The Spanish Navy shows off the inside of its submarine 'Isaac Peral' in a 360-degree video

On May 7, 2021, the Spanish Navy's S-81 submarine "Isaac Peral" was launched at the Navantia Cartagena shipyard.

The test firing of the Spanish submarine 'Isaac Peral' S-81 with its torpedo tubes
Photos of the delivery of the submarine 'Isaac Peral' S-81 to the Spanish Navy

This modern submarine entered service on November 30, 2023, and is currently one of only two active submarines in the Spanish Navy, along with the "Galerna" S-71. The "Isaac Peral" is the largest submarine the Spanish Navy has ever had, with a length of 80.81 meters, a beam of 11.68 meters, a draft of 6.77 meters, and a diameter of 7.3 meters. It has a displacement of 2,695 tons on the surface and 2,965 tons submerged.

The Isaac Peral has six torpedo tubes capable of launching German-made DM2A4 SeaHake mod4 ER torpedoes, with a diameter of 533 mm, guided by optical fiber and with a range of up to 140 kilometers. It can also launch mines and Sub Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles. The submarine can operate at a maximum speed of 12 knots on the surface and 20.5 knots submerged.

The "Isaac Peral" is powered by three 1,100 kW diesel generators and a 3,500 kW main electric motor. A 300 kW AIP system is planned for the near future. This vessel has a capacity to accommodate 48 people, with a crew of 40 (8 officers, 15 petty officers and 17 ratings), and can also carry eight soldiers from the Special Naval Warfare Force (FGNE) for special operations. The S-81 has bunks for each of those 48 people, so it does not follow the "hot bed" system in which several crew members take turns in the same bunk.

The S-81 is the first of a class of four submarines. The other three will be the "Narciso Monturiol" S-82, the "Cosme García" S-83, and the "Mateo García de los Reyes" S-84. All of them are named after famous Spanish sailors associated with submarine warfare. This afternoon, the Spanish Navy published an interesting 360º video in 4K quality that allows us to see the inside of this ship, although it does not show its torpedo bay or engine room (the video is in Spanish, you can activate automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

You can see some screenshots from this video here, along with some notes on what we see in them.

Although the video narrator doesn't mention it, what we see here are the acoustic, anti-torpedo, and anti-sonar countermeasure launchers.

The upper part of the bow of the submarine's sail, with a large compass. This position is used by the commander to steer the vessel while entering and leaving port.

The upper aft part of the submarine's sail. We see two seats and, to the right, one of the hatches that close this section during underwater navigation.

The submarine's bow deck with its hatch, which provides access to the vessel's utility area.

The submarine's bow lock seen from the inside.

The part of the passageway opposite the bow lock. On the sides are the crew cabins and at the back is the platform control, located under the sail and from where the ship is steered.

A reproduction of the "Isaac Peral" platform control, which is part of the simulator installed at the Cartagena submarine base. As we can see, it's a highly digitized control system.

---

Photos: Armada Española.