HMS ''Snapper'' was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for 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 ...

. Completed in 1935, the boat participated in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. ''Snapper'' is one of the 12 boats named in the song " Twelve Little S-Boats".

Design and description

The second batch of S-class submarines were designed as slightly improved and enlarged versions of the earlier boats of the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

and were intended to operate in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

s.Harrison, Chapter 16 The submarines had a length of

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

, a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a mean draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged.Chesneau, p. 49 The S-class submarines had a crew of 40 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of .McCartney, p. 6 For surface running, the boats were powered by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. When submerged each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate for ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the second-batch boats had a range of at and at submerged. The S-class boats were armed with six 21-inch (533 mm)

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 in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm)

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

Construction and career

Ordered on 16 June 1933, ''Snapper'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 18 September 1933 at HM Dockyard, Chatham and was launched on 25 October 1934. The boat was completed on 14 June 1935. ''Snapper'' spent most of her career in home waters. She was mistakenly attacked by a British aircraft when returning to Harwich after a patrol in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. Although suffering a direct hit, ''Snapper'' escaped damage. She went on to sink the small German

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cru ...

, the German merchant ''Florida'', the German auxiliary minesweepers M 1701 / ''H. M. Behrens'' and M 1702 / ''Carsten Janssen'', the German armed trawler V 1107 / ''Portland'' and the Norwegian merchant ''Cygnus''. She also attacked the German armed merchant cruiser , but the torpedoes missed their target.

Sinking

She left the

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

on 29 January 1941 to patrol in the Bay of Biscay. She should have arrived in her patrol area on 1 February. She was ordered to remain on station until 10 February and then to return with her escort. ''Snapper'' failed to make the rendezvous with the escort and was not heard from again. It is believed that she met her fate through a

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

or that she was mortally damaged by a

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

which attacked a submarine in ''Snappers area on 11 February, although ''Snapper'' should have been out of the area by then. Other sources report that the S-class submarine was depth charged and sunk in the Bay of Biscay south west of

Ouessant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

Finistère Finistère (, ; br, Penn-ar-Bed ) is a department of France in the extreme west of Brittany. In 2019, it had a population of 915,090.

, France () by the German minesweepers , and with the loss of all 41 crew.
wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg

Citations

References

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snapper (39S) British S-class submarines (1931) Missing submarines of World War II 1934 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Lost submarines of the United Kingdom Submarines lost with all hands Maritime incidents in February 1941 World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Ships built in Chatham Submarines sunk by German warships