The SX-404-class submarine, was a class of

midget submarine A midget submarine (also called a mini submarine) is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, ...

s produced by the Italian firm

Cos.Mo.S Cos.Mo.S, officially Costruzione Motoscafi Sottomarini s.a.s, was an Italian submarine and submersible manufacturer. History 250px, Carlos Cardoen meeting with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein Cos.Mo.S was started in 1954 by Sergio Puccia ...

Overview

The 70-ton SX-404 can carry two Cosmos CE2F series swimmer delivery vehicles externally.

Pakistan

In 1965, the Pakistan Navy was given authorization by the

Ministry of Defense {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

to award the contract to the Italian shipbuilding company, the Cos.Mo.S., designed the SX-404-class midget submarine for the purposes of the

diver propulsion vehicle A diver propulsion vehicle (DPV), also known as an underwater propulsion vehicle, sea scooter, underwater scooter, or swimmer delivery vehicle (SDV) by armed forces, is an item of diving equipment used by scuba divers to increase range underw ...

in 1965. The SX-404 submarine program had a strong preference over the that was being built in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

but there were severe problems encountered when the torpedo required according to the Pakistan Navy's standard could not be compatible with the SX-404 design. The SX-404 class were some of the smallest submarines in the world at the time, but could still carry twelve passengers, making them invaluable for raids and reconnaissance in shallow water. The SX-404-class submarines were intended to be use as the diver propulsion vehicle for the SEAL Teams in the Navy Special Service Group, and were delivered in September 1971 but there were problems encountered providing the cover for the ''Hangor''-class submarines (the motherships) continued until these problems were resolved in December 1971. Between the 1972–73, Pakistan Navy commissioned six more SX-404-class submarine that was bought from the Italian shipbuilding company, the Cosmos Spa., with their main function of transporting a twelve Navy SEAL Team members on a reconnaissance missions. In 1976, there was one submarine that was lost in an accident while two were decommissioned for scrap metals in 1982–83. The entire program of SX-404-class submarines were eventually phased out and decommissioned from her military service with the Navy in 1990 with the remaining three submarines– two were sold for scrap metal while one was preserved at the

Navy Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the militar ...

in Karachi, Sindh in Pakistan. The SX-404-class submarine program was phased out with the development of the in 1990.

Republic of China

Taiwan ordered two SX-404s and they were delivered in the mid-1960s. They were retired in 1973 when larger ex-USN submarines became available.

References

External links

* {{cite web , title=Covert Naval Blog: Italian Small Submarines, Updated , url=http://covertshores.blogspot.com/2011/09/italian-small-submarines-updated.html , website=Covert Naval Blog , accessdate=21 February 2019 , date=9 September 2011 Submarines of the Pakistan Navy Italy–Pakistan relations Submarines of the Republic of China Navy Cos.Mo.S