Despite the embargoes, the Turkish Defense Industry continues the move as it started to realize the success it has achieved on land, in the air, and at sea, also undersea.
The Submarine Floating Dock project, which is planned to provide maintenance and repair services to all submarines in the navy’s inventory and that will take place in the 2030s, has come to an end. The officials of Asfat, a state defense industry company affiliated with the Ministry of National Defense, informed that the submarine dock, which is the only one in the world with its class, size, and closed feature, is planned to be put into service within 4 months.
The floating dock will move with a generator and it will be able to serve at any location without being dependent on a port, the service location will be Gölcük. The dock will be 105 meters long, 26.65 meters wide, and has a depth of 19.9 meters. The lifting capacity of the dock is 3000 tons, which is classified by Turkish Lloyd. The walking speed is 20 meters per minute unloaded and 5 meters per minute loaded.
FLOATING DOCK
Completed within the scope of the contract signed between the Ministry of National Defense General Directorate of Shipyards and the Military Factory and Shipyard Operation Joint Stock Company (ASFAT) on December 17, 2019, the submarine dock was launched with a ceremony on the last day of September at Hicri Ercili Shipyard in Altınova district of Yalova.
The dock, which was completed within the scope of the project, was manufactured to increase the submarine construction, maintenance, and repair infrastructure and capabilities of the Gölcük Shipyard Command, where the national submarine production, maintenance, repair, and modernization activities of the submarines are carried out uninterruptedly.
ASFAT Project Manager Bedrettin Karaçorlu, who made a statement about the dock, said that they had an important day for ASFAT and the Naval Forces Command.
Stated that the project has strategic importance, Karaçorlu said, “Our submarine dock weighs 4 thousand tons with its empty weight and can lift a submarine of 3 thousand tons. There are so many features that distinguish it from other docks. Due to the features, it contains there is no other example in the world. The most important feature of the dock is that it has a closure system. We have a roof over it and we have guillotine doors at the beginning and end. This allows us to carry out maintenance and repairs of the docked elements, regardless of climatic conditions, and if necessary, new construction activities without being dependent on any weather conditions.
Explaining that the coating on the roof has insulation in European standards, Karaçorlu said: “There is no heat permeability. The standards and project design are to NATO standards. It was checked together with the Turkish Lloyd. One of the features that distinguish this dock from others is its docking capacity in open seas. Wind speed of 100 knots, so even at a high wind speed, there is no change in its stability. It will mainly be used in the navy in Gölcük. Its length is 105, height is 19, width is 25 meters, and maximum diving depth is 16.5 meters. It can reach this depth in as little as 75 minutes. It contains very important electronic automation systems. Some of them are ship-centering systems, reflection systems, and underwater imaging systems. These are all systems that are important to docked submarine and ship safety.
The Floating Dock, which will be able to serve the platforms that will be included in the inventory of the Naval Forces Command in the coming period, has a lifting capacity of 10,000 tons. The full length of the pool is 175.60 meters and its interior width is 35.54 meters. The Floating Dock can dive or lift within 1 hour. There are 2 electro-hydraulic type mobile cranes in the dock. Cranes can carry 10 tons of load at 10 m/min.