Surprise! Yep, I still exist and still play Minecraft, although most of my projects have languished since I have a nasty habit of picking up too many ideas at once. This was a quick little project I built in one go for a larger naval base build that's in progress, and I felt like uploading it individually. Not really based off of any submarine in particular, just giving my fictional country some cheaper boats to supplement their nuclear-powered fleet. Enjoy the full interior!


Specs!

Class: Niuhi (Tiger Shark)
Type: Diesel-Electric/AIP Attack Submarine (Designation SS)
Manufacturer: Poseidon Shipbuilding (Blackiron Naval Yards and Myrana Naval Shipyard)
First Commissioned: 2/23/2006
Length: 91m
Width: 17m (including bow planes)
Height: 15m (not including masts)
Armament:

• 6 Trojan Technologies Mk 24 533mm Torpedo Tubes, 14 total Trojan Technologies Mk 21 Mod 4 Advanced Submarine Torpedoes (AST)

Top Speed: 14 kn (Battery), 24 kn (Diesel)
Maximum Depth: 750 feet
Powerplant: 2 Westershire Engineering Corporation DG2410 Diesel Generators, 2 Zephyr Industries Mk 3 Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Propulsion: 1 Zephyr Industries Fleet Propulsion Electric Motor attached to pump jet propulsor (angry Pauline Hanson noises)
Displacement: 1,300 Tons
Commissioned Ships:

• SNS Niuhi (SS 620)
  
• SNS Great White (SS 621)
  
• SNS Maho (SS 622)
  
• SNS Reef Shark (SS 623)
  
• SNS Black Tip (SS 624)
  
• SNS Hammerhead (SS 625)
• SNS Pa'ele (SS 626)
• SNS Nohu (SS 627)
• SNS Leopard Shark (SS 628)
• SNS Goblin Shark (SS 629)
• SNS Moani (SS 630)
• SNS Kitefin (SS 631)
• SNS Lanternshark (SS 632)
• SNS Threshershark (SS 633)
• SNS Angelshark (SS 634)
• SNS Sandtiger (SS 635)

Crew: 63 (8 officers, 55 enlisted)
Maximum Range: 400 nm (Battery only, 5 kn), 1,900 nm (Battery+AIP, 5 kn), 3,400 nm (Battery+Diesels, 5 kn)
Cost: $490 million SD
Sensors:

• AN/BQQ-9 "Fisheye" Spherical Active/Passive Sonar Array
  
• 6 Wide Aperture Flank Arrays
• 1 Sail Active/Passive Array
  
• 2 Sail Flank Arrays
• T236 High-Frequency Towed Array
  
• T957 Low-Frequency Towed Array
  
• 2 Non-penetrating Multipurpose Photonics Masts

When the United Territories of the Skylords developed their first nuclear fast attack submarine in 1962, many naval strategists believed it spelled the end for Skylord diesel-electrics. SSKs were just unable to compete with the endurance, speed, and range of SSNs, so while they were cheaper and easier to produce, their limited utility outside of coastal defense meant that the majority of submarine funding went to the UTSN's nuclear fleet. The Navy maintained a fleet of 1970s vintage Manta class diesel-electrics for coastal defense into the twenty first century, constantly updating the ancient platforms with new sonar, fire control, and weapon systems, although they slowly began to show their age. Poseidon Shipbuilding first took note of Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) technologies in the 1980s, especially closed-cycle diesel, Stirling engines, and hydrogen fuel cells. In 1995, Poseidon quietly began development of hydrogen fuel cells alongside Trojan Technologies with the intent of replacing the diesel generators kept for emergency use on nuclear submarines. Several lawmakers from Poseidon's home territory of Arbora took notice, and began to apply pressure to the Navy to consider a new design of SSK to replace the Mantas. At the time, Poseidon was also hard at work developing the state of the art Swordfish class nuclear fast attack submarine, which the Navy was awaiting with open arms. The shipbuilder dedicated a small team to designing a diesel-electric attack submarine with fuel cell AIP and similar operational capabilities to the Swordfish, but at a significantly lower price. The Niuhi class included the same sensor/integrated fire control system as the Swordfish, with many of the same quieting techniques and construction processes. The designers maximized the use of Commercial Off-the-Shelf components, including the diesel generators themselves, to further ease production and reduce costs while still meeting specifications. The project continued for several years, facing resistance for the excessive cost of the AIP system, as the chemically-pure hydrogen-1 needed for the cells was hard to come by. Then, in 2005, Poseidon caught their break. The launch of the fusion-powered Skyship Indomitable caused demand for deuterium and tritium to skyrocket, and the waste product of many of the isotope enrichment processes was chemically-pure hydrogen-1. Less fortuitously, the Manta class SNS Kingfish suffered a battery casualty just outside of its homeport of Aeris Inlet, Ostra. While there were no casualties, the boat was damaged beyond repair and retired early, with the Navy emergency-grounding its entire Manta fleet until the cause of the accident could be determined. Coupled with increased Chinese naval activity in the Southern Pacific, the incident caused many Skylord lawmakers on the fence of Niuhi to see the need to replace their current SSK fleet. Poseidon eagerly jumped at the chance, laying down SNS Niuhi within days of launching SNS Swordfish. However, with the ability to produce two Niuhi class vessels for every new Swordfish, Poseidon quickly gave the Navy enough submarines to completely replace the Mantas. Six were homeported out of the Naval sector of Joint Base Blackiron on the Skylord west coast, with five sent to Naval Submarine Base Aeris Inlet in northern Ostra. The remaining five monitored southern waters from Naval Base Marinia in the New Lunar Republic. The Niuhi lacks the long range and high sustained speeds of the Swordfish, but is still capable of reaching most major Skylord operational areas with plenty of AIP fuel to spare for quiet running. Due to space constraints, Niuhi's weapons were restricted to six torpedo tubes, with room for 14 total torpedoes, unlike Swordfish and her VLS missile tubes. The Skylords never developed a horizontally-launched anti-ship or strike missile, so the Niuhi is restricted to her heavy-weight torpedoes. Designed to specialize in Antisurface and Antisubmarine Warfare, as well as Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance, the boat can work with Naval Special Warfare, but lacks the facilities for a Dry Deck shelter as of now. Overall, the Niuhi cannot replace the UTS's nuclear fast attack fleet, especially her half-sister Swordfish class, but still offers the UTS Navy a cheap, capable, and quiet attack submarine to back up the nuclear force.

From their inception, the Niuhi class saw service primarily shadowing Chinese naval activity in the South China Sea. They were largely absent from the various aerial wars of the early 2000s and 2010s, mostly running coastal security to ensure regional rivals did not take advantage of the UTS's continental conflicts. They would play a key role in Skylord national security during Operation Free Will, however. Since OP Free Will took place entirely in the Verge Universe, endurance was key for all ships participating. As a result, nearly the entire UTS Navy's nuclear fast-attack fleet joined, leaving a gaping hole in Skylord naval defenses. The Niuhis ended up filling both their own role and that of the Swordfish boats. While the long deployments grated on SSK crews, it proved both a valuable training opportunity and a chance to broaden UTS security commitments with regional partners like Australia and Taiwan, who provided port facilities to far-from-home Niuhis. SNS Threshershark broke UTSN records by sailing from her home port in Blackiron all the way to Bahrain to join American naval forces in the Persian Gulf, a job normally reserved for Western Fleet SSNs. SNS Hammerhead, SNS Pa'ele, and SNS Moani participated in RIMPAC 2016, sailing from Aeris Inlet to Pearl Harbor entirely on their diesels and AIP, although they required refueling almost immediately after arriving. The expanded operations served to reassure Skylord international partners that their ally was still capable of honoring its commitments, even if almost its entire surface, nuclear submarine, and air fleets were absent, along with a large portion of Skylord ground forces. While their service records during OP Free Will were significantly less exciting than the action-packed deployments of the nuclear boats, the Niuhis performed an equally important mission in one of the most intense moments of Skylord history.