In the picture
Launching ceremony of the S.82 'Narciso Monturiol', on October 3 at Navantia's facilities.
Last October 3 took place the launching ceremony of the submarine S-82 'Narciso Monturiol', the second of the four submarines of the S-80 Plus class for the Spanish Navy. This ceremony is equivalent to the launching of the surface ships, which leave the shipyard where they have been built from scratch to complete the last phase of their construction and entrance . The ceremony is an important milestone for the Navy, but it is only one more step in the process of rebuilding the Spanish submarine force, which has been decimated over the last decades.
The 'Narciso Monturiol' and the S-80 class
As noted in the statement issued by the Ministry of Defense the same day, the second submarine of the S-80 series is named after the illustrious Narciso Monturiol, Spanish engineer, intellectual, politician, painter and inventor, born in Figueres (Girona) in 1819. The inventor of the icthyne, Monturiol was one of the pioneers of the submarine weapon in Spain and the world. Among the bequest he left is also the work 'essay of the Art of Navigating underwater', one of the first of this nature published in the world, which was also published posthumously in 1891 a few years after his death.
It is customary in the Navy that each platform (whether surface ships or submarines) is sponsored by an institutional figure or one linked to the Navy. In the case of the Narciso Monturiol, the honor went to Isabel López, wife of Admiral Teodoro López Calderón, Chief of the Defense Chief of Staff.
Following its launching, the submarine now begins its period of harbor trials. Prior to its submission to the Navy, scheduled for 2026, sea trials will be conducted, including surface navigation and immersion to maximum depth. Once it enters service next year, two more units of the class will remain to be built and commissioned.
The Narciso Monturiol will be followed in the coming years by the S-83 'Cosme García' and the S-84 'Mateo García de los Reyes' (scheduled to be launched in 2028 and 2029, respectively). The class bears the names of four illustrious figures, pioneers in the development of the submarine weapon in Spain, headed by the Cartagena-born Isaac Peral, inventor of the first electric propulsion torpedo submarine.
Spain and the need for the Submarine Force
Spain is a maritime country by virtue of its geographical configuration. It is like the prow of Europe, straddling the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and guardian of the Strait of Gibraltar, and it also has two archipelagos and two autonomous cities in North Africa. All this makes imperative the need for a maritime force to guarantee sovereignty and security in its waters, thus maintaining the cohesion of all national territories.
In this context, the submarine is an indispensable deterrent tool , as well as an excellent silent watchman of its own waters. The latter is indispensable if we bear in mind that Spain has more than 8,000 kilometers of coastline, along which a large Issue of merchant traffic transits on the surface and an even larger Issue of digital traffic through the cables that populate the seabed.
At present the Navy has a force of two submarines in service, the S-71 and the S-81 (the former should have been decommissioned long ago). This figure is clearly insufficient taking into account the above mentioned and also that, as pointed out by CF Augusto Conte, Spain needs an effective capacity to control its waters along its EEZ, for which a fleet of 8 units would be necessary (thus having two or three units deployed at all times).
The S-81 'Isaac Peral' and the S-82 'Narciso Monturiol' are the first two units of a total of four (although there is a possibility that the class will be extended with two additional units) originally intended to replace the S-60 Delfin class , the last of which was withdrawn from service in 2006. However, delays in the development phase of the S-80 program during the first two decades of this century prevented this from being possible.
As detailed by Christian Villanueva in his book 'S-80: Two Decades Fighting to Stay Afloat', Navantia's lack of experience with the program (first carried out alone without the financial aid of other foreign shipbuilders) and several errors in the initial design of the platform caused delays that have lasted for almost two decades. Thus, Spain has gone from having a fleet of eight units (the S-60 and S-70) in the 1990s to only two today.
Therefore, the entrance into service of the S-82 'Narciso Monturiol' next year will be an important step in the process of recovering the Navy's submarine capabilities. But it is still a step, one more of the many that are missing in the long process until it becomes a reality. It remains, therefore, to continue working and moving forward.
Gonzalo Vázquez Orbaiceta is a researcher at GASS.