Submarine for sale as group's dream sinks in a sea of red tape

The Australian ^ | 19th December 2008 | Cameron Stewart

[naturalman1975]

IT is the ultimate Christmas gift for the discerning sailor. Just log on to eBay, lodge any bid more than $4.9 million, and the 2000-tonne former Royal Australian Navy submarine, the HMAS Otama, could be yours.

The story behind the bizarre firesale of this Cold War warrior, a prized piece of the nation's military heritage, is far from festive. The forced sale of the Otama -- the first RAN submarine offered on eBay -- has broken the heart of the man who dreamed the vessel would one day restore the flagging fortunes of his home town of Hastings on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.

Max Bryant, president of the Western Port Oberon Association, said: "I've put 11 years of work into this, and all we have had is disappointment."

Bought from the federal government in 2001 for $50,000, the decommissioned Otama was to take pride of place on the Hastings foreshore, providing an all-year tourist attraction for the small industrial town.

It was to be a noble end for the last of the Oberon Class boats, which spent much of its life from 1978 to 2000 conducting dangerous top-secret surveillance missions against Soviet targets off the coast of Vietnam.

Instead, Otama is fast rusting away in the waters of Western Port Bay, the victim of planning delays and false promises by Victorian government officials over seven years.

The local federal member, Flinders MP Greg Hunt, said: "These local guys just wanted to give something back to their community. Instead they have been caught up in a bureaucratic nightmare."

[naturalman1975]

This is all happening quite near where I live - and it's tragic to see Otama rusting away out there. The Oberons did sterling work for Australia in the latter days of the cold war, and its aftermath, much of which is still not publically known.

Hastings would be a great place for this sub to be displayed - it's very near HMAS Cerberus, where many Australian sailors began their naval careers.

What is perplexing about all this is that Otama is floating just off the coast of Hastings where they want to put it, and they can't get it ashore.

They managed to get most of one of her sisters to Holbrook in New South Wales - and that's hundreds of miles inland.

[MahatmaGandu]

No doubt China will buy it through intermediaries.

[blam]

Otama Rusting Away

[Poison Pill]

4.9 million? I’ll give’m a penny a pound.

[null and void]

In for a penny, in for a pound...

[I see my hands]

I'm kept sheltered, for my own good they tell me, so that must be why I was unaware of the world of luxury personal submarine ownership until about a year ago. I had no idea.

I read somewhere, but forget the stats, that they have some insane perfect safety record.

Check out this site.

[RightWhale]

Had an old van that was rusting from the wheels up. Tacked on a zinc plate where a panel had rusted through and the rusting stopped instantly everywhere on the van.

[blam]

"Had an old van that was rusting from the wheels up. Tacked on a zinc plate where a panel had rusted through and the rusting stopped instantly everywhere on the van."

I had a pecan orchard and the trees had a fungus on them...I put some zinc granules around them and the fungus disappeared.

Zinc is good.

[nomorelurker]

selfping

[blam]

"You can have these for $50K, just tow them out of there."

Russian?

This one is not ten miles from my home.

USS Drum

[blam]

USS Drum

[Mr. Jazzy]

I think that the Messiah should buy it with his leftover campaign funds.

I mean he only has to change one letter in the name of the boat to make it his!

[PeterPrinciple]

Had an old van that was rusting from the wheels up. Tacked on a zinc plate

---

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/homework/s95524.htm

[Big_Monkey]

"Zinc is good."

...and thus endeth our first chemistry lesson.

[Professional Engineer]

Say, the Foxhole could use a navy.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I am hoping that instead of decommissioning one of the Los Angeles class submarines, that it is converted into an undersea scientific platform. It would be as prestigious as the International Space Station, and could perform survey missions impossible for surface craft.

Among its unique abilities would be to deploy bathyspheres much deeper than is currently possible, entomb high grade nuclear waste in a mountain of underwater cement, and perhaps survey enormous undersea ore deposits.

[Oztrich Boy]

They managed to get most of one of her sisters to Holbrook in New South Wales - and that's hundreds of miles inland.

All Holbrook has is the deck casing and conning tower. That can be shipped dismantled. The pressure hull and its contents got left behind. (except a short bit of the stern

[alfa6]

Yea , nothing like an undersea boat.

I wonder if it has a screen door?

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[F15Eagle]

I walked that sub’s interior in 1988 on a mission trip to Dauphin, Island. At 6’1” the only place I could stand up fully was in the galley. Cool sub, though.

Isn’t the USS Alabama(?) Iowa-class right there too? I went through most of that too.

Because I was with a group I didn’t get a chance to walk around a B-52 and I think a B-58 at that time. Are they still there?

[F15Eagle]

Yes, but be sure the light on the screen door reads “green” before you dive.

I read the story about the USS Squalus. Wow.

[blam]

"Because I was with a group I didn’t get a chance to walk around a B-52 and I think a B-58 at that time. Are they still there?"

Yes and an SR-71 Blackbird too. (Still the fastest plane ever built)

SR-71 Blackbird

[blam]

"I walked that sub’s interior in 1988 on a mission trip to Dauphin, Island. At 6’1” the only place I could stand up fully was in the galley. Cool sub, though."

I'm 6'0" and was stationed on a sub (USS Jallao) like the USS Drum in the early 60's.

[F15Eagle]

Sweet. Now you need an A-12 and a YF-12 to complete the collection. And a stepped cockpit trainer. :)

Is there really a B-58 there? Maybe what I recalled was that it was one of the last or the last F-105 Thunderchief.

I was bummed that I didn’t get to do a walkaround of them.

I think the sub was in the water back then. Looks like they pulled her out. Good idea.

Somewhere I have a picture of me standing in the galley with a few friends. If I ever get that way, I’ll be sure to visit the park again.

We went to a church outreach center with a big basketball court where visiting sailors also enjoyed playing soccer. I drove some Yugoslav (IIRC) sailors back to their ship. Big red star (at that time). I think they were Yugoslav.

Those docks were suuuuuuuuuuuuure lonely around 10pm at night. I got out of there real fast after dropping the guys off, LOL.

It was also the first place where I ever did a public sermon (not too often for me) but I had to use a (supplied) Portuguese interpreter for 3/4 of the crowd. That was kinda cool, actually.

[F15Eagle]

Cool sub. Balao class. Wasn’t that the one they referenced in the Kelsey Grammar “Down Periscope”? I was thinking he said it was Balao class and I tried to look it up a bit later.

Seems like I had to duck back by the engines / gear reduction boxes, which would be expected. I can’t remember what it was like in the control section.

6 torpedoes forward and 2 aft? Cool...

[Swordmaker]

. . . world of luxury personal submarine ownership . . .

At $78 Million, I'll take half a dozen... they'll make good stocking stuffers.

[blam]

"Is there really a B-58 there? Maybe what I recalled was that it was one of the last or the last F-105 Thunderchief."

I'm not sure about the B-58.

"I think the sub was in the water back then. Looks like they pulled her out. Good idea."

Katrina damaged it and it was brought on land then

There are other aircraft at the site...I just don't know what they are. I hope we can get a space shuttle there.

[F15Eagle]

I think it must have been an F-105 Thud. I also seem to recall the last B-58 was in the boneyard at Davis-Monthan and last picture I saw, many years ago, was of an airframe with the engines removed.