What's the best way for a submarine to fight off a frigate?

[capnsensible]

The Navy lost that capability several decades ago.

Frigates don't "fight off" submarines and haven't done for decades either, they desperately try to avoid being noticed by them and generally fail.
The question is more like whether a sub wants to reveal its presence known by smoking a mere frigate, depending on it's ambitions.

However this looks very like a reversion to the old Cold War tactics of snooping at ultra-close range or even an attempt to cut the sonar away. Regardless, either way the sub seems to have screwed the pooch and the RN was exceedingly lucky bur neither came out of this at all well imho. Towed array should have had that boat pinpointed way, way before it got that close unless the sub knew something it shouldn't do about approaches to its close-in blind-spots and came in real (ie a bit too...) ballsy trying to exploit them.
There's lots we will never know about this incident (such as how long had Northumberland been streaming the array after its last turn) so most of the above is surmise, but the RN will be VERY redfaced about letting a hostile boat get that close, and we also will never have any idea whether she came home intact or curtailed. The latter would be a VERY serious breach indeed if the Ruskies went home with the tail.

A study of the exploits of RN (especially, naturally) and USN submarines during the Cold War reveals almost incredible tales of derring-do right up in the USSR's backyard; trailing their latest surface ships ten/twenty feet below their hulls (How visible is that to anyone looking over the stern?) to photograph propellors and sensors in the Barent's Sea, right off Murmansk!

Russian nuc submarines back then had the sound signature of a freight train while NATO's were by comparison all but silent.
The Russians have since caught up, big time.

We now need to be seriously worried about their subs' capabilities, as this incident shows.

How very Tom Clancy. BZ.

 

[capnsensible]

We did have a marine division.

Everyone needs a marching band.

 

[penfold]

The Navy lost that capability several decades ago.

Frigates don't "fight off" submarines and haven't done for decades either, they desperately try to avoid being noticed by them and generally fail.
The question is more like whether a sub wants to reveal its presence known by smoking a mere frigate, depending on it's ambitions.

However this looks very like a reversion to the old Cold War tactics of snooping at ultra-close range or even an attempt to cut the sonar away. Regardless, either way the sub seems to have screwed the pooch and the RN was exceedingly lucky bur neither came out of this at all well imho. Towed array should have had that boat pinpointed way, way before it got that close unless the sub knew something it shouldn't do about approaches to its close-in blind-spots and came in real (ie a bit too...) ballsy trying to exploit them.
There's lots we will never know about this incident (such as how long had Northumberland been streaming the array after its last turn) so most of the above is surmise, but the RN will be VERY redfaced about letting a hostile boat get that close, and we also will never have any idea whether she came home intact or curtailed. The latter would be a VERY serious breach indeed if the Ruskies went home with the tail.

A study of the exploits of RN (especially, naturally) and USN submarines during the Cold War reveals almost incredible tales of derring-do right up in the USSR's backyard; trailing their latest surface ships ten/twenty feet below their hulls (How visible is that to anyone looking over the stern?) to photograph propellors and sensors in the Barent's Sea, right off Murmansk!

Russian nuc submarines back then had the sound signature of a freight train while NATO's were by comparison all but silent.
The Russians have since caught up, big time.

We now need to be seriously worried about their subs' capabilities, as this incident shows.

Did you read a different story? After listening to the russian sub for some time the T23 closed in to allow the deaf and blind benevolent society the chance to hear the offwatch singing in the mess, possibly a miscalculation as Marko Ignoramius then collided with the tail, probably by accident rather than design; either way the RN are there to keep the opposition under observation, which is what they were doing.

 

[jamie N]

Was it a Russian candidate failing his 'Perisher'?

 

[sarabande]

If I wanted to disable a hostile surface vessel's trailed sensor gear, I would hit the delicate electronics with 8000 tonnes of submarine. Perhaps we ought to add a contact explosive device to discourage other ramming attacks.

Analogous to dealing with the orca problem eating rudders ?

 

[LONG_KEELER]

As an aside.

Somewhere, something is going wrong...........

But for the grace............

Maritime News from around the world - FleetMon Maritime News

 

[capnsensible]

This article might be informative to some. Although the description of putin might be a tad......overboard.

"Verify Range to Target - One Ping Only" - HMS NORTHUMBERLAND and the Russians...

 

[Halo]

As usual we veer off and fail to answer the OPs question.
My suggestion for the answer would be to sink it with a torpedo - if such things are still viable

 

[penfold]

I'd stand off and lob a Sub-Harpoon at them; you can still torpedo them if you want but it's a bit old hat and means you need to get close enough that they can attack you with their helicopter or ASROC etc.