Welman submarine

Last updated

Welman trialled at Queen Mary Reservoir Staines.jpg
Welman with detachable warhead being trialled at Queen Mary Reservoir, Staines
Class overview
NameWelman submarine
Builders Morris Motors Limited
OperatorsFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom Special Operations Executive
Completed100+
General characteristics Welman submarine
Type midget submarine
Displacement
  • 2,000 pounds (910 kg) without warhead
  • (warhead: 500 pounds (230 kg))
Length
  • 17 ft 3 in (5.26 m) without charge
  • 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m) with charge
PropulsionOne electric motor, 2.5 hp, powered by a 40v 220amp/hr battery.
Speed3 knots (5.6 km/h)
Range36 nautical miles (67 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h)
Test depth300 ft (91 m) (reduced to 100 ft (30 m) after trials)
Crew1
Armament1 x detachable charge of 425 pounds (193 kg) of Torpex

The Welman submarine was a Second World War one-man British midget submarine developed by the Special Operations Executive. It only saw action once and was not particularly successful. [1]

Contents

Design

Designed by the Commanding Officer of SOE's Inter Services Research Bureau (ISRB), Lt Col. John Dolphin, as a method of delivering a large explosive charge below an enemy ship, the Welman was a submersible craft 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 m) in length (including explosive charge), weighing about 2,000 pounds (910 kg). Unlike the "Chariot" human torpedo, the operator was enclosed within the craft, and did not need to wear diving gear. The Welman could transport a 425-pound (193 kg) time-fused explosive charge of Torpex, which was intended to be magnetically attached to a target's hull. [2] Vision was through armoured glass segments in the small conning tower, and no periscope was fitted.

Production

Following trials in the Queen Mary Reservoir near Staines towards the end of 1942, the Welman was put into production, the production being contracted out to Morris Motors Limited's requisitioned factory at Oxford.

Despite the craft's inability to cut a way through anti-submarine nets (which both X class submarines and Chariot manned torpedoes could do) and the poor visibility available to the crewman, 150 production examples were ordered in February 1943. [2]

Production was halted in October 1943 when operational research showed the concept suffered from too many disadvantages, by which time some 100 examples had been produced (precise numbers are unknown).

Operational service

In early 1943 the Royal Navy establishment on board the submarine depot ship HMS Titania was expanded to carry out sea trials of the Welman. Training courses for operators were located at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport. Trainees were drawn from the Royal Navy, the Royal Navy Reserve, and other Special Forces groups which included the Special Boat Section of the Commandos.

HMS Titania was relocated to Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin, south of Cape Wrath, in the north west of Scotland, which became a secret training base for all mini submarine operations. A Welman (W10) was lost on exercise in Rothesay Bay on 9 September.

By autumn 1943, sufficient trained operators and craft existed for the Welman to be considered for operational use.

In the autumn of 1943 the Combined Ops commander, General Sir Robert Laycock (who took over from the then Lord Louis Mountbatten) decided that the Welman was unsuitable for their purposes, so the craft were returned to the Royal Navy. Admiral Sir Lionel Wells, Flag Officer commanding Orkney and Shetland, thought they might be useful for attacks on German shipping using coastal waters inside the Leads off Norway. Motor Torpedo Boats (MTBs) of the 30th Flotilla, manned by officers and men of the Royal Norwegian Navy, were making these raids already and agreed to try the Welmans in an attack on the Floating Dock in Bergen harbour (eventually sunk in September 1944 by X-24). On 20 November 1943 MTB635 and MTB625 left Lunna Voe, Shetland, carrying Welmans W45 (Lt. C. Johnsen, Royal Norwegian Navy), W46 (Lt Bjørn Pedersen (1922), Norwegian Army), W47 (Lt. B. Marris, RNVR) and W48 (Lt. J. Holmes, RN). The craft were launched at the entrance to the fjord.

Pedersen's W46 encountered an anti-submarine net and was forced to the surface, where she was spotted by a German patrol craft. Pedersen was captured along with the Welman, surviving the war in a prison camp. The other three, having lost the element of surprise, could not press the attack and so eventually had to be scuttled. Their operators made their way north with the help of Norwegian resistance members and were picked up in February 1944 by MTB653. The failure made the Royal Navy concentrate on X craft and XE craft, although further Welman trials occurred, especially in Australia.

Subsequent to the failed attack the Germans salvaged one of the craft. Even though the German navy were appalled by the unsophisticated quality of the engineering they found in the Welman, there is some similarity between it and the Biber midget submarines used against Allied shipping in 1944.

The major drawback of the Welman from its operators' point of view was that it had no periscope. Without a way of viewing its surroundings without surfacing, it was impossible to navigate covertly. It was also found that when travelling on the surface the operator's eye level was so close to sea level that objects more than two miles away were not visible.

See also

Citations

  1. "Midget Submarines, 1939 - 1952: Welman Type Midget". submariners.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 July 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 Akermann, p. 462

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Midget submarine</span> Submarine under 150 tons

A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched and recovered and which provide living accommodation for the crew and support staff.

HMS <i>Sceptre</i> (P215) UK submarine

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human torpedo</span> Early form of diver propulsion vehicle

Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of diver propulsion vehicle on which the diver rides, generally in a seated position behind a fairing. They were used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic concept is still in use.

X-class submarine Midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44

The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44. It was substantially larger than the original Chariot manned torpedo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British commando frogmen</span> Special Boat Service, whose members are drawn largely from the Royal Marines

Britain's commando frogman force is now the Special Boat Service (SBS), whose members are drawn largely from the Royal Marines. They perform various operations on land as well as in the water. Until the late 1990s, all members of the Special Air Service (SAS) Boat Troop were trained as commando frogmen.

<i>Biber</i> (submarine) Type of midget submarine

Biber was a German midget submarine of the Second World War. Armed with two externally mounted 53-centimetre (21 in) torpedoes or mines, they were intended to attack coastal shipping. They were among the smallest submarines in the Kriegsmarine.

<i>Seehund</i> Type of midget submarine

Seehund, also known as Type XXVII, was a midget submarine built by Nazi Germany during World War II. Designed in 1944 and operated by two-man crews, it was used by the Kriegsmarine during the closing months of the war, sinking nine merchant vessels and damaging an additional three, while losing 35 boats, mostly attributed to bad weather. The French Navy used four captured boats after the war until 1953.

<i>Above Us the Waves</i> 1955 British film by Ralph Thomas

Above Us the Waves is a 1955 British war film about human torpedo and midget submarine attacks in Norwegian fjords against the German battleship Tirpitz. Directed by Ralph Thomas, it is based on two true-life attacks by British commando frogmen, first using Chariot manned torpedoes in Operation Title in 1942, and then X-Craft midget submarines in Operation Source in 1943. Filmed at Pinewood Studios, England, with outdoor scenes in Guernsey, some of the original war equipment was used in the film.

HMS <i>L5</i> 1917 British L-class submarine

HMS L5 was a L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat survived the war and was sold for scrap in 1931.

HMS <i>Stratagem</i> S-class submarine of the Royal Navy

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.

HMS <i>Syrtis</i> WWII submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Syrtis was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1943, Syrtis spent most of her career in the Arctic, off Norway, other than a single patrol in the Bay of Biscay,

HMS <i>Sea Nymph</i> (P223) S-class Submarine of the Royal Navy

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 <i>Thistle</i> (N24) T-Class Submarine

HMS Thistle (N24) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched in October 1938. She was sunk by the German submarine U-4 on 10 April 1940 near Skudenes, Norway.

HMS <i>L20</i>

HMS L20 was a L-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War I. The boat was not completed before the end of the war and was sold for scrap in 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hezlet</span>

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.

Welfreighter British midget submarine of the Second World War

The Welfreighter was a Second World War British midget submarine developed by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) for the purpose of landing and supplying agents behind enemy lines. It only saw action once and was not particularly successful.

Motorised Submersible Canoe WWII British frogman delivery vehicle

The Motorised Submersible Canoe (MSC), nicknamed Sleeping Beauty, was built by the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) during World War II as an underwater vehicle for a single frogman to perform clandestine reconnaissance, such as the SAS, or attacks against enemy vessel.

John Robert Vernon Dolphin was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) "Station IX", where specialist military equipment was developed. During his time there his inventions included the Welman submarine and the Welbike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chariot manned torpedo</span> British WWII manned torpedo

The Chariot was a British manned torpedo used in World War II. The Chariot was inspired by the operations of Italian naval commandos, in particular the raid on 19 December 1941 by members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS who rode "Maiali" manned torpedoes into the port of Alexandria and there placed limpet mines on or near the battleships HMS Valiant and HMS Queen Elizabeth as well as an 8,000-ton tanker, causing serious damage which put both battleships out of operational use until 1943.

Captain William Richmond Fell, was a New Zealand naval officer. He served in the Royal Navy, mainly in submarines, and was involved in the development of human torpedoes and midget submarines during the Second World War.

References