Spanish Navy Submarine Galerna (S 71) Conducts Its First Dive After Maintenance

The Spanish Navy Agosta class diesel-electric fast-attack submarine Galerna (S 71) has conducted its first dive after the immobilization of its fifth major careening. Galerna (S-71) is an Agosta-class submarine of the Spanish Navy, currently in service. She was built by Bazán shipyards (now Navantia) at Cartagena, Spain. Galerna was launched on 5 November 1981 and commissioned on 21 January 1983. In her long operational life, the S-71 has participated in many national and NATO exercises and operations like ‘Sorbet Royal’, ‘Dogfish’, ‘Linked Seas’, ‘Dragon Hammer’, ‘Noble Mariner’, ‘Minex’ and ‘Tapon’.

The Agosta-class submarines in Spanish service had a projected service life of 30 years. In her long operational life, the S-71 has participated in many national and NATO exercises and operations. However, due to delays in the successor S-80-class program, they have undergone numerous repairs. Galerna was scheduled for another large overhaul in the summer of 2017, the fifth over her career, to extend her service life until the delivery of the next generation of submarines. Galerna began her post-refit sea trials in July 2022. The refit aimed to extend her operational service life by five years with a return to operational service envisaged at the end of August.

The Agosta-class submarine is a class of diesel-electric fast-attack submarine developed and constructed by the French DCNS in 1970s to succeed the Daphné-class submarines. The submarines have served in the French Navy as well as exported to the navies of Spain and Pakistan. It also used by Royal Malaysian Navy for the training purpose. They were replaced in French service by the Rubis-class nuclear attack submarines but are still in active service with the navies of Spain and Pakistan. The French Navy grouped this model of submarine in their most capable class as an océanique, meaning “ocean-going.