S-71 "Galerna"

The commanding officer of submarine ‘Galerna’ (S-71) and all her crew welcome you to this website. We intend to give you an overview of the ship’s features, history, tasks and missions and hope you find this site interesting.

Displacement:

• Surface: 1490 tons
• Underwater: 1750 tons

Length: 67,9 m

Beam: 6,8 m

Draught: 5,4 m

Engines:

• 2 Diesel (3600 HP)
• 1 Electric (3500 HP)
• 1 propeller

Range: 9000 nm at 9 knots (underwater) or 45 days

Speed:

• Max. 12 knots (surface)
• Max. 20,5 knots (underwater)

Weapons: 4 torpedo tubes (16 torpedoes)

Depth: 300 meters

Submarines are units of great offensive capabilities while covertly operating during prolonged periods of time.

Main missions:

• Protection of a naval force.
• Reconnaissance, early warning and intelligence gathering.
• Infiltration of special operation commandos.
• Neutralization of surface or underwater threats.
• Defense of specific maritime areas.
• Training platform.
• Offensive mining. Sea denial to enemy forces.

The ‘Galerna’, like all other Spanish Navy submarines, are stationed in the Submarine Base of Cartagena (Murcia).

The main offensive assets of the submarine are the 4 torpedo launching tubes of 533 mm. They can launch torpedoes and mines. In addition, the ‘Galerna’ has portable weapons and machine guns for self-defense when in surface or moored in a harbor.

Torpedoes:

• Wire-guided torpedoes F-17 Mod. 1 and 2 (against surface ships and submarines)
• Anti-submarine torpedoes L-5 Mod.4

The S-71 has a wide array of active and passive sensors like sonars, communication antennae, radars and periscopes.

The ‘Galerna’ (S-71) was the first of this series built by Bazán in Cartagena. She was delivered on January 21st 1983 in Cartagena. The total number of submarines of this class was originally 4. There are now just two units operational.

The current crew of submarine ‘Galerna’ is:

• Officers: 10
• NCOs: 30
• Ratings: 48

In NATO missions, the ‘Galerna’ was deployed on four occasions to take part in ‘Active Endeavour’ operations with a total of 170 days at sea and 21,500 patrol miles. The S-71 was also deployed 43 days in operation ‘Sea Guardian’ in 2017 with a total of 750 hours submerged.

The ‘Galerna’ also participated in different NATO exercises ‘(Sorbet Royal’, ‘Dogfish’, ‘Linked Seas’, ‘Dragon Hammer’, ‘Noble Marlin’) and national exercises (TAPÓN, ALFEX, MINEX, etc.) and collaborated with Fleet surface combatants and Army, Air Force and Marine Corps Special Unit forces.