HMS Upholder

Last updated September 27, 2021

Two Royal Navy submarines have been named HMS Upholder.

The first HMS Upholder (P37), launched in 1940, was a U-class submarine. She served in World War II. Her captain was Lieutenant Commander David Wanklyn, who received the Victoria Cross whilst in command of the vessel. HMS Upholder was the most decorated submarine in the British fleet. She was sunk off the coast of Sfax in North Africa by the Italian torpedo boat Pegaso in April 1942.
The second HMS Upholder (S40), launched in 1986 and named after the first, was the lead ship of her class of submarines.

This article includes a list of ships with the same or similar names. If an internal link for a specific ship led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended ship article, if one exists.

Related Research Articles

Several ships and one submarine of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dreadnought in the expectation that they would "dread nought", i.e. "fear nothing". The 1906 ship was one of the Royal Navy's most famous vessels; battleships built after her were referred to as 'dreadnoughts', and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts.

Five ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sceptre, after the sceptre, a symbol of royal authority.

Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Pathfinder.

Five ships of the Royal Navy have been called HMS Agincourt, named after the Battle of Agincourt of 1415, and construction of another was started but not completed.

Seven vessels of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Amphion, after the Greek hero Amphion.

Five ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Victorious.

Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Triumph. Another was planned, but renamed before being launched:

Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hermione after Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology.

Nine ships and a naval base of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Neptune after the Roman god of the ocean:

Sixteen vessels and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Phoenix, after the legendary phoenix bird.

Eleven ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Medway, after the River Medway.

HMS Upholder (P37) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 30 October 1939, launched on 8 July 1940 by Mrs. Doris Thompson, wife of a director of the builders. The submarine was commissioned on 31 October 1940. She was one of four U-class submarines which had two external torpedo tubes at the bows in addition to the 4 internal ones fitted to all boats. They were excluded from the other boats because they interfered with depth-keeping at periscope depth.

Seven vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Valiant.

Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Onyx, after the mineral Onyx. Another was renamed before being launched:

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Unicorn, after the mythological creature, the unicorn:

Nine ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Rainbow, after the rainbow, a common meteorological phenomenon:

Eleven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Porpoise, after the marine mammal, the Porpoise:

Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Windsor, after the English town of Windsor, Berkshire:

A ship and two submarines of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Ursula:

Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Narwhal, after the marine mammal, the narwhal:

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.