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British S-class submarine (1931)
Seraph
HMS Seraph
Class overview
Name: S
Preceded by: Rainbow class
Succeeded by: River class
Completed: 62
General characteristics
Type: Submarine

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines. Due to major naval construction of the Royal Navy during the Second World War, however, the S class became the largest single group of submarines ever built for the Royal Navy; a total of 62 were constructed over a period of 15 years, with fifty of the "improved" S-class launched between 1940 and 1945.

Service[]

The submarines operated in the waters around the United Kingdom and in the Mediterranean, and later in the Far East after being fitted with extra tankage.

British S-class submarines in Service

Number of S class submarines in service by year.

After the war S class boats continued to serve in the Royal Navy until the 1960s. The last operational boat in the Royal Navy was HMS Sea Devil, launched in 1945 and scrapped in February 1966. The HMS Springer in Israeli service as INS Tanin was decommissioned in 1972.

Several S-class submarines were sold on or lent to other navies:

  • Netherlands 1
  • Portugal 3
  • France 4
  • Israel 2. (the HMS Springer as INS Tanin (S71), landed commandos and fought with an Egyptian ship in the Six Day War)[1][2]

A modified version was ordered by the Turkish navy in 1939 as the Oruc Reis class submarine.

Service losses[]

Of the twelve S-boats that were in service in 1939, only three survived to see the end of World War II, a loss rate that inspired the song "Twelve Little S-Boats", based on a nursery rhyme originally written by Septimus Winner in 1868.[3]

Twelve little S-boats "go to it" like Bevin,
Starfish goes a bit too far — then there were eleven.
Eleven watchful S-boats doing fine and then
Seahorse fails to answer — so there are ten.
Ten stocky S-boats in a ragged line,
Sterlet drops and stops out — leaving us nine.
Nine plucky S-boats, all pursuing Fate,
Shark is overtaken — now we are eight.
Eight sturdy S-boats, men from Hants and Devon,
Salmon now is overdue — and so the number's seven.
Seven gallant S-boats, trying all their tricks,
Spearfish tries a newer one — down we come to six.
Six tireless S-boats fighting to survive,
No reply from Swordfish — so we tally five.
Five scrubby S-boats, patrolling close inshore,
Snapper takes a short cut — now we are four.
Four fearless S-boats, too far out to sea,
Sunfish bombed and scrap-heaped — we are only three.
Three threadbare S-boats patrolling o'er the blue,
...
Two ice-bound S-boats...
...
One lonely S-boat...
...

The survivors, left blank in the fatalistic rhyme, were HMS Sealion (scuttled), HMS Seawolf (broken up), and HMS Sturgeon (sold).

General characteristics[]

First Group[]

British S-class submarine (1931)
Class overview
Name: First group
Completed: 4
General characteristics
Type: Submarine
Displacement: 640 tons surfaced
935 tons submerged
Length: 202 ft 6 in (61.72 m)
Beam: 24 ft (7.3 m)
Draught: 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m)
Speed: 13.75 knots surfaced
10 knots (19 km/h) submerged
Complement: 36 officers and men
Armament: six forward 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
twelve torpedoes
one three-inch (76 mm) gun
one .303-calibre machine gun

The first group of S-class submarines consisted of four boats. They were smaller and slower than later classes, and carried less armament, but could be crewed by fewer men. All four were built at Chatham Dockyard, between 1930 and 1932. During the war, they operated in home waters, particularly the English Channel, and off the Scandinavian coast. The later second and third groups of S-class submarines would have their fuel capacity expanded to allow them to operate further and overcome this limitation.

The mortality rate of these early boats was particularly high. Only one, HMS Sturgeon, survived to the end of the war.

Ships:

Two ordered under the 1929 Construction Programme:

Two ordered under the 1930 Construction Programme:



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