Class overview
Builders	Vickers
Operators	Chilean Navy
In commission	1929–1958
Completed	3
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Submarine
Displacement	Surfaced - 1540 tons Submerged - 2020 tons
Length	260 ft (79 m)
Beam	28 ft (8.5 m)
Draught	13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft diesel electric Vickers diesels: 2,750 hp (2,050 kW) Electric motors: 1,300 hp (970 kW)
Speed	Surfaced: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) Submerged: 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Crew	54
Armament	Eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern 14 torpedoes) 1 - 4.7 in (120 mm)/45 deck gun

The Capitan O'Brien class were three submarines built for the Chilean Navy in the late 1920s. They were similar to the contemporary British Odin-class submarines, but mounted a larger 4.7 in (120 mm)/45 deck gun and were slightly smaller.

Ships

All boats were built by Vickers in Barrow-in-Furness and commissioned in 1929. The builder's photograph of the Simpson gives the dimensions as 272 feet 9 inches (83.1 m) overall × 27 feet 6 inches (8.4 m) × 16 feet 6 inches (5.0 m), surface speed 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) surfaced and 9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) submerged.^[1]

The two Oberon-class submarines purchased by Chile in the 1970s were also known locally as the O'Brien class.

References

Cited works

• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
• Vickers-Armstrongs Limited (1930). The Activities of Vickers-Armstrongs Limited, naval construction works, Barrow-in-Furness. London: Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd.