HMS ''Medway'' (Pennant F25) was the first purpose-built

submarine depot ship A submarine tender is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and ...

constructed 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 F ...

. She was built by Vickers Armstrong at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, 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 Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

during the late 1920s. The ship served on the China Station before the Second World War and was transferred to Egypt in early 1940. Ordered to evacuate

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

in the face of the German advance after the

Battle of Gazala The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German and I ...

in May 1942, ''Medway'' sailed for

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

at the end of June, escorted by a light cruiser and seven

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s. Her strong escort could not protect her; on 30 June a German submarine torpedoed and sank her.

Description and construction

''Medway'' was designed to support up to 18 and s in peacetime and an additional three submarines during wartime. She carried three QF 4-inch Mk IV deck guns as spares together with 144

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es to resupply her submarines. The ship proved to be less top-heavy than anticipated and had the enormously high metacentric height of at full load. Built with

bilge keel A bilge keel is a nautical device used to reduce a ship's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs (one for each side of the ship). A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic re ...

s only deep, ''Medway'' once rolled 42° each way with a period of nine seconds, losing her main

topmast The masts of traditional sailing ships were not single spars, but were constructed of separate sections or masts, each with its own rigging. The topmast is one of these. The topmast is semi-permanently attached to the upper front of the lower ...

. Her bilge keels were subsequently increased in depth to . She was

long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...

and had 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 draft of .Lenton, p. 587 The ship displaced at standard load and up to at ( full load).Chesneau, p. 79 Her crew numbered 400 officers and ratings; she could also accommodate up to 1,335 additional men. The ship was powered by MAN

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-call ...

s rated at , driving two shafts, and had a top speed of about . ''Medway'' carried of diesel fuel for herself and an additional for her submarines. Figures for her range are not available. The ship had five diesel

generator Generator may refer to: * Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals * Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. * Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...

s for electrical power and special provisions to recharge submarine

batteries Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

. She was armed with two low-angle guns in single mounts and four quick-firing Mk V 4-inch

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

guns, also in single mounts. The latter guns were controlled by a

High-Angle Control System High Angle Control System (HACS) was a British anti-aircraft fire-control system employed by the Royal Navy from 1931 and used widely during World War II. HACS calculated the necessary deflection required to place an explosive shell in the loca ...

mounted above the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. ''Medway'' was protected by an internal anti-torpedo bulge which incorporated a water jacket of .

Amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...

a torpedo bulkhead was located 13 feet inboard that inclined outwards above the

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

. The main deck was 1.5 inches thick amidships. ''Medway'' was ordered on 14 September 1926 as part of the 1925/26 Naval Estimates. The ship 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 ...

in April 1927 by the Vickers Armstrong shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness. The ship was launched on 19 July 1928. Captain Colin Cantlie was appointed as the first commander of the new ship on 1 January 1929. The ship was completed on 3 July 1929.Osborne, p. 22 After completion, HMS ''Medway'' began Harbour Acceptance Trials and Sea Acceptance Trials, known in the Royal Navy as HATs and SATs. A report in The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser on 27 July 1929 notes that HMS ''Medway'' was undergoing trials.

Career

HMS ''Medway'' served on the China Station before the start of the Second World War. She had taken over from

HMS Titania HMS ''Titania'' (pennant number F32) was a Royal Navy submarine depot ship. Most of those that saw service in the First World War were scrapped in the 1930s. ''Titania'', however, saw service in the Second World War. She was scrapped at Faslane ...

in 1929/30 as the submarine depot ship for the 4th Submarine Flotilla. HMS ''Medway'' took her place in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

as the depot ship for the 4th Submarine Flotilla. Under the command of Capt. Colin Cantlie HMS ''Medway'' sailed to

with six O-Class submarines of the

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

group. They were: * HMS ''Odin'' (N84) * HMS ''Olympus'' (N35) * HMS ''Osiris'' (N67) * HMS ''Orpheus'' (N46) * HMS ''Oswald'' (N58) * HMS ''Otus'' (N92) The submarine flotilla was enlarged in 1930. HMS ''Medway'' was under refit at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from September 1939 through February 1940. Upon completion of the refit, ''Medway'' sailed for

where she remained until she departed for Alexandria on 2 April. She arrived there on 3 May and thereafter supported the

1st Submarine Flotilla The 1st Submarine Flotilla ( sv, Första ubåtsflottiljen, 1. ubflj) is a unit of the Swedish Fleet which has operated in various forms since 1904. Its unit staff is located at Karlskrona naval base, Blekinge in Karlskrona Garrison. History The ...

, which operated in the Eastern Mediterranean. Two years later, Vice-Admiral

Henry Harwood Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE (19 January 1888 – 9 June 1950), was a British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate. Early life Following education at Stubbington House School, Harwood entered the Roy ...

, Commander-in-Chief,

Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...

, ordered all non-essential ships to leave Alexandria in June 1942 as he was preparing to demolish the port facilities there to prevent their capture by the advancing

Panzer Army Africa As the number of German troops committed to the North African Campaign of World War II grew from the initial commitment of a small corps, the Germans developed a more elaborate command structure and placed the enlarged ''Afrika Korps'', with I ...

. ''Medway'' loaded stores and 1,135 personnel on 29 June to establish a new base at

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon and sailed later that day for Beirut.Osborne, p. 24 Accompanied by the Greek ship , ''Medway'' was escorted by the light cruiser and the destroyers , , , , , , and . The next day, off

Port Said Port Said ( ar, بورسعيد, Būrsaʿīd, ; grc, Πηλούσιον, Pēlousion) is a city that lies in northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal. With an approximate population of 6 ...

, fired two torpedoes that sank ''Medway''; 30 men were lost in the sinking.Rohwer, p. 174 47 of the 90 spare torpedoes aboard floated free of the wreck and were salvaged.

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

Submarine Heritage entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medway Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy Royal Navy Submarine Depot Ships Fleet auxiliaries of the United Kingdom World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1928 ships World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in June 1942 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Submarine tenders

Description and construction

Career

See also

Notes

References

External links