HMS ''Auriga'' (P419/S69), was an of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, built by Vickers Armstrong and launched 29 March 1945.

Design

''Auriga'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. It had a total length of , a beam of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Admiralty ML eight-cylinder diesel engines generating each. Four electric motors each producing drove two shafts. It could carry a maximum of of diesel, although it usually carried between . The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . When submerged, it could operate at for or at for . Surfaced, it could travel at or at . Armament was ten

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s, one

QF 4 inch naval gun Mk XXIII The QF 4-inch gun Mark XXIII was introduced in late 1945 as a deck gun for Royal Navy submarines. It was the last type of gun to be fitted to British submarines, finally being retired in 1974. Development and service Development of the Mark XXII ...

, one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, and a

.303 British The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a calibre rimmed rifle cartridge. The .303 inch bore diameter is measured between rifling lands as is the common practice in Europe which follows th ...

Vickers machine gun The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...

. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bow and stern, and it could carry twenty torpedoes. Its complement was sixty-one crew members.

Service history

In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In March 1961, the submarine was among the vessels that took part in a combined naval exercise with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

off

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. ''Auriga'' departed Canada on 25 April 1961 after completing an 18-month tour with the Sixth Submarine Division at

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

References

Publications

External links

Pictures of HMS Auriga at MaritimeQuest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auriga (P419) Amphion-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1945 ships