HMS Olympus (S12)

HMS ''Olympus'' was an that served in the Royal Navy, and later in the Canadian Forces as a submarine trainer.

Design and construction

The ''Oberon'' class was a direct follow on of the ''Porpoise'' class, with the same dimensions and external design, but updates to equipment and internal fittings, and a higher grade of steel used for fabrication of the pressure hull.Cocker, p. 108 and constructed from a better grade of steel.Brown, p. 285Gardiner and Chumbley, p. 530 These build differences allowed the ''Oberon''s to have a deeper diving depth at roughly .

As designed for British service, the ''Oberon''-class submarines were in length between perpendiculars and in length overall, with a beam of , and a draught of .Moore, p. 490 Displacement was standard, full load when surfaced, and full load when submerged. Propulsion machinery consisted of 2 Admiralty Standard Range 16 VMS diesel generators, and two electric motors, each driving a , 3-bladed propeller at up to 400 rpm. Top speed was when submerged, and on the surface. Eight diameter torpedo tubes were fitted (six facing forward, two aft), with a total payload of 24 torpedoes. The boats were fitted with Type 186 and Type 187 sonars, and an I-band surface search radar. The standard complement was 68: 6 officers, 62 sailors.

Construction and career

''Olympus'' was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs on 4 March 1960, and launched on 14 June 1961. The boat was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 7 July 1962. In September 1967 ''Olympus'' was among the vessels sent in search of a downed French Navy Breguet Atlantic which had been operating out of RAF Kinloss.

In April 1982, ''Olympus'' departed HMNB Devonport. It was believed at the time that she was deployed to the South Atlantic during the Falklands War. In fact, for the duration of the Falklands Conflict ''Olympus'' took in NATO exercises off the coast of Scotland.

''Olympus'' completed a two year refit at Devonport in July 1982, being fitted with a new Aluminum Fin and a 5-man swim-out chamber to aid submerged exit and entry of special forces swimmers. Following the refit, she joined the First Submarine Flotilla based at Gosport. In 1986, ''Olympus'' appeared in the popular UK Channel 4 television game show '' Treasure Hunt''. After rendezvousing with the submarine a few miles out of Plymouth Sound, presenter Anneka Rice watched on from the show's helicopter as ''Olympus'' surfaced, before landing on her hull and receiving the episode's second clue from the vessel's captain, Lt. Cmdr. John Tuckett.

Retired from the Royal Navy, ''Olympus'' was sold to the Canadian Forces in 1989 and was stationed as a non-operational training boat in Halifax, Nova Scotia.Macpherson and Barrie, p. 268 The ship was never commissioned into Canadian service and was turned over to Crown Assets for disposal on 27 April 2000.

In May 2005, the ''Halifax Chronicle-Herald'' announced that Maritime Command (MARCOM) was looking to sell ''Olympus'' and three other Canadian ''Oberon''s for scrap metal. MARCOM stated that the submarines were not in suitable condition to be used as museum ships (despite an appeal launched in 2002 to return her for display to her Barrow-in-Furness birthplace), and predicted that each submarine would sell for between C$50,000 and C$60,000.

In July 2011, ''Olympus'' started making her journey from Halifax to a scrapyard (International Marine Salvage) in Port Maitland, Ontario. The submarine arrived on 28 July for scrapping.

References

Publications

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External links

Submarine Heritage Centre

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympus (S12)
Oberon-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1961 ships
Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom
Oberon-class submarines of Canada
Auxiliary ships of the Royal Canadian Navy