HMS Porpoise (N14)

HMS ''Porpoise'' (N14) was one of the six-ship class of mine-laying submarines of the Royal Navy. She was built at Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched 30 August 1932. She served in World War II in most of the naval theatres of the war, in home waters, the Mediterranean and the Far East. She was sunk with all hands by Japanese aircraft on 19 January 1945, and was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost to enemy action.

Career

In 1940 she was operating in the North Sea. She unsuccessfully attacked the , and later sank the German minesweeper ''M 5'' when she hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise''. She reported firing on an unknown submarine, which may have been which disappeared about this time. However ''U-1'' may have hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise''s sister, .

Throughout late 1941 and 1942 ''Porpoise'' operated in the Mediterranean. On 9 December a few miles south of the Peloponnese she torpedoed and badly damaged the German passenger and cargo ship (Jansen), which was carrying about 2,000 UK, South African and other Commenwealth prisoners of war. At least 300 PoWs were killed, and the Germans beached the merchant ship at Methoni in Greece to prevent her sinking and further loss of life. ''Porpoise'' then returned to minelaying off Crete.

In 1942, under the command of Leslie Bennington, she sank the Italian merchant ''Citta di Livorno'' and later the Italian transport ''Ogaden'', but missed the escorting Italian torpedo boat ''Montanari''. ''Porpoise'' went on to torpedo and sink the Italian merchant ''Lerici'', and unsuccessfully attacked the merchant ''Iseo'' on 19 August, an action during which she was damaged by depth charges from the escorting torpedo boat '' Lince''. Towards the end of the year she sank the Italian tanker ''Giulio Giordani'' and the auxiliary patrol vessel F-39 / ''Fertilia'', several days after an earlier attack on the ship had failed. The Italian torpedo boat struck a mine laid by ''Porpoise'' and was also sunk.

1944 found ''Porpoise'' operating in the Pacific against Japanese forces. She directly sank several small sailing vessels, whilst the Japanese auxiliary submarine chasers ''Cha 8'' and ''Cha 9'', the army tanker ''Takekun Maru'' and the auxiliary minelayer ''Ma 1'' were sunk after hitting mines laid by ''Porpoise''. The auxiliary minesweeper ''Kyo Maru No. 1'' and the submarine chaser ''Ch 57'' were damaged by mines.

On 11 September 1944 ''Porpoise'' took part in Operation Rimau by ferrying 24 Australian commandoes to the island of Merapas, a small island off the coast of Singapore.

''Porpoise'' returned to Fremantle, Australia on 24 October. On its return from Operation Rimau, ''Porpoise'' is noted to have encountered a small enemy convoy and later a large tanker. ''Porpoise'' declined an engagement at either opportunity as her orders were to remain hidden unless an important target presented itself. ''Porpoise'' is believed to have sustained unknown damages during the Rimau mission and was noted to be leaking fuel. Heavy weather was also encountered during the return trip to Fremantle. The submarine's journey was mainly on the surface during heavy rainstorms. ''Porpoise'' was required to dive somewhere in the Lombok Strait nearly losing control as it plunged violently in the strong currents and eddies associated with that strait.

After repairing at Fremantle, ''Porpoise'' sailed to Ceylon in November 1944 and operated from that area for the rest of the war.

Sinking

In January 1945 HMS ''Porpoise'' was laying mines in the Straits of Malacca in the vicinity of Penang. On 9 January, ''Porpoise '' signalled confirming their mission had been successfully carried out. The submarine was never heard from again.

Japanese records show that radio direction finders at Penang picked up her position and subchaser ''CH-8'' was dispatched to the area and conducted an attack on ''Porpoise''. Later that day, a submarine was spotted and bombed by aircraft in the vicinity of Penang. The aircraft scored a hit with one of its bombs and the submarine sank, bringing up a large oil slick. ''CH-8'' found the submarine still sitting on the bottom with its sonar.

References

Publications

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My Interesting Four years 1940 -1944 L.J. Read, Auckland Museum, NZ Army Museum

No Honour No Glory The tragic Deaths of 162 Kiwi prisoners of War by Spence Edge & Jim Henderson ISBN 0 00 217208 9 Collins Publication

Fighting with the Enemy New Zealand POWs and the Italian Resistance by Susan Jacobs . ISBN O 14 301862 0 Penguin Publication

Prisoners Of War New Zealand In The Second World War, Official History by W. Wynne Mason Published by R.E. Owen Government Printer

External links

Roll of Honour

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porpoise (N14)
1932 ships
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Grampus-class submarines
Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in January 1945
Submarines sunk by aircraft
World War II shipwrecks in the Strait of Malacca
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft
Warships lost in combat with all hands