Bow Shape Design For Increased Surface Performance Of An SSK Submarine

One of the major issues in operating diesel-electric powered (SSK) submarines at the surface is the high wave making resistance, leading to a fairly low transit speed compared to commercial ships navigating the same waters, relatively high fuel costs and large-sized hull forms due to the required bunker capacity in order to have reasonable range. Therefore, the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (MARIN) have performed a study on the submerged and surfaced performance of a typical 4000t SSK submarine with three different bow shapes. This paper describes the design and evaluation of the alternative bow shapes and shows how this can be used to evaluate which bow shape fits best in various operational profiles.