Woah, what. It's not just AirshipsEverywhere, it's two consecutive AirshipsEverywhere posts! Turns out submarines are actually really easy to build, so I was able to bang this out in a day. Another part of my background project to build a naval base inspired by Russia's Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky sub base (I just like how it's laid out), this one is kind of like the UTS's version of a Virginia or Akula II, a fourth-generation multimission nuclear submarine with special forces and VLS capability. I had a lot of fun with this build, since the compact interior presented some enjoyable challenges to make believable and detailed while still keeping to Minecraft 1:1 scale. Enjoy!


Specs!

Class: Swordfish
Type: Nuclear Attack Submarine (Designation SSN)
Manufacturer: Poseidon Shipbuilding (Blackiron Naval Yards and Myrana Naval Shipyard)
First Commissioned: 9/28/2005
Length: 114m
Width: 19m (including bow planes)
Height: 19m (not including masts)
Armament:

• 6 Trojan Technologies Mk 24 533mm Torpedo Tubes, 19 total Trojan Technologies Mk 21 Mod 4 Advanced Submarine Torpedoes (AST)
• 14 VLS Tubes (Can fit either BGM-109T Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles or BGM-49 Lightning Bolt Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles)

Top Speed: 31 kn
Maximum Depth: 1250 feet
Powerplant: 1 Zephyr Industries Mk 9F Submarine Fission Reactor (95 MWth Output) powering 2 Trojan Technologies T650 Steam Turbine Generators, 1 Westershire Engineering Corporation DG2410 Emergency Diesel Generator
Propulsion: 2 Zephyr Industries GST49 Steam Turbines (49,000 shp) attached to pump jet propulsor via Zephyr Industries reduction gears. 1 Zephyr Industries Emergency Propulsion Motor
Displacement: 5,200 Tons
Commissioned Ships:

• SNS Swordfish (SSN 324)
  
• SNS Marlin (SSN 325)
  
• SNS Kaku (SSN 326)
  
• SNS Bonefish (SSN 327)
  
• SNS Triggerfish (SSN 328)
  
• SNS Hawkfish (SSN 329)
• SNS Kawele'a (SSN 330)
• SNS Sailfish (SSN 331)
• SNS Moray (SSN 332)
• SNS Scorpionfish (SSN 333)
• SNS Lauipala (SSN 334)
• SNS Laenihi (SSN 335)

Crew: 110 (15 officers, 95 enlisted)
Maximum Range: 50 days without replenishment
Cost: $1.2 billion 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

The Swordfish class was developed as half of the Advanced Tactical Order-of-battle Modernization (ATOM) program of 1995. ATOM was intended to replace the UTS's existing third-generation nuclear fast attack and ballistic missile submarines, which had begun to show their age against newer Akula I and 688i class boats from Russia and the United States. While the program would later grow to include the Niuhi class SSK in the early 2000s, the initial efforts focused on designing new nuclear submarines with more efficient reactors, a modular construction process to simplify procurement, and an array of advanced networked sensors to improve situational awareness. Lessons learned about quieting techniques were implemented on both the SSN and SSBN designs, although only the SSBN had room for a natural circulation mode for its primary loop. Even still, the Swordfish entered service as the quietest submarine in the UTS fleet, even better than their previous-generation boomers, and would hold that title until the first ATOM SSBN, the SNS Lannison, joined the fleet. Equipped with 6 torpedo tubes and 14 vertical launch cells, the Swordfish is capable of Antisubmarine, Antisurface, and Long-range Strike Warfare, in addition to possessing a capable ISR electronic intelligence suite. The VLS cells can fit either license-built Tomahawk land attack missiles or indigenous BGM-49 Lightning Bolt Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCM), giving the boat a wide range of options for loadouts to suit different operational requirements. Their non-penetrating photonics masts enable the control room to be offset from the sail, and minimizes holes in the pressure hull that could be potential weak points. While not as fast, quiet or deep diving as its American or Russian peers, the Swordfish still boasts a high-resolution sonar system and state-of-the-art weapons linked together by a networked combat system for maximum tactical efficiency, with silencing on par with a typical Akula. The Swordfish is often compared to its diesel-electric half-sister, the Niuhi, and while the boats share the same combat system, sensors, torpedo, and even diesel generators, Swordfish's increased size and nuclear powerplant grant her the ability to take on considerably more missions than the SSK. The boat is even equipped with a lockout chamber with docking collar for a Dry Deck Shelter to serve as a mothership for Naval Special Warfare forces.

Unlike the UTS Navy's diesel fleet, the replacement of their Gulper class SSNs was a smooth and relatively painless process, with a new Swordfish completing sea trials within days of a Gulper's retirement. Seven are based out of Naval Base Blackiron, with the remaining five at Naval Submarine Base Aeris Inlet, Ostra. Their Zephyr Mk 9F reactors give them unprecedented life-of-ship endurance that has aided the boats in serving as far away as the Atlantic and Mediterranean, working alongside American and British SSNs to shadow the latest Russian developments. A Blackiron Swordfish routinely patrols the Persian Gulf, forward deployed out of Crete. The submarines are most active in the Skylords' home turf of the Southern Pacific, however, with a focus on Chinese aspirations in the South China Sea and Russian activity out of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. During Operation Free Will in 2015, all but SNS Hawkfish, which was in an extended refit at the time, joined the massive UTS naval force entering the Verge Universe to strike back against the Imperial Territories of the Skylords. The boats split up into two wolf packs, with the Blackiron-based subs (Marlin, Bonefish, Triggerfish, Moray, Lauipala, Laenihi) prowling the Indian and Atlantic Oceans to cut off ITS supply lines to their forces distributed around the world, and the Aeris boats (Swordfish, Kaku, Kawele'a, Sailfish, Scorpionfish) making contact with the combined fleet of submarine survivors lurking beneath the North Pole and proceeding to wreak havoc on ITS surface and submarine forces throughout the Pacific. They operated closely with Roman Diana class SSNs from Rome's Pacific Fleet, with the Roman boats using their increased VLS loads to function as pocket SSGNs while escorted by Skylord SSNs. Moray and Kawele'a left port with DDSes attached, and served as stealthy shuttles for UTS NSW operators who quietly disrupted ITS command and control networks prior to the final invasion of the continental ITS. Together, the Swordfish boats sank nearly 2.6 million tons of ITS naval and merchant shipping, although not without cost. Early in the invasion, SNS Bonefish was caught by an ITS attack submarine while shadowing a carrier strike group, and after an intense underwater duel, sank in 8,500 feet of water. Laenihi and Sailfish would also sustain damage during their own engagements, although both boats fortunately survived. The remaining Swordfish subs returned home battle-hardened but weary, waving off eager allied American submariners trying to gain information on what actual modern submarine warfare involved. After a short break, the UTS submarines jumped back into their normal terrestrial routines. The SNS Scorpionfish gained notoriety by single-handedly outmaneuvering and "sinking" both an American Virginia and Japanese Soryu during RIMPAC 2016, showing the Skylords' combat experience outweighed technical limitations.