RN Submarines: S Class 1931

Submarines of the fleet
Brian James
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RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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S Class Submarine HMS Seraph pictured returning to Portsmouth post Operation Mincemeat.
Seraph returned to Blyth, northern England, for a much needed overhaul and leave on January 28th 1943. A few weeks later, Lt Commander Jewell was briefed at the Admiralty on Operation Mincemeat, to be carried out during Seraph's return to the Mediterranean. This mission was part of Operation Barclay, a plan to convince the Germans that the Allies intended to land in Greece and Sardinia, and not Sicily.
She set sail again on April19th, carrying a 'special passenger'. This was a corpse in a metal canister, packed in dry ice, and dressed in a Royal Marines uniform. Attached to the corpse was a briefcase containing faked secret documents designed to mislead the Axis.
In the early hours of April 30th Seraph surfaced off the coast of Spain, near the port of Huelva. Jewell and his officers launched the body and briefcase in the water, disposing of the canister in deeper waters. Jewell then radioed the signal "MINCEMEAT completed" while the Submarine continued to Gibraltar. The body was picked up by the Spanish, who decided it was a courier killed in an aircraft accident. The false documents were passed to the Germans and led them to divert forces from the defence of Sicily.
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Pelican
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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H.M. SUB. STERLET - LOST IN 1940

Trust this is correct thread?
Please see - http://lewin-of-greenwich-naval-history ... =94&t=2069
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timlewin
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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in "He Who Would Valiant Be" serialised above TTL makes reference to the news of the loss of Sterlet in his journal entry for May 1st. Lost in the Norwegian campaign.
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Pelican
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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timlewin wrote: Mon Apr 27, 2020 8:18 pm in "He Who Would Valiant Be" serialised above TTL makes reference to the news of the loss of Sterlet in his journal entry for May 1st. Lost in the Norwegian campaign.
TU Tim.
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Brian James
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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Visitors Day for First batch, S Class Submarines HMS Swordfish and HMS Starfish at the Pool of London on May 7th 1937....HMS Swordfish was sunk by a mine on November 7th 1940 with the loss of 40 men......On January 6th1940, Starfish departed for her sixth and last combat patrol, off Heligoland Bight. On January 9th at 10:40, she sighted the German Minesweeper M-7 and attacked it in position 55°00′N 07°10′E. However, the attack failed because, due to drill errors, the torpedoes were not fired. Starfish commenced a second attack but her diving planes jammed, and her commander decided to submerge to the 88.6 ft deep bottom to conduct repairs. According to Captain Turner in his postwar report, Starfish was located by the German Minesweeper, who dropped two depth charges which caused no damage. At 10:50, a crew member asked for permission to restart one of the motors to prevent the gyro from wandering. Permission was granted, but no sooner the motor had been started, four depth charges were dropped directly above the boat, causing widespread damage. At 14:40, another attack was carried out, and twenty depth charges exploded close to the submarine's hull, damaging rivets and causing leaking. By 18:00 Starfish was severely flooded, and her commander, seeing the Germans would not leave, gave the order to surface at 18:20. She was forced to drop her ballast keel, coming up at a 45° angle due to flooding. All crew were rescued and taken as prisoners of war, and Starfish sank shortly after. In July 1940, a diving mission was sent to locate her wreck and secret documents, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
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Pelican
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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HMS STYGIAN & XE3

"From our Collections Team - On the night of 31 July 1945, in a daring mission, the midget submarine XE3 made its way undetected past the harbour defences and up the channel leading to Singapore naval base. Once there, a diver emerged from the submarine and attached mines to the hull of the Japanese cruiser HIJMS Takao.
Despite several difficulties, XE3 made it way back out of the channel unsighted and detonated its explosives. The Takao was severely damaged and played no further part in the war. Sub Lt. William ‘Kiwi’ Smith was amongst the crew on the XE3 and was awarded a DSO for his part in Operation Struggle. His track chart shows the progress of the XE3 and its ‘mother’ submarine, HMS Stygian. He also produced the drawing of the interior of the XE3 showing the cramped space in which he and three crewmates spent over 48 hours."

Above is from The Torpedo Bay Museum.

The Torpedo Bay Navy Museum is the official museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. It opened in 2010, to replace an earlier naval museum. The museum is in Devonport, Auckland.

Links restored - Jim
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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Brian James wrote: Tue Jun 27, 2023 6:58 am Visitors Day for First batch, S Class Submarines HMS Swordfish and HMS Starfish at the Pool of London on May 7th 1937....HMS Swordfish was sunk by a mine on November 7th 1940 with the loss of 40 men......On January 6th1940, Starfish departed for her sixth and last combat patrol, off Heligoland Bight. On January 9th at 10:40, she sighted the German Minesweeper M-7 and attacked it in position 55°00′N 07°10′E. However, the attack failed because, due to drill errors, the torpedoes were not fired. Starfish commenced a second attack but her diving planes jammed, and her commander decided to submerge to the 88.6 ft deep bottom to conduct repairs. According to Captain Turner in his postwar report, Starfish was located by the German Minesweeper, who dropped two depth charges which caused no damage. At 10:50, a crew member asked for permission to restart one of the motors to prevent the gyro from wandering. Permission was granted, but no sooner the motor had been started, four depth charges were dropped directly above the boat, causing widespread damage. At 14:40, another attack was carried out, and twenty depth charges exploded close to the submarine's hull, damaging rivets and causing leaking. By 18:00 Starfish was severely flooded, and her commander, seeing the Germans would not leave, gave the order to surface at 18:20. She was forced to drop her ballast keel, coming up at a 45° angle due to flooding. All crew were rescued and taken as prisoners of war, and Starfish sank shortly after. In July 1940, a diving mission was sent to locate her wreck and secret documents, but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Starfish same visit.
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Re: RN Submarines: S Class 1931

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WW2 submarine tragedy remembered at its namesake iconic site

Britain’s most iconic ancient site was the fitting setting for an 80th anniversary service to a lost WW2 submarine.
HMS Stonehenge vanished on only her second patrol some time in mid-March 1944 in the Bay of Bengal.

All 50 souls aboard were lost – neither their fate, nor their boat’s have ever been determined. Most likely, the submarine struck a mine or suffered mechanical failure in waters between the Nicobar Islands and Sumatra.

HMS Stonehenge was officially listed as lost on March 22 1944 – less than three weeks after an official war photographer had captured crew on camera preparing for their fateful last mission.

Eight decades later, national veterans’ charity Alabaré organised a memorial service in conjunction with English Heritage at the prehistoric monument in Wiltshire which gave the ill-starred sub her name.

Ten RN veterans joined representatives of the Submarines Association, Royal Naval Association and serving personnel from Navy HQ in Portsmouth gathered around the ancient stones with Lord-Lieutenant of Wiltshire Sarah Rose Troughton for a commemorative service led by the Rt Reverend Stephen Lake, Bishop of Salisbury.

Continues https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... conic-site
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