HMS ''Solent'' was a
S-class submarine built by
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
and launched on 8 June 1944 of the third batch built for the
Royal Navy during World War II. She spent most of her career in the
Pacific Far East, often in company with her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, . Together they sank fifteen Japanese sailing vessels and the Japanese
auxiliary minesweeper ''Wa 3''. She survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1961.
Design and description
The last 17 boats of the third batch were significantly modified from the earlier boats. They had a stronger hull, carried more fuel and their armament was revised. The submarines had a length of
overall, 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 . They
displaced on the surface and submerged.
[Chesneau, p. 52] The S-class submarines had a crew of 48 officers and
ratings. They had a diving depth of .
[McCartney, p. 7]
For surface running, the boats were powered by two
diesel engines, each driving one
propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a
electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater.
[ On the surface, the third batch boats had a range of at and at submerged.][
''Solent'' was armed with six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. She carried six reload torpedoes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the torpedoes. The boat was also equipped with a 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun.][
]
Construction and career
HMS ''Solent'' was built by Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
and launched on 8 June 1944. She served during the Second World War, spending most of her career in the Pacific Far East, often in company with her sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
, . Together they sank fifteen Japanese sailing vessels and the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper ''Wa 3''. ''Solent'' then went on to sink a Japanese patrol vessel and a Japanese landing craft
Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. Pr ...
, whilst damaging another.[
] ''Solent'' survived the Second World War, and was sold off, arriving at Troon on 28 August 1961 for breaking up.
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solent (P262)
British S-class submarines (1931)
1944 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Mersey