The first welding ceremony for the 3rd Vessel of the New Type Submarine Project “Murat Reis” was held at Gölcük Shipyard with the participation of the Prime Minister Mr. Binali Yıldırım, Minister of National Defense Mr. Nurettin Canikli, Minister of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communication Mr. Ahmet Arslan, Commander of the Turkish Naval Forces Vice Admiral Adnan Özbal and many military and defense officials.

Addressing the invitees at the ceremony Prime Minister Mr. Binali Yıldırım mentioned that he had worked in the ship building industry and therefore the launch of each vessel into the sea and his participation in the first welding ceremonies made him very happy.  He added that the New Type Submarines would be contributing to the facilities and the capabilities of the Naval Forces, fulfilling a crucial task toward thoroughly accomplishing the defense of maritime boundaries, interests concerning the seas and the defense of the country in general. 

Expressing that the ship building industry achieved a great breakthrough in the last 15 years Yıldırım said, “The number of our shipyards increased to 78 from 37 in the last fifteen years. Meanwhile, we have increased our building capacity to 4.5 million DWT (Dead Weight Ton) from 500 DWT. On account of the support policies implemented, the Turkish Commercial Fleet - owned by Turkey with the Turkish flag - has risen to the 14th rank from 19th in the world-wide ranking.”

Prime Minister Mr. Yıldırım also informed participants on the New Type Submarines and the infrastructural capabilities of Gölcük shipyard and said, “Murat Reis, of which we will be holding the first welding ceremony, is a new type submarine. When this package containing 6 submarines is completed, these submarines will be serving our Naval Forces for many years. The new type submarine project continues through German - Turkish partnership. With the help of the project, the infrastructure of Gölcük shipyard is also being improved and this enables the shipyard to further specialize particularly in submarine building. As a result, all the slipways are gained by Gölcük Shipyard. As is known to all, since our existing submarines lack the air - independent delivery systems, they failed to remain underwater for a long time. The demand for the new type submarine emerged at this very point. Thanks to this project, we will have gained for our Naval Forces the capability of air - independent, submerged, long duration underwater operation.”

In the final part of his speech, Prime Minister Mr. Yıldırım noted that the building duration of the submarines was too long, underlining that the Naval Forces Command needs to take more initiative in order to shorten this duration. Yıldırım: “We are building our submarines in a period of around 10 years. This duration needs to be shortened even further. Turkey has attained immense experience in the Ship Building Industry. I wish for our Naval Forces Command to take the initiative toward shortening these long durations and I hope that the submarines would be gained as a part of our fleet as soon as possible upon the revision of these procurement periods.”

Commander of the Naval Forces Vice Admiral Adnan Özbal stated that 11 submarines were built at Gölcük Shipyard so far and within this context this shipyard is considered to be one of the few shipyards worldwide capable of building submarines, adding that the shipyard’s competence would be increasing further as a result of the new type submarine project.

Underlining that the most distinctive feature of the New Type Submarines is their air - independent propulsion system Vice Admiral Özbal continued, “With the New Type Submarines air - independent submarines, the ‘Half Life Modernization’ and the ‘Unique Combat Management System’ which our existing Preveze submarines will be subject to and the ‘Unique Combat Management System’ MÜREN Preveze Projects, our submarine forces will be embracing a more efficient front worldwide.”

Commander of Gölcük Shipyard Rear Admiral Aydın Eken stated that the Turkish Naval Forces’ institutional submarine construction exceeds 40 years and added, “Within the period that began with the construction of the TCG Yıldıray Submarine on 25 July 1975 at our shipyard, 11 submarines were built up until today. Within this context, our shipyard has gained the capability of building submarines which are capable of creating surprises during naval warfare and has become one of the 16 shipyards worldwide.”

Rear Admiral Eken underlined that Gölcük Shipyard would be gaining crucial know-how with the help of the New Type Submarine program and concluded, “As part of the New Type Submarine Project, our staff has been regularly and actively attending the design activities. I can claim that as a result, the know-how and experiences of our shipyard in design have gravely increased as a result. We assess that this know-how gained will be intensively utilized in the first phase of the Indigenous Submarine design activities which will be launched in the upcoming period.”

Upon the completion of the remarks, Prime Minister Mr. Binali Yıldırım conducted the first welding of “Murat Reis” - the third vessel of the New Type Submarine Project.

The New Type Submarine Project

A total of six new types of submarines will be constructed within the scope of the project will have an air independent propulsion system developed with hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology and will be capable of conducting their operations for weeks underwater. With their entry into operation, these submarines with silent navigation capability will make a significant contribution to the combat effectiveness of the Turkish Naval Forces.

The New Type Submarines will be 66.3 meters in length, with a thousand and 854 tons of surface displacement and 2 thousand 13 tons of submerged displacement. The submarines will run with diesel fuel and will be able to function with self-charging batteries. One of the most significant features of the new type submarines is the development of torpedo tubes that will provide guided missile firing capability.

The contract for the procurement of New Type Submarines equipped with an air-independent propulsion system was signed on 02 July 2009. At the end of the two-year period including financial consultations regarding the project, the contract was effective on 22 July 2011.