Singapore Decommissions Last 2 Challenger Subs

THE Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has decommissioned its last two Challenger-class submarines RSS Conqueror and Chieftain in a ceremony attended by the service chief, Rear Admiral Sean Wat.

With the ceremony, the duties of the two submarines have been handed over to the Navy’s latest Invincible-class submarines.

The Challenger-class submarines were previously ex-Royal Swedish Navy Sjoormen­-class submarines before entering RSN service in the 1990s. The vessels were commissioned into Singaporean service on 22 July 2000 and 24 August 2002 respectively.

An RSN statement read: “The Challenger-class submarines, together with RSN’s pioneer submariners who were also trained in Sweden, played an invaluable role in our journey towards developing a submarine operating capability. Over the years, the submarines have fulfilled their mission of safeguarding Singapore’s maritime interests and territorial integrity through numerous operations at sea. They also advanced Singapore’s defence relations by participating in bilateral and multilateral exercises.”

After the ceremony, RAdm Sean Wat also officiated the launch of the new Submarine Training School which takes after the name of the Challenger. The new facility is a momentous achievement for the RSN’s local submarine training. It is a one-stop facility leveraging technological advancements to boost the realism, effectiveness and efficiency through the use of simulators that can conduct individual and team training safely and incorporate realistic scenarios.-shp/adj/dl (Pix:SG MINDEF)