Israel's fourth submarine, the Dolphin-class INS Tanin, has departed Germany en route to Israel, and is slated to anchor at Haifa port on Sept. 23, a day before the start of the Jewish New Year. A team under the command of a lieutenant-colonel in Israel's submarine fleet is manning the vessel on its 4,000-mile journey, and the colonel in charge of the submarine fleet in the Israeli Navy is also on board. Israeli Navy commander Vice Adm. Ram Rothberg joined the Tanin for the first few hours of its voyage. For most of the voyage, the submarine will be underwater. After leaving northern Germany, the vessel will travel from the North Sea into the Atlantic and through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. The voyage does not include any stops, a testimony to the submarine's ability to stay submerged for long periods. When the Tanin is 270 miles off the coast of Haifa, the submarine is slated to pause at the site where the INS Dakar sank in 1968, where it will rendezvous with other Israeli Navy vessels and hold a memorial ceremony for the Dakar crew. From there, it will pull into the Haifa port, where it will be welcomed in an official ceremony. The Tanin was originally supposed to be delivered to Israel last year. While it was certified as fully operational in Germany and a senior Israeli Navy official confirmed on Sunday that it was a "fully operational submarine in every aspect," the Tanin still needs to be outfitted with Israeli systems, a process expected to take several months. The anticipated arrival in Israel of the Tanin marks the culmination of a seven-year joint submarine project between Israel and Germany. A fifth submarine Israel purchased, the Rahav, is scheduled to arrive in Israel some six months after the Tanin. In February 2013, then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak signed an agreement for the construction and delivery of a sixth submarine, which has yet to be named. It is slated for delivery in 2019. The Dolphin-class submarine is considered a versatile vessel with varied capabilities that make it adaptable to different types of missions. A Dolphin-class submarine is 68 meters long and weighs 2,300 tons. It can dive to a depth of over 200 meters and costs around $500,000. The submarine is propelled by the Air Independent Propulsion system and carries an extra fuel tank that allows it to stay submerged for extended periods.
Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
