HMS Usurper

Last updated

History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
Name HMS Usurper
Builder Vickers-Armstrongs, High Walker
Laid down18 September 1941
Launched24 September 1942
Commissioned2 February 1943
FateSunk 3 October 1943
General characteristics
Class and type U-class submarine
Displacement
  • Surfaced – 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load
  • Submerged – 730 tons
Length58.22 m (191 feet)
Beam4.90 m (16 ft 1 in)
Draught4.62 m (15 ft 2 in)
Propulsion
  • 2 shaft diesel-electric
  • 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors
  • 615 / 825 hp
Speed
  • 11.25 knots max surfaced
  • 10 knots max submerged
Complement27–31
Armament

HMS Usurper (P56) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrongs at High Walker. So far, she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Usurper.

Contents

Career

Usurper had a short-lived career with the Royal Navy. During her work-up patrol off the Norwegian coast, she made a torpedo attack on the German submarine U-467. The target was not hit. On being assigned to operate in the Mediterranean, she sank the French ship Château Yquem.

Sinking

Lt D. R. O. Mott DSC RN, Commanding Officer of HMS Usurper, Holy Loch, 6 February 1943 (IWM A14396) Portraits of Submarine Captains and Their First Lieutenants. 6 February 1943, Holy Loch. A14396.jpg
Lt D. R. O. Mott DSC RN, Commanding Officer of HMS Usurper, Holy Loch, 6 February 1943 (IWM A14396)

Usurper had left Algiers on 24 September 1943 to patrol off La Spezia. On 3 October 1943 she was ordered to move to the Gulf of Genoa, after which there was no further contact. She was overdue at Algiers on 12 October 1943. The German anti-submarine vessel UJ-2208/Alfred reported attacking a submarine in the Gulf of Genoa on 3 October 1943 and it is believed that this may have been Usurper. During the war, Usurper was adopted by the town of Stroud as part of Warship Week . The plaque from this adoption is held by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. [1]

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