HMS Spearfish (69S)
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | S-class submarine |
| Name: | HMS Spearfish |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead |
| Laid down: | 23 May 1935 |
| Launched: | 21 April 1936 |
| Commissioned: | 11 December 1936 |
| Fate: | Sunk 1 August 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 670 tons surfaced 960 tons submerged |
| Length: | 208 ft 9 in (63.6 m) |
| Beam: | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Twin diesel/electric |
| Speed: | 13.75 knots surfaced 10 knots submerged |
| Complement: | 39 officers and men |
| Armament: | 6 x forward 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 12 torpedoes one three-inch gun one .303-calibre machine gun |
HMS Spearfish was a Royal Navy S-class submarine which was launched April 21, 1936 and fought in World War II. Spearfish is one of 12 boats named in the song Twelve Little S-Boats. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named Spearfish.
Her wartime career started inauspiciously, when on the 24th September, 1939, she was heavily damaged by German warships off Horns Reef. She was unable to submerge but nevertheless managed to escape. A rescue mission was undertaken by the British Humber force and Home Fleet, including the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal, and the battleship HMS Nelson, which performed escort duty whilst search and rescue attempts were made. Spearfish safely put in Rosyth on the 26th, and repairs were completed in early March 1940.
Another notable action occurred on April 4, 1940, when whilst patrolling in the Kattegat when she torpedoed and damaged the German pocket battleship Lützow, putting her out of action for over a year. Later that year, on May 20, she sunk two Danish fishing vessels with gunfire in the North Sea.[1].
Spearfish sailed from Rosyth on July 31 1940 to patrol off the Norwegian coast. On August 1 she was spotted on the surface by U34 who attacked and sank her. There was only one survivor.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ HMS Spearfish, Uboat.net
- ^ Submarine losses 1904 to present day, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
[edit] See also
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