HMS Swordfish сумаринісінің тарихы

Submarine

HMS Swordfish (61S) was a first batch S class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. Commissioned in 1932, she was given the pennant number 61S and was assigned to the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. At the start of World War II, Swordfish was missed with three torpedoes by her sister ship after being mistaken for a German U boat. On 20 April 1940, she attacked a German convoy, but her torpedoes failed to hit their targets. Two days later, she sighted another convoy, but did not attack it because of the ships' shallow draught. In the morning of 26 April, she dived to avoid drifting mines; one of them hit but did not explode. During her sixth war patrol, Swordfish was mistakenly bombed by a British aircraft, but sustained no damage. Swordfish disappeared during her twelfth patrol, after departing Portsmouth on 7 November. Although she was initially thought to have been sunk by German destroyers off Brest, she was determined to have been sunk by a mine when her wreck was discovered by diver Martin Woodward in June 1983 off the Isle of Wight. She had left Portsmouth Harbour only hours before, and it is assumed that she was carrying out a trim dive when she struck the German mine.

The S class submarines were designed as successors to the L class and were intended to operate in the North and Baltic Seas. The submarines had a length of 202 feet (62 m) overall, a beam of 24 feet (7 m) and a mean draught of 11 feet (3 m). They displaced on the surface and submerged. The S class submarines had a crew of 38 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of 300 feet (91 m). 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 first batch boats had a range of at and at submerged. At the onset of World War II, Swordfish was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 23 to 26 August 1939 the 2nd Submarine Flotilla moved to their war bases at Dundee and Blyth. On 1 September, the day the war started, Swordfish departed Dundee for her first war patrol, southwest of Stavanger, Norway. On 14 September, southeast of Aberdeen, Scotland in position 56°22'N, 01°28'W, she was mistaken for a U boat by her sister ship , which fired three torpedoes. Swordfish dived and the torpedoes missed. On 23 September she left Dundee for her second patrol, west of Denmark. Informed the next day of the attack of , she was ordered to stay away from the area and returned to Dundee on 3 October. Between 3 October 1939 and 13 March 1940, she refitted in Dundee, then conducted training exercises. On 22 March, she left port for another patrol, in the western approach to the Skagerrak strait. Swordfish sighted only neutral ships during this patrol and returned to Blyth on 8 April. However she was discovered by a local diver in 1983, split into two just forward of the gun by a mine. The wreck lies in about 46 metres of water roughly 12 miles south of St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight in position .