Turkey's first Reis-class submarine starts sea trials

Pirireis (S 330), the first of six Reis-class submarines under construction, is pictured during its first sea trials in the Sea of Marmara on 6 December. (Oguz Eroguz)

The first of six new Type 214TN Reis-class submarines on order for the Turkish Navy has started initial sea trials.

First-of-class Pirireis (S 330) was put to sea for the first time from the facilities of Gölcük Naval Shipyard on the east coast of the Sea of Marmara on 6 December. Imagery posted online by independent ship spotters showed the submarine departing for trials in the Sea of Marmara accompanied by a tug and an S-70B Seahawk helicopter on 6 December and returning to Gölcük Naval Shipyard later that day.

Turkey selected German shipbuilder Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft's (now ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems) Type 214-class air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarine design in 2008 to meet its requirement for new boats to replace Turkey's ageing Type 209 boats. A contract worth around EUR2.5 billion (then valued at USD3.96 billion) was signed in 2009 covering the delivery of material packages for the six boats, which are being built by Gölcük Naval Dockyard using a high degree of local content.

Pirireis started construction in2015 and was floated out in March 2021. The boat was originally planned to be delivered in 2022, but this has been pushed back to 2023 because of delays owing to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The remaining boats are at various stages of construction: second-of-class Hizirreis (S 331) was laid down in 2017, followed by Muratreis (S 332) in 2018, Aydinreis (S 333) in 2019, and Seydialireis (S 334) in 2020. Construction of the last boat, Selmanreis (S 335), began on 23 May 2022 along with the ‘ceremonial launch' of Hizirreis. Both Hizirreis and Muratreis