A dry deck shelter (DDS) is a removable module that can be attached to a submarine to allow divers easy exit and entrance while the boat is submerged. The host submarine must be specially modified to accommodate the shelter, with the appropriate mating hatch configuration, electrical connections, and piping for ventilation, divers' air, and draining water. The shelter can be used to deploy SEAL Delivery Vehicle submersibles, Navy divers, or Combat Rubber Raiding Craft.
Active and future DDS-capable submarines
Royal Navy British dry deck shelters are formally known as Special Forces Payload Bays and were procured under "Project Chalfont". Training is conducted at the purpose-built Chalfont Shore Facility, constructed by BAE Systems at HM Naval Base Clyde. It is used by the .
United States Navy The United States Navy's dry deck shelters are long and high and wide, add about 30 tons to the host submarine's submerged displacement, can be transported by trucks or C-5 Galaxy airplanes, and require one to three days to install and test. They have three HY-80 steel sections within the outer glass-reinforced plastic fairing: a spherical hyperbaric chamber at the forward end to treat injured divers; a smaller spherical transfer trunk; and a cylindrical hangar with elliptical ends. The hangar can support a SEAL Delivery Vehicle with a crew of six Navy SEALs, and a crew of Navy divers to operate the shelter and launch the Delivery Vehicle; or 20 SEALs with four Combat Rubber Raiding Craft. The SDV release team consists of 2 officers, 2 enlisted technicians, and 18 divers.
The two SEAL delivery vehicle teams report to Naval Special Warfare Group 3.
There are currently six portable dry deck shelters in use by the US Navy, the first one built by Electric Boat. The first, designated DDS-01S ("S" for starboard opening outer door), was completed in 1982. The remaining five, DDS-02P ("P" for port opening), -03P, -04S, -05S, and -06P, were built between 1987 by Newport News Shipbuilding. The shelters are maintained by a combined effort of Navy divers stationed on the teams and workers of the maintenance company Oceaneering International. They have expected useful lives of about 40 years each.
The first submarine to have an operational dry deck shelter was the , which was fitted with the shelter in 1982 and first deployed with it in 1983. It is deployed on the , the , the :, and the . The Ohio-class SSGNs are capable of supporting dual dry deck shelters.
French Navy (Marine nationale)
The French Navy's Suffren class of nuclear attack submarines, designed by the French shipbuilder Naval Group, integrate a removable dry deck shelter. It can deploy a dozen combat swimmers and embark the new PSM3G swimmer delivery vehicle.
Former DDS-capable submarines Former US Navy DDS-capable submarines include:
Note: The Benjamin Franklin-class special operations attack submarines were capable of supporting dual dry deck shelters.
Five s were also fitted to carry the DDS.
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