Grampus-class submarine
 | This article includes alist of references,related reading,orexternal links,but its sources remain unclear because it lacksinline citations.(February 2013) |
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Grampusclass |
| Operators |  Royal Navy
 Kriegsmarine |
| Preceded by | River class |
| Succeeded by | T class |
| In commission | 1933—1945 |
| Completed | 6 |
| Lost | 5 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 293 ft (89 m) |
| Beam | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Draught | 16 ft 10 in (5.13 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft, diesel (3,300 hp; 2,500 kW) plus electric (1,630 hp; 1,220 kW) |
| Speed |
|
| Complement | 59 |
| Armament |
|
TheGrampus-class submarineswere a group ofminelayingsubmarinesbuilt for theRoyal Navyin the late 1930s. These boats are sometimes referred to as thePorpoiseclassfrom the single prototype, HMSPorpoisebuilt in 1932. Five boats to a modified design were built between 1936 and 1938. The ships were all named after marine mammals.
Design
[edit]Thenaval mineswere stored in a special "gallery" with a conveyor belt built into the outer casing as pioneered by the convertedM-class submarineHMSM3.These boats were of asaddle tanktype.
Service
[edit]Boats of this class were used extensively in theMediterranean,particularly as part ofthe supply effortto thebesieged island of Maltain a service nicknamed the "magic carpet".
Only one,HMSRorqual,survived the war.
Boats in class
[edit]| Ship | Builder | Launched | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMSPorpoise(N14) | Vickers,Barrow | 30 August 1932 | Sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Malacca straits, 16 January 1945. |
| HMSGrampus(N56) | Chatham Dockyard | 25 February 1936 | Sunk by Italian torpedo boatsCirceandCliooff Sicily 16 June 1940. |
| HMSNarwhal(N45) | Vickers,Barrow | 29 August 1935 | Sunk 30 July 1940 by German aircraft near Norway. |
| HMSRorqual(N74) | Vickers,Barrow | 21 July 1936 | Arrived Newport to be broken up 17 March 1946. |
| HMSCachalot(N83) | Scotts | 2 December 1937 | Sunk by Italian torpedo boatGenerale Achille Papaoff Cyrenaica 30 July 1941. |
| HMSSeal(N37) | Chatham Dockyard | 27 September 1938 | Captured by the Germans in theKattegat4 May 1940 after sustaining mine damage, commissioned as theUB,scuttled 3 May 1945, but later raised and scrapped. |
References
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toGrampus class submarine.
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
- - page from U-boat.net
- - page from rnsubs.co.uk