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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2013
The launch of Collins was an impressive ceremony and the many attending dignitaries all appeared suitably awestruck by its size and complexity. But all was not what it seemed. The focus at ASC and the project office was on meeting the launch date, but the design was not completed, pipe fabrication in key areas was not finished, and some of the ‘steel plates’ were just timber painted black. The photographs looked good, but the submarine was far from ready for launching.
Two weeks after the launch, Collins was lifted out of the water for more than 10 months while construction work carried on. By June 1994 the work was almost completed but the submarine was now well behind schedule. The project office's quarterly report explained that:
A number of factors have contributed to the schedule slippage including late completion of submarine design and the consequent less than optimum level of completion of Collins at launch, delays in the delivery of combat system software, difficulties in the final installation and setting to work…and industrial disputes.
While Collins sat somewhat forlornly on the hard stand at ASC, it seemed that the activity in the boardroom was more frenetic than in the shipyard. By the time Collins returned to the water there had been great changes in the leadership of both ASC and the project office.
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