HMS ''Spearfish'' was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s 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 ...

. Completed in 1936, the boat participated in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The submarine was one of the 12 boats named in the song " Twelve Little S-Boats". So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named ''Spearfish''.

Design and description

The second batch of S-class submarines were designed as slightly improved and enlarged versions of the earlier boats of the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

and were intended to operate in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

s.Harrison, Chapter 16 The submarines had a length of

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

, a beam of and a mean draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged.Chesneau, p. 49 The S-class submarines had a crew of 40 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of .McCartney, p. 6 For surface running, the boats were powered by two

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-ca ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. When submerged each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a wire winding to generate for ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the second-batch boats had a range of at and at submerged. The S-class boats were armed with six 21 inch (533 mm)

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm)

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

Construction and career

Ordered on 18 February 1935, ''Spearfish'' 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 ...

on 23 May 1935 in Cammell Laird's shipyard in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

and was launched on 21 April 1936. The boat was completed on 11 December 1936. Her wartime career started inauspiciously, when on 24 September 1939, she was heavily damaged by German warships off

Horns Reef Horns Rev is a shallow sandy reef of glacial deposits in the eastern North Sea, about off the westernmost point of Denmark, Blåvands Huk.

. She managed to escape despite being unable to submerge. A rescue mission was undertaken by the British Humber force and Home Fleet, including the aircraft carrier , and the battleship , which performed escort duty whilst search and rescue attempts were made. The fleet was attacked by Junkers Ju 88 bombers of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 30, ''Kampfgeschwader'' 30, and a bomb caused slight damage to the battlecruiser . ''Spearfish'' safely put in Rosyth on 26 September, and repairs were completed in early March 1940. Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MN-1038-06, Kiel, Schwerer Kreuzer

Bundesarchiv Bild 101II-MN-1038-06, Kiel, Schwerer Kreuzer

Another notable action occurred on 11 April 1940, whilst patrolling in the Kattegat, under the command of Lieutenant Commander John Hay Forbes, she torpedoed and damaged the German heavy cruiser German cruiser Deutschland, ''Lützow'', putting her out of action for over a year. At the time it was reported that she sank her sister ship, . Later that year, on 20 May, she sank two Danish fishing vessels ''S.130'' and ''S.175'' with gunfire in the North Sea. ''Spearfish'' sailed from Rosyth on 31 July 1940, still under the command of "Jock" Forbes, to patrol off the Norwegian coast. On 1 August she was spotted on the surface by the under the command of Wilhelm Rollmann who attacked and sank her, about west-southwest of Stavanger. There was only one survivor, Able Seaman William Pester, who was taken about the ''U-34'' as a prisoner of war.

Citations

References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spearfish (69s) British S-class submarines (1931) World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1936 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Mersey Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Lost submarines of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in August 1940 Submarines sunk by submarines