HMS Porpoise (S01)
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Porpoise
BuilderVickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness
Launched25 April 1956
Commissioned17 April 1958
Decommissioned1982
FateSunk as a target in 1985
General characteristics
Class and typePorpoise class submarine
Displacement
  • 2,080 tons surfaced
  • 2,450 tons submerged
Length290 ft (88 m)
Beam26 ft 7 in (8.10 m)
Draught18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × Admiralty Standard range diesel generators, 1,650 hp (1.230 MW)
  • 2 × English Electric main motors, 12,000 hp (8.95 MW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed
  • 12 kn (22 km/h) surfaced
  • 17 kn (31 km/h)submerged
Range9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement71
Armament

HMS Porpoise (S01) was a Porpoise-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 25 April 1956, commissioned on 17 April 1958,[1] and was decommissioned in 1982. Finally, she was sunk as a target in 1985[2] in torpedo trials, for which purpose she was painted bright red.

She had been used as a training target while still serving with the Navy; in 1979 her casing, ballast tanks and vents were reinforced so that unarmed torpedoes could be fired at her without the risk of sinking.

In 2000, a glacier in East Greenland was named after her

Commanding officers

FromToCaptain
19651966Lieutenant Commander G R H Lloyd-Williams RN
19771977Lieutenant Commander MJ Syme RN
19781979Lieutenant Commander J L Milnes RN
19791981Lt Commander N S R Kilgour CB

Accidents and incidents

Notable accidents involving HMS Porpoise
  • 18 October 1963: Suffers superficial damage departing Portsmouth harbor after colliding with the aircraft carrier HMS Centaur.
  • 1 January 1969 - Entangled in the nets of the French trawler Belle Poule.
  • 18 April 1982 - HMS Porpoise became entangled in the fishing nets of the Irish trawler Sharelga. The Sharelga, after travelling backwards two miles for twenty minutes, capsized and sank.[3]
A model of HMS Porpoise

References

  1. ↑ Submarines of The Royal Navy. Maritime Books. 1983. ISBN 0-907771-00-9.
  2. ↑ "Porpoise Class Submarines". Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
  3. ↑ "The day 'Sharelga' was sunk by a sub" The Irish Independent.
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