 |
| Migaloo-corporation's submarine yacht concept Picture I |
Kimmo Huosionmaa
The idea of commercial large-scale cargo- and passenger submarines would be impossible in short time ago because submarines were understood as the military equipment, what was reserved for governmental use. But the submarines have very much capacities also in the civil area, and one of them is commercial transportation and cruising. The private submarine and yachts are now coming to markets, and they could revolutionize the ships and transportation at the seas. Of course, there were been scientific submarines before those new concepts are meant for commercial use.
New cargo-submarines can carry passengers and cargo without the need to care about the weather. They might use diesel-electric engines, and sometimes there have been talking to produce the diesel-electric version of the "Typhoon-class submarine, what could carry containers and passengers under the sea. That concept would operate in the Northern area, and that would not need to care about the weather, because the submarine would dive under the ice and waves. They could also deliver equipment for distant islands, gas fields, and other places, where is difficult to travel, because of the storms. So the cargo-submarines could operate also in the worst storms like hurricanes, and they could also operate under the ice cap. Below the text is the link in one submarine yacht maker's film, where the Migaloo company introduces the modern commercial submarine, what can be used for cruising and conference.
This concept is quite interesting, because in the future also the military forces might be interested submarines as the platforms for ambitious warfare. Those submarines would base the similar technology, what is used in this private concept. The idea of amphibious support submarines is not new, and in the Second World War, U.S Navy used the submarines to support their operators in Bougainville and the Marshall-islands area, But they could give only the limited support. The French Submarine-cruiser "Surcouf" took a part of those operations because it very large ammunition gave very much room for the equipment. And also it's 203 mm. cannons hoped to give support for land troops. But the collision with trawler cut that career in 1942.
The ambitious support submarine would actually be the submarine-version of the Littoral Combat Ship. In this scenario, the modern navies could have the landing-support ships, what are actually the submarines, what would have the same capacity as the littoral combat ship. Those submarines can operate under the sea, and they can move silently near the target, and then those support vessels can deliver the marines or whatever troops would be used in this operation. Those submarines could operate under the sea, and then suddenly deliver the full-scale amphibious unit to the beach. They can also support the SEAL-scuba-diving teams in their operations.
Amphibious support submarines can use helicopters, what is stored inside the hull, and when they are needed to use, the submarine can rise them to the deck, and then it's in operative use. When we are thinking about 200 meters long submarine, that vessel would have the capacity to make more large-scale operations than normal submarines, what is delivering the SEAL-teams in commando-style operations. That kind of devices would revolutionize the amphibious warfare and allow to make large-scale operations unseen in the coasts.
Sources:
http://www.migaloo-submarines.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_submarine_Surcouf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littoral_combat_ship
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F3TgmRn1HI
Picture I
