We were very lucky to get these photos when we did. The HMAS Otama was a Oberon Class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) from 1978 to 2000. Not much is known about its time in service, except it was extremely important and that it was more of a spy submarine than an attack submarine (Wikipedia).
It was retired from service in 2000 and became the first and only spy submarine in the world to have been privately bought. It was bought by the Victorian Maritime Centre in 2001 (Wikipedia). They planned to bring it up to a purpose built dry dock where it could be restored and put on public display. However, the VMC never got sufficient funds to build the dry dock by the time the Otama was confiscated by the RAN for scrapping in October 2022. The reason for confiscation may relate to it being a hazard or environmental risk especially during severe weather.
Apparently, it cost more to confiscate and carry the submarine than the money it would recover from scrapping, and costing more than building a dry dock for it.
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