Grampus-class submarine
{{Short description|Type of British submarines in service before and during WWII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{no footnotes|date=February 2013}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMS Porpoise-1-.jpg |Ship caption={{HMS|Porpoise|N14|6}} }} {{Infobox ship class overview | Name = Grampus class | Builders = | Operators = {{navy|United Kingdom}} {{navy|Nazi Germany|name=Kriegsmarine}} | Class before = {{sclass2|River|submarine|4}} | Class after = T class | Subclasses = | Cost = | Built range = | In service range = | In commission range = 1933—1945 | Total ships building = | Total ships planned = | Total ships completed = 6 | Total ships cancelled = | Total ships active = | Total ships laid up = | Total ships lost = 5 | Total ships retired = 1 | Total ships preserved = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Submarine | Ship tonnage = | Ship displacement = *1,810 tons surfaced
| Ship length = {{convert|293|ft|m|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|25|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = {{convert|16|ft|10|in|m|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = 2 shaft, diesel ({{cvt|3300|hp|kW|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) plus electric ({{cvt|1630|hp|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) | Ship speed = *{{convert|15.5|kn}} surfaced
| Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship complement = 59 | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = *6 × 21 in torpedo tubes (bow)
| Ship notes = }} |
The Grampus-class submarines were a group of minelaying submarines built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. These boats are sometimes referred to as the Porpoise class from the single prototype, HMS Porpoise built in 1932. Five boats to a modified design were built between 1936 and 1938. The ships were all named after marine mammals.
Design
The naval mines were stored in a special "gallery" with a conveyor belt built into the outer casing as pioneered by the converted M-class submarine {{HMS|M3|1918|6}}. These boats were of a saddle tank type.
Service
Boats of this class were used extensively in the Mediterranean, particularly as part of the supply effort to the besieged island of Malta in a service nicknamed the "magic carpet".
Only one, {{HMS|Rorqual|N74|6}}, survived the war.
Boats in class
| class="wikitable" | |
| Ship
! Builder ! Launched ! Fate | |
|---|---|
| {{HMS|Porpoise|N14}}
| Vickers, Barrow | 30 August 1932 | Sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Malacca straits, 16 January 1945. | |
| {{HMS|Grampus|N56}}
| 25 February 1936 | Sunk by Italian torpedo boats {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Circe | 2}} and {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Clio|1938|2}} off Sicily 16 June 1940. |
| {{HMS|Narwhal|N45}}
|Vickers, Barrow |29 August 1935 |Sunk 30 July 1940 by German aircraft near Norway. | |
| {{HMS|Rorqual|N74}}
|Vickers, Barrow |21 July 1936 | Arrived Newport to be broken up 17 March 1946. | |
| {{HMS|Cachalot|N83}}
|2 December 1937 |Sunk by Italian torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa off Cyrenaica 30 July 1941. | |
| {{HMS|Seal|N37}}
|27 September 1938 |Captured by the Germans in the Kattegat 4 May 1940 after sustaining mine damage, commissioned as the UB, scuttled 3 May 1945, but later raised and scrapped. |
References
{{Commons category|Grampus class submarine}}
{{reflist}}
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
- [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/class.html?ID=49 - page from U-boat.net]
- [http://rnsubs.co.uk/boats/subs/grampus-class.html - page from rnsubs.co.uk]
{{Grampus class submarine}}
{{WWII British ships}}