The Oberons operated during the Cold War, with duties including surveillance, tracking of other ships and submarines, delivery and retrieval of special forces personnel and serving as targets for anti-submarine training. Submarines of the class were in service until 2000. As of 2015, eight of the submarines are preserved intact as museum vessels, another three are partially preserved (with some exterior portions of the submarine on display) and one is in private ownership and awaiting conversion for display. The rest have been sold for scrap, including one former museum vessel.
