HMS Shark (54S)

	Shark on the surface
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Shark
Ordered	2 January 1933
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	12 June 1933
Launched	31 May 1934
Commissioned	31 December 1934
Fate	Scuttled, 6 July 1940
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class submarine
Displacement	768 long tons (780 t) surfaced; 960 long tons (980 t) submerged;
Length	208 ft 8 in (63.6 m)
Beam	24 ft 0 in (7.3 m)
Draught	11 ft 10 in (3.6 m)
Installed power	1,550 bhp (1,160 kW) (diesel); 1,300 hp (970 kW) (electric);
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines ; 2 × electric motors ;
Speed	13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph) surfaced; 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) submerged;
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surface; 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) submerged;
Test depth	300 feet (91 m)
Complement	40
Armament	6 × bow 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes ; 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun ;

Last updated October 10, 2024

HMS Shark was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in 1934, the boat fought in the Second World War. Shark is one of twelve boats named in the song "Twelve Little S-Boats".

Design and description

The second batch of S-class submarines were designed as slightly improved and enlarged versions of the earlier boats of the class and were intended to operate in the North and Baltic Seas.^[1] The submarines had a length of 208 feet 8 inches (63.6 m) overall, a beam of 24 feet 0 inches (7.3 m) and a mean draught of 11 feet 10 inches (3.6 m). They displaced 768 long tons (780 t) on the surface and 960 long tons (980 t) submerged.^[2] The S-class submarines had a crew of 40 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of 300 feet (91 m).^[3]

For surface running, the boats were powered by two 775- brake-horsepower (578 kW) diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a 650-horsepower (485 kW) electric motor. They could reach 13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph) on the surface and 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) underwater.^[4] On the surface, the second-batch boats had a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) submerged.^[3]

The S-class boats were armed with six 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun.^[2]

Construction and career

Ordered on 12 June 1933, Shark was laid down on 15 June 1933 at HM Dockyard, Chatham and was launched on 31 May 1934. The boat was completed on 31 December 1934.^[5]

The submarine was attacked by German aircraft while surfacing on patrol off the coast of Norway near Skudenes on 5 July 1940. While trying to fight off the aircraft, the submarine succeeded in shooting down a Dornier Do 17.^[6] Due to the damage the submarine had suffered and likely further attack from the enemy aircraft overhead it was decided to surrender the submarine. The next day at about 04:00 the German minesweeping trawlers M-1803, M-1806 and M-1807 arrived at the scene and took the crew on board.^[7]Shark was taken under tow but the crew had scuttled her prior to leaving. Amidst much cheering from the captured British sailors, the German trawler crews were forced to cut the hawsers before Shark sank and took the towing vessels with her. Shark sank stern first about 25 nautical miles (46 km) west-south-west of Egersund, Norway.

Crew

The boat's captain, Lieutenant Commander Peter Buckley, was involved in planning a number of escape attempts from his prisoner of war camp.^[8]

ERA W. E. "Wally" Hammond made a number of escape attempts before being held in Oflag IV-C – Colditz. With ERA Don "Tubby" Lister (from the captured submarine HMS Seal) he made a successful escape by campaigning for a transfer from Colditz, arguing that he was not an officer. He was transferred to Lamsdorf prison, escaped from a Breslau work party, and reached England via Switzerland in 1943.^[9]^[10]^[11]

Citations

↑ Harrison, Chapter 16
1 2 Chesneau, p. 49
1 2 McCartney, p. 6
↑ Bagnasco, p. 110
↑ Akermann, p. 334
↑ Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Sutton Publishing Ltd. p. 123. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.
↑ "Submarine losses 1904 to present day". Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004.
↑ Preston, Antony (2001). The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History. Conway Maritime Press. p. 115. ISBN 0-85177-891-7.
↑ Reid, Patrick Robert (1953). The Latter Days at Colditz. London: Hodder and Stoughton
↑ "Photo of Hammond and Lister in Switzerland". Royal Naval Museum. Sea Your History. Retrieved 2 January 2023. Photograph showing W.E. Hammond and D. Lister in Switzerland after escaping from their prisoner of war camp at Lamsdorf. Armed with forged identity papers, money and civilian clothing, Hammond and Lister volunteered to wash up the Sunday soup cauldrons in the wash house and slipped out of the camp through a nearby garden. They travelled by train to join the Colditz escape route at Dresden, showing German cigarettes as they passed through the police checks. Going via Nuremburg [sic] they continued to Ulm, accepting a drink from a German soldier along the way. Finally they ended up in Switzerland where they later held a great Christmas party with other escapers.
↑ Chancellor, Henry (2001). Colditz: The Definitive History. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-340-79494-4. In September 1942, Chief Petty Officers Wally Lister and Tubby Hammond arrived in Colditz with the Royal Navy contingent. They had been promoted to the rank of officer so that they might stay with their friends, but technically they were in the wrong camp, and after a month they applied to be transferred to the troop camp at Lamsdorf, where they joined work gangs in the local fields and factories: escaping was easy, and after a series of adventures, they crossed the Swiss frontier on 19 December.

Related Research Articles

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HMS Stonehenge was an S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1943, she made her initial patrol off Norway and was then transferred to the Far East, where she conducted two war patrols, during which she sank two Japanese ships. On her second patrol, Stonehenge disappeared with all hands and was declared overdue on 20 March 1944. The most probable cause of her sinking is that she hit a mine, but her wreck has never been found.

HMS Stratagem was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1943, she made her first war patrol off Norway before she was sent to the Far East, where she conducted three war patrols. On her second, she shelled installations on a Japanese-held island. Her only success came on her last patrol, when she torpedoed and sank a Japanese oil tanker. Soon after, she was spotted by aircraft and depth charged by a destroyer. She was forced to surface, and was scuttled to prevent her capture. Ten crew members escaped the sinking submarine and were taken prisoner, of whom only three survived the war.

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HMS Sterlet was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in 1938, the boat fought in the Second World War. The submarine is one of the 12 boats named in the song Twelve Little S-Boats. Thus far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named Sterlet.

HMS Snapper was a second-batch S-class submarine built during the 1930s for the Royal Navy. Completed in 1935, the boat participated in the Second World War. Snapper is one of the 12 boats named in the song "Twelve Little S-Boats".

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References

Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Harrison, A. N. (January 1979). "The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)". RN Subs. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
McCartney, Innes (2006). British Submarines 1939–1945. New Vanguard. Vol. 129. Oxford, UK: Osprey. ISBN 1-84603-007-2.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Revised & Expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.

External links

IWM Interview with Peter Buckley

58°18′N5°13′E / 58.300°N 5.217°E / 58.300; 5.217

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[h6-1] Harrison, Chapter 16

[gg9-2] 1 2 Chesneau, p. 49

[i7-3] 1 2 McCartney, p. 6

[4] Bagnasco, p. 110

[5] Akermann, p. 334

[kemp-6] Kemp, Paul (1999). The Admiralty Regrets: British Warship Losses of the 20th Century. Sutton Publishing Ltd. p. 123. ISBN 0-7509-1567-6.

[7] "Submarine losses 1904 to present day". Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Archived from the original on 15 December 2004.

[preston-8] Preston, Antony (2001). The Royal Navy Submarine Service: A Centennial History. Conway Maritime Press. p. 115. ISBN 0-85177-891-7.

[9] Reid, Patrick Robert (1953). The Latter Days at Colditz. London: Hodder and Stoughton

[10] "Photo of Hammond and Lister in Switzerland". Royal Naval Museum. Sea Your History. Retrieved 2 January 2023. Photograph showing W.E. Hammond and D. Lister in Switzerland after escaping from their prisoner of war camp at Lamsdorf. Armed with forged identity papers, money and civilian clothing, Hammond and Lister volunteered to wash up the Sunday soup cauldrons in the wash house and slipped out of the camp through a nearby garden. They travelled by train to join the Colditz escape route at Dresden, showing German cigarettes as they passed through the police checks. Going via Nuremburg [sic] they continued to Ulm, accepting a drink from a German soldier along the way. Finally they ended up in Switzerland where they later held a great Christmas party with other escapers.

[11] Chancellor, Henry (2001). Colditz: The Definitive History. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 210. ISBN 978-0-340-79494-4. In September 1942, Chief Petty Officers Wally Lister and Tubby Hammond arrived in Colditz with the Royal Navy contingent. They had been promoted to the rank of officer so that they might stay with their friends, but technically they were in the wrong camp, and after a month they applied to be transferred to the troop camp at Lamsdorf, where they joined work gangs in the local fields and factories: escaping was easy, and after a series of adventures, they crossed the Swiss frontier on 19 December.

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v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1940
Shipwrecks	1 Jul: Clearton, U-102 2 Jul: Arandora Star, U-26 3 Jul: Bretagne, Mistral, Mogador, Provence 4 Jul: Rigault de Genouilly 5 Jul: HMS Foylebank, HMS Whirlwind, Zeffiro 6 Jul: Dunkerque, HMS Shark 9 Jul: Bruges, HMS Salmon 10 Jul: Leone Pancaldo, Mari Chandris 11 Jul: HMS Escort, HMS Warrior 15 Jul: Frossoula 16 Jul: HMS Imogen, HMS Phoenix 19 Jul: Bartolomeo Colleoni 20 Jul: Nembo, Ostro 21 Jul: HMS Brazen 23 Jul: HMS Narwhal 25 Jul: HMS Thames 27 Jul: HMS Codrington, HMS Wren 30 Jul: HMS Delight
Other incidents	3 Jul: Courbet, Dunkerque, La Capricieuse, Léopard, Paris, Surcouf, Le Triomphant 4 Jul: Argos Hill , British Corporal 5 Jul: Liguria 9 Jul: HMS Foxglove 10 Jul: HMS Corfu, HMS Hermes 16 Jul: HMS Glasgow 27 Jul: Lepanto 28 Jul: HMS Alcantara
1939 1940 1941 June 1940 August 1940

History
Shark on the surface
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Shark
Ordered	2 January 1933
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	12 June 1933
Launched	31 May 1934
Commissioned	31 December 1934
Fate	Scuttled, 6 July 1940
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class submarine
Displacement	768 long tons (780 t) surfaced 960 long tons (980 t) submerged
Length	208 ft 8 in (63.6 m)
Beam	24 ft 0 in (7.3 m)
Draught	11 ft 10 in (3.6 m)
Installed power	1,550 bhp (1,160 kW) (diesel) 1,300 hp (970 kW) (electric)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph) surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) submerged
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surface 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) submerged
Test depth	300 feet (91 m)
Complement	40
Armament	6 × bow 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun