Aussie and Swedish subs battle it out

Here's a twist to the recent item about the maritime mobile operation by the Swedish Naval submarine Uppland as SL8SUB.

In introducing the activation, we reported the Swedish
claim that this was the first-ever amateur radio operation
from aboard a naval submarine out at sea, but we hadn't
counted on one intrepid VK operator beating the Swedes
by all of five years.

So how did this come about? It turns out that Geoff, then
VK6NGW but now retired from the Royal Australia Navy as
VK6NX, was aboard the Collins-class sub Dechaineux in
early December, 1999, when he made not one but four
contacts from the bridge of the submarine, steaming out
to sea some 30km off the southern coast near Port
Lincoln, South Australia.

Early in the morning, Geoff sought and was granted
permission to use his compact hand-held two-metre
transceiver to check the local two metre repeater. To his
delight, not only was he able to crack it, but he then made
contacts through the repeater with four lucky stations,
being VK6AEP, VK6KOP, VK5DX and VK5PWD.

Those four contacts were all made from the bridge of the
submarine out at sea. They took place when the
submarine's location was common knowledge in the area,
meaning security wasn't a concern. The sub's CO had no
hesitation in approving the operation.

And so, as Geoff reports in his E-mail, he believes he can
debunk the Swedish claim to being the first and adds that
there MUST have been other even earlier amateur
operations from aboard active naval submarines.

So let's put it to the test.

Navies around the world have operated submarines for 100 years. So here's the question: has it been done before?

You can e-mail any feedback direct to me if you'd like.
I'm vk4aa@wia.org.au

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia

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