The British V-class submarine (officially "''U-Class Long hull 1941–42 programme''") was a
class of
submarines built 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 ...
during 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 ...
.
History
Forty-two vessels were ordered to this design, all to be built by
Vickers-Armstrong
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...
at either
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...
or at
Walker-on-Tyne, but only 22 were completed. Note that seven of these vessels received 'U' names (conversely, four of the U class had received names beginning with 'V').
The V-class submarines were very similar to the preceding
U-class (short-hull) boats, of which they constituted a linear development, but had 3/4-inch pressure hull plating instead of 1/2-inch for deeper diving, also a lengthened stern and fining at the bows to reduce noise and improve underwater handling.
They were sometimes referred to as ''Vampire''-class submarines after .
Vampire-class Submarines
/ref>
It was one of this class, , that would go down in history as the only submarine to sink another submarine while submerged - that submarine was the German .
Ships
The vessels which were ordered are shown below in their programme order (not all completed construction):
The first eight vessels were ordered on 5 December 1941 under that year's programme.
*
*
* , completed as ''Pipinos'' (Y8)
*
*
*
*
*
The next eighteen vessels were ordered on 21 May 1942 under that year's programme, but six of these were cancelled in early 1944.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* , completed as
* , completed as HNoMS ''Utsira''
* , transferred to Greece in 1945 as
* , completed as
*cancelled
* HMS ''Veto'' (P88), cancelled 23 January 1944 and scrapped on the slip
* HMS ''Virile'' (P89), cancelled 23 January 1944 and scrapped on the slip
* HMS ''Visitant'' (P91), cancelled 23 January 1944 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Upas'' (P92), cancelled February 1944 and scrapped on the slip
* HMS ''Ulex'' (P93), cancelled February 1944 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Utopia'' (P94), cancelled February 1944 (never laid down)
*
*
A further six vessels were ordered on 17 November 1942 under the same year's programme, but four of these were cancelled on 23 January 1944.
*
*
*cancelled
* HMS ''Vantage'', cancelled 23 January 1944 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Vehement'' (P25), cancelled 23 January 1944 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Venom'' (P27), cancelled 23 January 1944 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Verve'' (P28), cancelled 23 January 1944 (never laid down)
Finally, a further ten vessels were ordered under the 1943 Programme, but all of these were cancelled on 20 November 1943; eight of these were never given names.
*cancelled
* HMS ''Unbridled'' (P11), cancelled 20 November 1943 (never laid down)
* HMS ''Upward'' (P16), cancelled 20 November 1943 (never laid down)
* Eight more unnamed boats
Notes
References
*
{{WWII British ships
V