British Submarines 1939–45

·British Submarines 1939-45

Illustr.ateo

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION

3

THE S-CLASS SUBMARINE

4

,. El~9 de sign (Group I ) ,. 193 1 des i ~n (Group II ) ,. 1939 a nd su bseq uent War Program m e d esigns (Group III ) INNES MCCARTNEY is an historian and nautical

THE T-CLASS SUBMARINE

8

lectures widely on a number of

· 1935 design (Group I) ,. 1939 Wa r Pro gram me d esig n (Grou p It) • 194 0 Wa r Pro gram m e d esi gn (Group III)

as sociated subjects. A passion for shipwrecks has le d t o

THE U-CLASS SUBMARINE

archaeologist, specializing in 20th-century naval vesse ls . He

some famous discoverie s, including the submarine M1 and the battlecruiser HMS In d efatigable. Hi s previous

,. 1936 d esign (Group I) ,. 1939 and subse quen t w ar ,. v-Class (Group III )

EJTl e r~e n cy

13 design (Gro up II )

book, Lost Patrols, detailed his uncovering the 121 submarines sunk in the English Channel. He lives and wori<s in Penzance, Cornwall.

OTHER BRITISH SUBMARINE CLASSES

17

,. I f-Class ,. LClass ,. I'm jmisp

,. Gra m pus-C lass ,. 0-, P- and Re-lasse s ,. River-Class

OPERATIONS, 1939-40

20

,. The 'p h o n ey' wa r ,. The No rwa y ca mpai gn

THE MEDITERRANEAN

23

,. war with Italv TONY BRYAN is

a freelance

illustrator of many years' experience. He initially

• The battle s o f Ma lta an d the convoys ,. Operatio n T orch to O peration lhHky ,. Sici ly to the end of the war in th e Med ite r ra n ean

qualified in Engineering and w ori<ed for a number of years in Military Research and Development , and ha s a keen interest in military h ar dware - armour, small arms, aircraft and ships . Tony has produced many

THE FAR EAST

BIBLIOGRAPHY

45

COLOUR PLATE COMMENTARY

46

INDEX

48

illustrations f or partwcrks, magazines and books, in clUding a number of titles in the New Van gu a r d series.

40

,. O utbreak of war with Japan to 1943 ,. T h e Far East in 1943 to March 1945 ,. T he final assau lt on J»pao

N e w Vanguard · 129

British Submarines

1939-45

Innes McCar tn ey . Illust rated by To ny Br yan

First p ut>isl1ed " Grea t Bfltai n ,, 2006 by Osp<ey Pctl i""ing,

Acknowledgements

M<Jlon.Je Sooth, New Vonmame Museu m TOt thoe
Paterm. Ad, 1986. no part Of tlUS P

FOf a s design had proven irs worth. Ho wever; before more we re ordere d , th e oppornmitv was taken to modify and upgrade some aspects of th e des ign . Prima rily, in te rnal a mmge me nts were simplified and m aint e na nce proced u res and routine s were ma de easier. TIle supe rstructure forward ....

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y" before: the subma rin es arrived . In this way, it made eac h int erccpuou look as if air reconnaissa n r -e had d e tected th e con voys. A notable in tell ige nce- led suc cess involve d the "ink ing o f th e 11,40(}·to n ( 11,582-10 IllW) tro op shi p l-s perio: by Uniq ue off Tripoli in AUg"ust. 111e size and COU ThC o f (h e C()llYo y , be ing: mustere d fo r a n m to Tripol i, wa s discove red by int ellige n ce wo rk an d severa l subm a rin es we re dive rted to in tercept it. Th e convovwas well protected by aircraft and escorts a nd it was with conside rable skill th a t Vll UPH'\\~ able to acq ui re a firing position . Two esc orts actually pas..sed rig h t over the subm a ri ne d u ri ng the att ack. The battles of Malta and the convoys O n I September 1941 , th e ~I a lt a su b m ari n es wc rc organi zed in to th e ir o wn com m an d , n amed th e Tenth Flo tilla . under th e newly promot ed

Ca pt Simpson . The Te nth Flot illa wa s to beco m e th e most fam o us in the

33

34

h istory o f British sub marines. It is so beri n g lO co ns id e r th at it suffered th e h ig-lH:st rate of lo sses. T h e successes of the leg endary ' Figh Ling Te n th' we re in no sma ll pan d o wn to th e e xce lle nt wo rk of ..h e in telligence ann , which again d iscovered the sa iling time, co m positio n and rou te of an o th e r importa nt COll\u y in Septem ber, After confirma tion of th e departure ha d be e n received by a ir, Simpson sta tio n ed Uplwld" , Upright. Un1JffI.(nl a nd Ursula across th e likely track o f the (Oll\u y. It co n tained th ree la rge troo pships. Oceania; Sepl ullw a nd \ 'u/.c(m ia, pa cked with sold iers, a nd wa s escorted by six d estroyers. Unbrolm fo u nd the eOll\u~' a nd mad e- a coruact report, be fo re fol1 O\~i ng the eon\'o~' in a n attemp t to close ra nge . Uphoidh wa s beuer situa ted and with a torpedo each fro m a full sp rea d o f four. h it the overlap p ing O( I'(I1I;a and S rpl ll ll in, the lauer sh ip sin king at once wh ile the othe r sto pped. t iplwldn' reloaded an d finished off OOXl1Iia jmt be fo re Unbf'alm arrived to do th e same jo b. \ ulmnia was m i-to n n e ) fre igh ter, In th e same mo nth , Upholder"..a s successful aga in , ~i n l;i ng its second sub marin e in th ree months wh en Tncheco was hi t o ff Brin d isi by two o ut of four to rpedoes fired, :\ major success was ac hi eved by Urgr at the beg in n ing o f Ap ril, wh en it hit the cru iser Bande X ere" i th two to rped o es from lo ng ra nge , ca using it to sink , Ho weve r; this suc cess was tem pe-red by the 10s,3 o f Upholdtro n its 2[lIb pa trol. It was d e tected subme rged by a nying bo a t covering a co n voy o ff T ripo li and d e p th charge-d by the esc ort Pt'guso, T h is was a foul b low to th e Ten th Flo tilla a n d the Ro yal :\la\'y in ge n e ra l, co ming a t a mo st d ifficu lt time , It was th e Ecboat-laid mincfic lds an d the gradual e ro sio n o f the isla nd's ai r d efenc es that p roved to be the d ecid in g facto rs . \Vith all o f The min eswe epe rs sunk, th e islan d had 10 be aban d o n ed as a bas e of o pe ra tio ns in Ap ril, wit h two sub m ari n es mi lled as they withdrew, U rf,'f! was su nk o n 27 Ap ril. It h ad j ust be en respons ib le fo r th e sin king of a r-ruise r a n d had been a su ccessful boat. Olymplls was sunk o n H May. Una "~AS th e last to leave . Overall su b ma rin e str e n g th fe ll in Ap ril to only 12 bOalS, eve n th o ugh 11 new It-Class su b marines arrived from h o me waters. Olde r boa ts h ad to be refined in Britain an d th re e submari nes o f th e Du tch force ba sed at Gib ralta r we re se nt to tbe Fa r EaM. Never theless Bri tish su b marines still manage d to sin k 117,000 to ns (11 8,872 to n n es) o f shippi ng, th e Bande NI'r(" a d es troye r a n d six submari ne s. T h e tru e p ict u re , though, was th a t th e depleted su b ma rine fo rce o n ly ma n ag ed to p reven t arou n d 6 pe r ce nt o f th e Africa KOlP S' su p plies fro m rea ch in g them, T h is was much h igher rh a n th e ach ieve me n ts o f air o r sur face fo rce s. fo r wh ich th e lo ss of Ma lta was more se rious. La rge r su bma ri nes we re still being used to co nvey d e speratel y needed su p plies 10 Malta .

35

With the Mediterranean baulefleet o u t of act io n , the suppl y co nvoys to Malta n eeded advan ce n o tice of any in cu rsion by the Itali an ma in flee t, so submarin es we re po sted o utside th e Italia n Navy's main anchorages. In March , this stra tegy worked when P36 wa rned tha t the Itali an b anleflee t ha d se t out from Taranto a nd g<we th e first ind icatio n of iL
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Sicily to th e end of th e war in the Mediterranean Wilh th e d estruction o f th e Axis in North Africa, th e Mediterranean central zone fell int o to tal Allied control fo r th e first tim e in the wa r. Convoys co uld n ow he rou ted th rou gh th e Suez Canal. easin g the sup p ly chain to the Far E.a.~L Th i... e nabled the subma rine force in the Medi terranean to prepare fo r O pe ra tio n 11r'-Ik)', [he inva sion o f Sicily. With [he Axis in full retrea t at sea, the subma rines co uld fulfil a valuable strategic role as th eir p rimal')' task, wh ile still a ttac king sh ip p ing.

38

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On 10 J uly 1 9 "'~ , the la rge"1 amphibious o pe ratio n unde rta ken up 10 that da le wac; lau nched u pon Sicily. Th e maj o rity o f the combined Allied su bma rine force sup ported the landing>. The ro le o f submarin es in this operation took several guises. O ne , wh ich h ad be en go ing on fo r severa l weeks p reced ing the land ings, was the reco n n aissan ce a nd survey o f me landi ng area . This oft e n involved not only su r vey by periscope. but abo m e landing o f e nginee rs to test th e softn ess o f sand , g rad ient o f be ac h, location of obstacles e tc. A" ....-ith Operatio n Tmrh, th e su bma rines we re ad d itionally used as beacons TO guide the landing craft to the rig ht beach objectives. Suc h was rh c d o m in atio n o f th e sea by Allie d su b ma rines at th is lime , th a t th ey no t o n ly accomplished th e tasks re q u ired fo r Hu~ky, bu t th ey also in creased the rate of . .in kings o f Axis sh ip p ing , In J u ly th ree Ital ian subm arines we re su nk, along with so me smaller naval cra ft and seve n m erchant sh ips. After th e capture of Sicily, lhe British su b mar ine presence in th e Medi terr a ne a n went into decli ne . Pla ns were alread y afo ot to transfer SUIne of the for t-e to rhe Fa r East. In July, eight su bmarines were so moved . When Italy surrende re d in Se p te mber, th e Algiers Flo tilla was sent to th e Far East. T hi s le ft two small Fl otillas of subm a rines 10 m o p u p the re main ing Axis sh ip p in g off France a n d in the Aegean. Fro m Opcrauou /lusk} until th e e nd of 1943, five British su b mari nes were su n k. T h e sub mari ne campaign in the Mediterran ean effec uvelv e nded ill Oc tober 19 -14 . During the late r- phase, the su b marines th at took pall WtTC fo r th e most p art n ewer (0 th e M editerranean a nd were co mmanded by m o r t.' recently co m missio n ed officers. T h ey proved n uh lesslv successful ill o pe ration , sin kin g a r le ast 53 .000 to ns (53,8--1-8 to n nes) ofAxis sh ip p ing and severa l sma lle r nava l vessels. Mo reover; they subj ected man y shore-based ta rge ts to th e dec k h'1.lll. This level o f suc cess came at th e 10 {"a... mined off ljvadia Islan d in th e G re ek Isles in June .

In J anuary 1943. HM S Un ited ~

pa ;cj for sinking the by be ing

~tl'O)'ff 80mbardieri

hunted for 36 ho urs. Ne ar t o sul'foeat ion. many of the c rew _ slc k when the hatch was

f inall t opened t o fresh ai r.

Loo king at the Medite rra nea n cam paign owrull. some interesting points co me to light. T he Allies lost 49 submarines , of which aro und 2:{ were lost to surface forces, 21 to mines an d one to a submarine . Aircraft. sank possibly o ne a t sea, and destroyed three in ha rbo ur at Malta. Loss sta tistics rem ain fluid , because so few of the wrecks h ~ln_' been fo un d and large portio ns of the Axis a nti-sub marine rcconls a pJX'ar inacc ura te or simply do not e xist. Post-war rese a rch has added gr cawr accuracy to some 10000es, especia lly whe re details of th e loc a tions of mineficlds have co me to lig-hl, bu t the possibility of submarine accidents and unrepor ted events ca n no t be ru led out. Xecenheless. some broad co nclusions can be drawn. 111e Axis is thought to have laid aro und 55,000 m in es in the Mediterranean . The successes a g-.l.in st Allied submarines by this effort m ade it certainly wo rt hwh ile. It compan's \ '('11' favo urabl y with Allied m in ing stat istics in home wate rs. An } co mparison sho uld be trea ted with ca ution, ho....'eve r; because th ere was compara tively littl e Axis subm a rine activi ty around British sho r es until late 19-14 . T he Italia n surface forces claimed around 23 Allied subma rines. Ea rle o n , som e we re caught on the su rface. H yd rophone-eq uipped escort" sank ei ght, but the majority were hunted to d estru ctio n using Asdic and de pth charge-s, with which the Italians became mo re ex pert as the war pro gressed. Germa n uni ts ah lv ass isted th e m la te r. Wh ile Allied su bmarine" sa nk 19 Axis submarines . th e :\xi" U-boats san k only o ne Allied submarine. All of th e Axis subma rines Slink were to rped oed while n mning o n th e surface, mostly in daylig ht. Th e way in whic h British subma rines were opera ted in th is theatre e xplain s wh~' the losses were , W a nd the older CJyoJt

T""""" F at e s of t he 1Jndi~

Unity

U>k Undaumed Ump«e Union

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, 0 April 1940: sun k by German surface forces off Norway 10 Apri l 1940: sun k by German submarine U4 off Skudenses 15 OCtober 1940 : sunk by the Italian submarine Enrico Tori off Cape CoIonne 18 Dece mber 1940: sunk by lta lian sortace forces off Taranto OCtober 1941: mined off Sicily or Cavo li January 1942: probably rraneo off Cape Souni on 13 Feb ruary 1942 : sunk by Italian surface forces off Taranto 7 August 1942: sunk by Italian surface forces off Tobru k 17 Sept ember 194 2: mi ned off Sicily 4 December 1942: p robably min ed off Taranto January 1943: probably m ined off Madda lena 27 February 1943 : sunk by German surface forces off Naples March 1943 : probably mined off Sard inia raiSed after 1939 acciden t, rena med and sunk by Italian surface forces 011 Messina Strail., 14 March 1943 October 1943: unknown loss , probably mined in Aegean

u-ct e e s boats 7 January 1940: attacked by German surface forces and sc vttied 011 Heilgoland 29 ApliI 1940 : col lision off the Tyne April 1941 : mined off Cape Bon 13 May 194 1: mined off Tripol i 19 July 194 1: col lision off the Wash 20 July 1941 : sunk by Italian surtace forces off Pantellaria August 1941: mined off Tripol i 18 August 1941 : sunk by It alian surface foeces 011 Pantellaria 23 Februa ry 1942 : sunk by ltaJian surface forces 011 Tripoli 26 March 1942: sunk b y enemy aircraft in Malta 1 ApliI1942: sunk by enem y aircraft in Malt a 14 Apri l 1942: sunk by Italian surface fo rces 011 Tripo li 28 Apri l 1942: mined east of Malta October 1942: loss unknown in the Atlantic 11 November 1942 : acciderrtal ly SUflk by Alli ed airc raft in BISCay 25 November 1942 : sunk by Italian surface forc es west of Sic ily 25 Dece mber 1942 : sunk by Italian su rrace forc es off Tunis 24 Feb ruary 1943: fou ndered due to unknown cause 011 the C lyde 30 May 1943 : fou ndered off the Clyde, salvaged and refitted as Vita/ity, sold for sc rap 1946 3 October 1943: sunk by German surface forces off La Sp ez.a

Fate s of oth er cla s s e s Oxley

5 ea, Odin Gram pu s Orp heus Phoenix

NaIWhal Tham es Oswald Rainbow H49 Regulus

Cachalot H31

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PS14

PS15 Pwthian P,;ne when comm issioned to HM S Slorm. He h ad an out$landing career. After the WM he wrote 0 ... ot Our Submarines about his e_perienc es.. It is wid 1939 and W.1f EUll' r.';ellC)' .I.·sigu (Gro u p II) 15----17 Y-Cla.~s (G rou p Ill ) 17

numbering of submarines 16

11\15 Sml i(m 6. 19 , R (26, -Hl)

H\IS S/OOfl 6 IIM S Slu~" 5. 20. :!3 H\IS SWQrrljilh 5. R (26. '16 ) H \ 15 Tall.~-ll() '10, 4 1, 4 1 H \ IS Trwm,\ 39,40,41 II \IS "letrmad w s A (25. 46) . 42 H\ IS TI""/l III'T 9, 12, 33 II \ IS '/ Qrl>a.y 9.35

quick diving l,m k (Q ta n k) 1·1

T'Classsubm arin r- R----13. I I. 14, Ke rsh aw, 1.1J- R. d e B. 33

Linton, Cd r j , W. 'Tuh by' :'>7

F (31. -17). 47

patrolsubmarines -1, 9 , 13. 1i. HI, 19 p ho ney war 20-2 1

Japan -10- 13

Gibraltar F1 o ti11" 36 Gram plL.,.( :I;ISS sub marine IH- 19

11.\IS .'5tflmon 21) H .\IS .V al 21, E (30 , -17 )

1'44 .st't' I1\ IS Un iW

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o-o.c. subm a ri n e

I I , 19 O pera tio n IlwJry 36-37. 38 O p e ra tio n Pl'fk.sla { 36 Operation Tm,h 3fi.-37,3R op..rations 1939-10 2 0-~2 other sub ma ri ne classes 17- [9 , E (:\11. 47) p..Cl ass suh m.u;ne I I . 19

( U..(J ass G ro up III ) 17 vic toria Cms~,