship bearing the same name|IRIS Hamzeh}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
|infobox caption= |display title= }} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= 300px |Ship image size= |Ship caption={{small|PNS Hamza being prepared for her depth testings in Karachi in 2006.}} }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Pakistan |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Pakistan|naval}} |Ship name=PNS Hamza |Ship namesake=Ḥamzah |Ship ordered= 21 September 1994 |Ship builder=KSEW Ltd. in Pakistan |Ship laid down=1 March 1997 |Ship launched=10 August 2006 |Ship sponsor=Sehba Musharraf |Ship acquired= |Ship homeport=Jinnah Naval Base |Ship commissioned=23 September 2008{{cite web |title=Agosta 90b |url=http://www.paknavy.gov.pk/agosta90b.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511051334/http://www.paknavy.gov.pk/agosta90b.htm |archive-date=11 May 2012 |website=Pakistan Navy |accessdate=30 December 2018 |date=11 May 2012 |url-status=dead }} |Ship identification= S-139 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service=2008–present |Ship out of service= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate= |Ship status=In service }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class=Agosta 90Bravo/{{sclass|Khalid|submarine}} |Ship displacement=
|Ship beam={{convert|22.3|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught=
|Ship propulsion=2 × SEMT Pielstick 16 PA4 V 185 VG AIP MESMA: {{convert|3600|hp|lk=in|abbr=on}}, 1 × shaft. |Ship power=2 × Jeumont-Schneider alternators producing: {{convert|4600|hp|lk=in|abbr=on}}. |Ship speed=
|Ship range= {{convert|10,000|mi|km}} at {{convert|9|kn}}{{cite news |title=Accountability should be across- the-board: Asma |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/14999-pn-to-launch-submarine-hamza-in-august |accessdate=30 December 2018 |work=The News |date=11 July 2006 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230233256/https://www.thenews.com.pk/archive/print/14999-pn-to-launch-submarine-hamza-in-august |archive-date=30 December 2018 |url-status=live }} |Ship endurance=150 Days |Ship test depth={{convert|1968.5|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}{{cite book |last1=Jane |first1=Frederick Thomas |title=Jane's Fighting Ships |date=1999 |publisher=S. Low, Marston & Company |isbn=9780710619051 |language=en |page=637}} |Ship complement=50 (10 officers, 40 enlisted) |Ship sensors=Towed array sonar |Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
|Ship notes= }} |
PNS/M Hamza (S-139) is a diesel-electric fast-attack submarine equipped with an air–independent propulsion system and the third submarine of her Agosta 90B/Khalid-class submarine. She was designed and constructed by the KSEW Ltd. under the technology transfer agreement with France in 1994.
PNS Hamza is the first submarine that has been fitted with the French MESMA system, which was an experimental at that stage – Pakistan is the first country to use the MESMA system in deep sea on board a submarine. It is the first submarine built in South Asia to feature an Air-independent propulsion.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Pakistan Submarine Capabilities|url=https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/pakistan-submarine-capabilities/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112025002/https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/pakistan-submarine-capabilities/|archive-date=12 January 2020|access-date=|website=NTI}}
Design overview
{{Main|Pakistan Navy SSP programme}}
PNS Hamza was designed and built by the KSEW Ltd. at the Karachi Naval Dockyard, with the participation of more than 300 civilian engineers and technicians trained in France's defense industry. In 1999–2004, the French and other European contractors reportedly trained more than 600 Pakistani machinists and metal workers in various construction skills of the submarine to meet the challenges of modern warfare in which submarines play a vital role.{{cite news |title=Agosta submarine will enhance PN capability |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/200914/ |accessdate=30 December 2018 |newspaper=Dawn |date=11 July 2006 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230233423/https://www.dawn.com/news/200914/ |archive-date=30 December 2018 |url-status=live }} The construction of the submarine reportedly involves the employment of the local metal industry in the Navy's submarine construction program as had done previously when {{ship|PNS|Saad||2}} was being rebuilt.
PNS Hamza is the most advanced version of the {{sclass|Agosta 90B|submarine|5}} design and is more advanced than her two sister ship, {{ship|PNS|Khalid||2}} and Saad, as its outer hull is light steel structure, HLES 80, was built at the Pakistan Steel and fabricated at the Naval Dockyard in Karachi in element parts and mounted on the inner pressure hull.{{cite news |title=Another Agosta submarine ready |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/322476 |accessdate=30 December 2018 |newspaper=Dawn |date=23 September 2008 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230233426/https://www.dawn.com/news/322476 |archive-date=30 December 2018 |url-status=live }} The pressure hull section was fabricated and outfitted by the Naval Dockyard in collaboration with the Karachi Shipyard.
PNS Hamza was laid down on 1 March 1997 in Karachi, and the steel cutting started by the Pakistan Steel Mills.{{cite book |last1=Wertheim |first1=Eric |title=The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World |date=2005 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=9781591149347 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoo-AQAAIAAJ&q=PNS+Hamza+laid+down |accessdate=30 December 2018 |language=en}}{{rp|530}} The construction of the submarine started in 1998 by KSEW Ltd. at the Karachi Naval Dockyard, followed by fabrication of 12 pressure hull sub-sections and culminating into three pressure hull sections. This was followed by mounting of light bulkheads, internal tanks and ballast panels in August 2003.
Service
On 10 August 2006, Hamza was launched, sponsored by Sehba Musharraf, the First Lady of Pakistan, and is named after Ḥamzah ibn ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib– the companion and paternal uncle of Muhammad. Her maximum depth test was approximated at the {{convert|1968.5|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} in the Indian Ocean with the MESMA system, and is capable of launching the Exocet SM39 missiles while submerged on a seaborne platform.{{cite news |title=Pak submarine joins naval drills in Jubail |url=http://www.arabnews.com/news/570001 |accessdate=30 December 2018 |work=Arab News |date=13 May 2014 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170925035844/http://www.arabnews.com/news/570001 |archive-date=25 September 2017 |url-status=live }}
After completing series of depth tests and sea trials in the Indian Ocean, Hamza was commissioned by then-Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on 23 September 2008, and joined the Navy's Submarine Command on 26 September 2008.{{cite web |title=Submarine Hamza to be commissioned on Sept 26 |url=http://www.aaj.tv/2008/09/submarine-hamza-to-be-commissioned-on-sept-26/ |website=Aaj News |agency=Associated Press of Pakistan |accessdate=30 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230233334/http://www.aaj.tv/2008/09/submarine-hamza-to-be-commissioned-on-sept-26/ |archive-date=30 December 2018 |url-status=live }} Her crew complement is reported as 50 personnel (10 officers, 40 enlisted).
Upgrades
On 6 March 2018, the DCNS, its original builder, lost the bidding competition with the Turkish firm, STM, for its refitting and upgrading of her weapon system, combat control system, missile rooms, and periscope upgrades, and is slated to return to her active service in 2020 after returning from Turkey.{{cite web |last1=Gady |first1=Franz-Stefan |title=Turkey to Upgrade Pakistan Navy'a attack sub |url=https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/turkey-to-upgrade-pakistan-navy-attack-sub/ |newspaper=The Diplomat |access-date=21 December 2018 |language=en |date=6 March 2018}}
Upgrades on the submarine were completed in early 2021 and she was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in April that year.{{cite web|title=Pakistan validates post-upgrade capabilities of Khalid-class submarine in sinking exercise|date=23 March 2022|url=https://www.janes.com/defence-news/news-detail/pakistan-validates-post-upgrade-capabilities-of-khalid-class-submarine-in-sinking-exercise}}{{cite web|title=Agosta 90B Class Submarine PNS/M HAMZA (S-139), modernized by STM for the Pakistan Navy|date=18 March 2022|url=https://www.stm.com.tr/tr/medya/haberler/stmnin-modernize-ettigi-agosta-90b-sinifi-denizalti-hedefini-tam-isabetle-vurdu}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
{{Agosta class submarines}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hashmat (S135)}}
Category:Khalid-class submarines