HMS ''Spark'' (pennant number P236) was a
S-class submarine of the third batch built for the
Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was scrapped in 1950.
Design and description
The third batch was slightly enlarged and improved over the preceding second batch of the S-class. 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. 51] 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.
[
The boats were armed with seven 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. A half-dozen of these were in the bow and there was one external tube in the stern. They carried six reload torpedoes for the bow tubes for a grand total of thirteen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the internally stowed torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun.][Chesneau, pp. 51–52]
Construction and career
HMS ''Spark'' was built by Scotts
Scotts or Scott's may refer to:
Businesses and brands
*Scott's (restaurant), in London
*Scott's Food & Pharmacy, an American supermarket chain
*Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, an American multinational corporation
*Scott's Porage Oats, a Scottish bre ...
, of Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
and launched on 28 December 1943. Thus far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name ''Spark''. She survived the Second World War, spending between December 1944 and July 1945 with the Eastern Fleet, arriving at Trincomalee on 21 October 1944. She went on to sink two Japanese sailing vessels, three Japanese coasters, a barge and a tug. Another coaster was forced ashore on Panjang Island. ''Spark'' was attacked by an enemy escort which dropped sixteen depth charges, but managed to escape damage. She returned to the UK in October 1945.[HMS Spark](_blank)
Uboat.net She was sold on 28 October 1949. ''Spark'' was broken up at Faslane in October 1950.
''Spark'' acted as tow for the midget submarine ''XE-1'', which was assigned to attack the Japanese heavy cruiser in Singapore Harbour as part of Operation Struggle
The XE-class submarines were a series of twelve midget submarines that were built for the Royal Navy during 1944; four more to a slightly different design were built 1954-5 as the ''Stickleback'' class. They were an improved version of the us ...
.
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark
British S-class submarines (1931)
1943 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Royal Navy ship names