HMS Taurus (P339)
{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Taurus|HNLMS Dolfijn}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Hr. Ms. Dolfijn (1948).jpg |Ship image size=250px |Ship caption=HNLMS Dolfijn, ex HMS Taurus }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship badge=File:TAURUS badge-1-.jpg |Ship name=HMS Taurus |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Vickers Armstrong, Barrow |Ship laid down=30 September 1941 |Ship launched=27 June 1942 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=3 November 1942 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy on 4 June 1948 |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Netherlands |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Netherlands|naval}} |Ship name=HNLMS Dolfijn |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=4 June 1948 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=7 December 1953 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Returned to Royal Navy on 7 December 1953 |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship class= |Ship name=HMS Taurus |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned=8 December 1953 |Ship decommissioned= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship captured= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship fate=Scrapped April 1960 |Ship homeport= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship displacement=*1,290 tons surfaced
|Ship length={{convert|276|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|25|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draught=*{{convert|12|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} forward
|Ship draft= |Ship propulsion=*Two shafts
|Ship speed=*15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced
|Ship range=4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} max |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship complement=61 |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship notes= }} |
HMS Taurus was a Second World War T-class submarine, built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow.
Career
=As HMS ''Taurus''=
The submarine was laid down on 30 September 1941, and launched on 27 June 1942. Taurus was commissioned on 3 November 1942 with the pennant number P339. She served in the Mediterranean and the Pacific Far East during the Second World War. Whilst serving in the Mediterranean, she sank the small French merchant Clairette, the Spanish merchant Bartolo, the Italian merchant Derna, the French tug Ghrib and two barges, the Portuguese Santa Irene , the small Italian tanker Alcione C., the Italian sailing vessel Luigi, twenty eight Greek sailing vessels, and the small Greek ship Romano. She also damaged a further two sailing ships and the Greek merchant Konstantinos Louloudis. It was during this period off the Greek coast she had the unusual distinction of engaging a Bulgarian cavalry unit while bombarding a small port.{{Cite book|title=Submariners|date=2000|publisher=Constable|others=Winton, John.|isbn=0094802203|location=London|oclc=44058886}}
She was transferred to the Far East to operate against the Japanese, where she sank the Japanese submarine {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-34||2}}, two Japanese tugboats and a barge and the Japanese salvage vessel Hokuan I-Go. She also laid a number of mines, which damaged the Japanese submarine {{ship|Japanese submarine|I-37||2}} and sank the Japanese transport ship Kasumi Maru.
Having survived the war, Taurus was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy on 4 June 1948 and commissioned into service the same day. She was renamed Dolfijn.[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3508.html HMS Taurus], Uboat.net
=As HNLMS ''Dolfijn''=
Dolfijn had a relatively quiet career, making a number of cruises before being decommissioned on 7 November 1953 and transferred back to the Royal Navy.[http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/boats/boat_dolfijn2.htm HNLMS Dolfijn] at dutchsubmarines.com
=As HMS ''Taurus'' again=
Dolfijn was recommissioned into the Royal Navy on 8 December 1953 and her name returned to the original HMS Taurus. She served for another seven years before being sold to be broken up for scrap in April 1960.
References
{{reflist}}
Publications
- {{Cite Colledge2006}}
- {{cite book | last = Hutchinson | first = Robert | title = Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day | url = https://archive.org/details/janessubmarinesw0000hutc | url-access = registration | year = 2001 | location = London | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-00-710558-8 | oclc = 53783010 }}
External links
{{stack|{{Commons category|HMS Taurus (P339)}}}}
- [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80008944 IWM Interview with Mervyn Wingfield, who commanded HMS Taurus from 1942 to 1944]
{{T class submarine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taurus (P399)}}
Category:British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom