NRP Albacora class
The submarines of the Albacora class, which corresponds to the 4th Submarine Squadron to the service of the Portuguese Navy, were built in Nantes, at the French shipyards of Dubiege-on-Normandie, in accordance with the contract signed in 1964. These French submarines of the Daphne class were intended to replace the Narval class submersibles. The new class was truly the first group of submarines of which the Portuguese Navy disposed, ons which introduced the technology of the mast snorkel. The acquisition agreement consisted of four submarines, given the name of an animal with the initial name indicative of the order of precedence over increase in the number of Navy: NRP Albacore (S163) in October 1967, the NRP Barracuda (S164) in May 1968, and NRP Cachalote (S165) and the NRP Delfim (S166) both in January 1969.
This contract came a couple of years before the Spanish government has decided to build four submarines of the Daphné type in shipyards of the country. In this way, ties between the two Squadrons was strengthened since many Spanish submarines who made their contact and part of their learning on board the Albacora boats. It should be noted that many traces of this strong link remain current.
The Cachalote, for reasons of logistics sustainability, was deleted in October 1975 and sold to the French Navy which in turn ceded it to Pakistan where it took the name of Ghazi. The remaining three submarines, which became the Albacora class, participated during their operational life in a wide range of missions in the national maritime space international level, including by participating in missions and operations such as: CONTEX, SWORDFISH, TAPON, JMC,FOST, SHARPGUARD, ENDURANCE, AÇOR, ZARCO, OCEAN SAFARI, JOLLY ROGER, as well as in multiple training missions and area surveillance of national interest.
In addition to being a milestone in the history of submarines, with the technological leap from submersibles to very significant submarines themselves have been also an important factor in the affirmation of Portugal in the international community, through the multiple very successful participations in operations and missions, especially in the context of NATO.
The submarines of the Albacora class, initially with the intention of being projected into the conflict of possessions in Africa, were subsequently optimized for surveillance missions of national maritime areas. They changed the paradigm of the use of the submarine weapon, revealing its importance in the ability to project special forces (Detachments of Special Action) and in combat actions to maritime illicit, or in the fight against drug trafficking, such as illegal immigration and maritime pollution, as well as renewed cooperation capacity between the various Branches of the Armed Forces and other State Agencies. Due to the large capacity and knowledge of garrisons that operated them, to work thorough and experienced of the Alpage Arsenal and the Guarantee System of Quality adopted, the IRS, kept the three ships operations until the year 2000, at which time the Albacora was stricken. In 2005 it was the turn of the Delfim to be slaughtered, and in 2010 finished the class with the slaughter of the Barracuda.
With 42 years service, the "old man" Barracuda was the military submarine with years of service in the world. On his last trip, the Daphné visited the French city of Toulon, in a wayof farewell, having been received on the Day of the Submariner 2010 by a very relevant and amazed group of divers, somehow disbelieving with the ability a small nation that was able to maintain operational platforms and, in total security, up to the end of its very long operating life. On July 25, 2013 the Barracuda entered the dry dock of the ex-Parry, being together with the frigate D. Fernando II and Glória, to be part of the "Naval Museological Nucleus of Cacilhas" of the Navy Museum.
Although they were a technological landmark, in its life, submarines of the Albacora class were able to meet the test of time due to a centuries-old submarine culture that was religiously passed from generation to generation, in which the secrets of the platform were unveiled by the oldest and passed to the most modern. Through knowledge, culture and the spirit of the submariner, it was possible to successfully complete the complex missions and leave in the Annals of History the sinking of the merchant ship Bandim or the mythical attack of the "Small Portuguese submarine" to the powerful aircraft carrier Eisenhower during a NATO exercise.
Robust and reliable platforms, sailors knowledgeable about their craft, despite being technologically limited at the end of their operational life, the submarines of the 4th Squadron represented the country for more than four decades with pride, raising the name of the Navy and Portugal, leaving a valuable legacy that served as a foundation for the perpetuation of the submarine and seafaring culture. The class was replaced by two Type 209PN/Type 214PN submarines.
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