History | |
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Name | Vox |
Namesake | Latin for "Voice" |
Builder | Vickers (Barrow) |
Yard number | V2 |
Laid down | 19 December 1942 |
Launched | 28 September 1943 |
Commissioned | 20 December 1943 |
Identification | P 73 |
Honors and awards | Aegean 1944 [1] |
Fate | Scrapped at Cochin in 1946 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | V-class submarine |
Length | 195 ft (59 m) |
Beam | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Draft | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Speed |
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Range | 4,050 mi (6,520 km) (surface); 170 mi (270 km) (submerged) |
Crew | 33 |
Armament |
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HMS Vox (P73) was a Royal Navy V-class submarine that served in the latter part of World War II, from 1943 to 1946, before it was scrapped at Cochin. An earlier HMS Vox had been transferred to France as Curie.
Vox was laid down by Vickers–Armstrong on 19 December 1942, and was intended as a replacement for another submarine of the same name, which, upon completion, had been given into French service. The ship was launched on 28 September 1943, and was commissioned on 20 December. [2]
The ship's first exercises occurred on 31 January 1944, when it participated in targeting and attack exercises in conjunction with HMS Vigorous, HMS Breda, and HMS Vivid in Holy Loch. Vox participated alongside Vivid in exercises against Vigorous late in the day. After the exercises, Vox departed Holy Loch alongside Vivid, and both ships made for Larne, escorted by HMS ML 225. [3]
After a round trip from Larne to Holy Lock, Vox set out with HMS Sturdy for Gibraltar, with Sturdy on its way to the Far East and Vox to stay in the Mediterranean Sea. On 3 and 4 July 1944, while patrolling off the coast of Greece, Vox sank two sailing vessels off Monernvassia and one German sailing vessel off Santorini. On 10 July, Vox torpedoed and sank the German collier Anita between the Andros and Tinos Islands. On 1 August, Vox claimed to have sunk a sailing vessel, and on 3 August it fired two torpedoes at an auxiliary patrol vessel, though both torpedoes missed. On 4 August, Vox sank three German vessels at Heraklion: the guard ship GK 61 Pétrel and the sailing vessels Thetis and SA 83. [4] Vox also sank enemy sailing vessels on 31 August, 24 September, and 25 September, when it sank the Greek sailing vessel Vol. [2] [3]
On 12 February 1945, Vox was put on to the slipway at Fremantle, and on 13 February was put back on the water. She was subsequently used in anti-submarine training until her scrapping in October 1946 at Cochin. [2] [3]
HMS Loch Insh was a Loch-class frigate of the Royal Navy, named after Loch Insh in Scotland. She was built by Henry Robb of Leith and launched on 10 May 1944. After service at the end of World War II she was decommissioned, but reactivated in 1950 and served, mostly in the Persian Gulf, until 1962. The ship was sold to the Royal Malaysian Navy in 1963 and renamed KD Hang Tuah (F433). She was scrapped in 1977.
HMS Sceptre (P215) was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in April 1943, she spent the majority of her career in the North Sea, off Norway. After an uneventful patrol, the submarine participated in Operation Source, an attack on German battleships in Norway using small midget submarines to penetrate their anchorages and place explosive charges. However, the midget submarine that she was assigned to tow experienced technical difficulties and the mission was aborted. During her next four patrols, Sceptre attacked several ships, but only succeeded in severely damaging one. She was then ordered to tow the submarine X24, which was to attack a floating dry dock in Bergen. The operation, codenamed Guidance, encountered difficulties with the attacking submarine's charts, and the explosives were laid on a merchant ship close to the dock instead. The dock was damaged and the ship sunk, and X24 was towed back to England. Sceptre then conducted a patrol in the Bay of Biscay, sinking two German merchant ships, before being reassigned to tow X24 to Bergen again. The operation was a success, and the dry dock was sunk.
HMS Safari was a third batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Commissioned in 1942, she was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean Sea. During the course of the war, Safari sank twenty-five ships, most of which were Italian.
HMS Sturgeon was an S-class submarine that entered service with the Royal Navy in 1932. Ordered in 1930, she was laid down at Chatham Dockyard in January 1931 and launched on 8 January 1932. Commissioned on 27 February 1933, Sturgeon was assigned to the 2nd Submarine Flotilla.
HMS Sickle was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. Sickle then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece.
HMS Sea Rover was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in July 1943, she conducted one war patrol off Norway, before being re-assigned to the Pacific theater. Arriving in February 1944, the boat conducted several patrols in the Strait of Malacca, sinking one transport, one gunboat, one merchant, three sailing vessels, two coasters, and one lighter. During this time, she was attacked several times by aircraft and surface ships; in one attack, she took on two tons of water from leaks caused by depth charges. Sea Rover collided with an Australian corvette in December 1944, and she was sent back to England, then the United States, for repairs. After the war ended, the boat was sent back to England, placed in reserve, then sold for scrap in October 1949.
HMS Sea Nymph was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in July 1942, she spent the majority of her career patrolling the waters off Norway in the North Sea, then was sent to the Pacific but was forced back due to technical problems.
HMS Seadog was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in September 1942, she spent most of her career in Arctic waters, off Norway, but sank only one German ship in 13 patrols. In January 1945, she was redeployed to the Far East, meeting more success. On her first patrol in the area, the submarine rescued four American airmen. After two patrols, she and her sister ship HMS Shalimar sank five sailing vessels, two coasters, a barge, a tugboat and a Japanese tank landing ship. After the war ended, Seadog was sent back to England, placed in reserve, then sold for scrap in December 1947. She was ultimately broken up in August 1948.
HMS Storm was an S-class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the third group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 18 May 1943. So far, she is the only RN ship to bear the name Storm.
HMS Shalimar was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in April 1944, she conducted one war patrol off the Orkney Islands, then was assigned to the Pacific theater, arriving there in September. The submarine conducted one war patrol off the Nicobar Islands, destroying several small ships with gunfire. During her next three patrols in the Strait of Malacca, Shalimar sank twelve sailing vessels, eleven landing craft, four coasters, three lighters, three tugboats, and one minesweeper. After the war ended, the boat was sent back to England, placed in reserve, then sold for scrap in July 1950.
HMS Sportsman was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she spent most of the war serving in the Mediterranean Sea. After an initial patrol off Norway, she sank the heavy transport Général Bonaparte in the Mediterranean in 1943 and missed a French oil tanker. She was heavily damaged after a mistaken attack by an Allied bomber, and was sent east after repairs to participate in operations in the Black Sea. After the operation was cancelled, Sportsman patrolled the Aegean Sea, sending several Greek and German ships to the bottom. She sank the German transport SS Petrella in early 1944 despite it being clearly marked as a prisoner-of-war ship, killing 2,670 out of 3,173 Italians aboard. Sportsman sank several more ships, and suffered minor damage when she was detected and sighted while attempting to attack a convoy.
HNLMS Zwaardvisch (S814) was the lead ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy's Zwaardvisch-class submarine, which was based on the British T class. The submarine was originally ordered as HMS Talent (P322) and built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow. It served mainly in the Pacific against the Japanese during the war, operating under both British and US operational command in Ceylon and Australia. In 1950, the vessel was renamed HNLMS Zwaardvis. She was sold and broken up for scrap in 1963.
HMS Unbroken (P42) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness; it was part of the third group of that class and has been the only vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She entered service as P42 and was renamed Unbroken on 1 February 1943.
HMS Unruffled was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Unruffled.
HMS Unshaken (P54) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. She has been the only vessel of the Royal Navy to bear the name Unshaken.
HMS Uproar (P31) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Uproar. She was originally named P 31, renamed Ulleswater in February 1943 and finally renamed Uproar in April 1943.
HMS P47 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong. She was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy before completion and renamed HNLMS Dolfijn.
Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Richard Hezlet, nicknamed Baldy Hezlet, was a decorated Royal Navy submariner. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at the time – aged 36 – and its youngest admiral, aged 45. In retirement he became a military historian.
HMS Vivid was a V-class submarine laid down in 1942 and launched in 1943 by Vickers Armstrong in Newcastle-upon-Tyne for the British Royal Navy. She was launched in September 1943 and, under the command of Lieutenant John Cromwell Varley DSC, served with the 10th Submarine Flotilla based at Malta during the closing stages of the Allied campaign in the Mediterranean sinking various German, Greek and Italian merchant ships off the coast of Greece.
Captain Michael Lindsay Coulton "Tubby" Crawford DSC & Bar was an officer in the Royal Navy and submariner.