 | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | S class |
| Preceded by | Rainbow class |
| Succeeded by | River class |
| Completed | 62 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
TheS-class submarines of theRoyal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of thesubmarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of theNorth Sea and theMediterranean Sea, replacing theBritish H-class submarines. As part of the major naval construction for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, the S class became the single largest group of submarines ever built for the Royal Navy. A total of 62 were constructed over a period of 15 years, with fifty of the "improved" S class being launched between 1940 and 1945.
At the start of the Second World War the S class was together with the BritishU andT class, DutchO 21 class and GermanType VII one of the most advanced submarine classes in service at the time.[1]
The submarines operated in the waters around theUnited Kingdom and in theMediterranean, and later in the Far East after being fitted with extra tankage.
After the war S-class boats continued to serve in the Royal Navy until the 1960s. The last operational boat in the Royal Navy wasSea Devil, launched in 1945 and scrapped in February 1966.Springer was in Israeli service as INSTanin and was decommissioned in 1972.
Several S-class submarines were sold on or lent to other navies:
A modified version was ordered by the Turkish navy in 1939 as theOruç Reis class.
Of the twelve S-class boats that were in service in 1939, only three survived to see the end ofWorld War II, a loss rate that inspired the song "Twelve Little S-Boats", based on anursery rhyme originally written bySeptimus Winner in 1868:[4]
The survivors, left blank in the fatalistic rhyme, wereHMSSealion (scuttled),HMSSeawolf (broken up), andHMSSturgeon (sold).
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | First group |
| Completed | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 202 ft 6 in (61.72 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 36 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
The first group of S-class submarines consisted of four boats. They were smaller and slower than later classes, and carried less armament, but could be crewed by fewer men. All four were built at Chatham Dockyard, between 1930 and 1932. During the war, they operated in home waters, particularly theEnglish Channel, and off the Scandinavian coast. The later second and third groups of S-class submarines would have their fuel capacity expanded to allow them to operate further and overcome this limitation.
The mortality rate of these early boats was particularly high. Only one, HMSSturgeon, survived to the end of the war.
Boats:
Two ordered under the 1929 Construction Programme:
Two ordered under the 1930 Construction Programme:
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Second group |
| Completed | 8 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 208 ft 9 in (63.63 m) |
| Beam | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
| Draught | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 39 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
The second group of S-class submarines consisted of eight boats. They were larger than the preceding first group and required more men to crew but carried a similar armament. Construction was divided between Chatham Dockyard, and the yards ofScotts, ofGreenock andCammell Laird & Co Limited, ofBirkenhead. All the boats were built between 1934 and 1937. During the war, they, like the submarines of the first group, mostly operated in home waters, ranging as far afield as the Bay of Biscay and the Scandinavian coast. One, HMSSunfish, was assigned to the Soviet Navy (namedV-1) and was sunk by friendly aircraft on the transfer route from Dundee toMurmansk. Group Two boats had their fuel capacity increased to a maximum of 72 long tons (73 t) which increased range to 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[5]
A large percentage of these submarines were also lost during the war. Only two, HMSSealion and HMSSeawolf, survived to the end of the war.
Boats:
Two ordered under the 1931 Construction Programme:
Two ordered under the 1932 Construction Programme:
One ordered under the 1933 Construction Programme:
Two ordered under the 1934 Construction Programme:
One ordered under the 1935 Construction Programme:
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Third group |
| Completed | 50 (excluding cancelled boats) |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 217 ft (66 m) |
| Beam | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) |
| Draught | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 49 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
The third and by far the most numerous group of S-class submarines consisted of 50 boats. They were the largest and most heavily armed of the S class and required more men to crew. They were one knot faster on the surface, but two knots slower when submerged. Most of the group were built at the yards of eitherScotts, ofGreenock orCammell Laird & Co Limited, ofBirkenhead, with a handful being built at Chatham, or byVickers Armstrongs Ltd, ofBarrow-in-Furness. Construction was carried out throughout the war, particularly between 1941 and 1945. Equipped with a greater fuel capacity, of up to 98 long tons, than their predecessors, they operated much further afield, in theMediterranean and in thePacific.[6]
There were two distinct subgroups. The first were boats of 842 tons, comprising those ordered under the 1939 War Emergency, 1940 and 1941 Programmes (exceptSea Devil andScotsman), plusSturdy andStygian of the 1942 Programme; these carried an external sterntorpedo tube in addition to the six bow tubes. The second subgroup were boats of 814 tons, comprisingSea Devil andScotsman of the 1941 Programme, plus those ordered under the 1942 and 1943 Programmes (exceptSturdy andStygian); these carried no external torpedo tube, but had a thicker welded pressure hull providing for an operational depth limit of 350 feet (110 m) - compared with the 300 feet (91 m) limit in the first subgroup.
Losses continued to be high. Nine boats;P222,Saracen,Sahib,Sickle,Simoom,Splendid,Stonehenge,Stratagem andSyrtis were lost during the war, andShakespeare andStrongbow were so badly damaged that they were written off and scrapped. Many surviving boats remained in service after the war.Sportsman, by now transferred to the French Navy, was lost off Toulon in 1952 andSidon was sunk after a torpedo malfunction in 1955.
Boats:
Five ships were ordered under the 1939 War Emergency Programme.
Twenty boats were ordered under the 1940 Programme. These differed from the initial five by having an externalstern torpedo tube fitted, also a20 mm Oerlikon AA gun andair warning RDF installed.
Fifteen boats were ordered under the 1941 Programme.
Thirteen boats were ordered under the 1942 Programme.
Eight boats were ordered under the 1943 Programme, but only four were completed. The other four submarines was cancelled after the war ended in 1945, and they became surplus to peacetime requirements.
Several S-class submarines were sold on or lent to other navies.[7]
From the First group:
From the Second group
From the Third group
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