HMS Agile
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The ''Amphion'' class (also known as the "A" class and ''Acheron'' class) of
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
diesel-electric
submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
s were designed for use in the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
. Only two were completed before the end of hostilities, but following modernisation in the 1950s, they continued to serve in the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
into the 1970s.


Development and service

The ''Amphion'' class were ordered by the British Admiralty in 1943, upon the realisation that the new Pacific theatre of war following the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
needed a new type of submarine. They were originally designed to replace the S-class and T-class submarines, which were too slow and unable to dive deep enough to be suited to Pacific waters during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. They were essentially the same size as the T class, arranged for fast, simple construction and to utilize much of the materials and equipment set aside for the T boats. They had a high, flared bow for excellent sea performance and had effective air conditioning, essential for
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
submarine operations. They were operated by a crew of between 60 and 68. Originally, 46 submarines were ordered, but only 18 were launched (10 by
Vickers-Armstrong Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...
in
Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...
) and 16 ship commissioning, commissioned, the other two hulls being used for crush testing. The class was designed for quick construction, using an entirely welded hull which could be fabricated in sections, a technique new to Britain but standard for Nazi Germany's U-boats. Each submarine took about 8 months from keel-laying to launching, compared with around 15 months for the earlier T class, but only two of the boats were completed before the end of the war: , launched in August 1944, and in January 1945; neither saw action. The ''Amphion'' class was one of only two new British submarine designs produced during World War II, the other being the X-class submarine, X-craft 4-man submarines. Wartime experience had shown that submarines had to operate further from the United Kingdom and with larger patrol areas than had been foreseen—in the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
and Mediterranean for example—so the faster and slightly larger A class was designed to have a longer range than the T class, with accommodation suitable for longer missions. After World War II various modifications were made to these Overseas Patrol Submarines, as they were known. A Submarine snorkel, snort mast based on the ''schnorkel'' used by U-boats during the war, a radar which could be used from periscope depth, and a night periscope were added to the A- and surviving T-class submarines. In response to the start of the Cold War in the early 1950s their target changed from surface ships to Soviet submarines. In January 1948 the primary operational function of the British submarine fleet was announced to be interception of Soviet submarines slipping out of their bases in Northern Russia, potentially to attack British and Allied merchant vessels. The following April Assistant Chief of Naval Staff Rear-Admiral Geoffrey Oliver circulated a paper in which he proposed that British submarines take a more offensive role, attacking Soviet submarines off the Northern Russian coast and mining the waters in the area. With the dramatically reduced surface fleet, he commented that this was one of the few methods the Royal Navy had for "getting to the enemy on his home ground". The A and T classes were refitted for their new role between 1955 and 1960 with a complete rebuild of the forward and after hull section, lengthening and streamlining of the upper decks and conning towers, removal of deck guns to improve underwater speed and noise, removal of external torpedo tubes, and greatly improved sonar. When was lost in 1951 all the ''Amphion'' class were briefly confined to port pending investigation into her loss. During the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the mid-1960s, some ''Amphion''-class submarines were fitted with either a QF 4 inch naval gun Mk XXIII, QF 4-inch Mk XXIII gun or a single 20mm autocannon to counter blockade running Junk (ship), junks. They were the last British submarines to carry a deck gun. The ''Amphion'' class served the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
for almost three decades as the backbone of the Royal Naval Submarine Service, and was gradually replaced with the British Porpoise-class submarine, ''Porpoise'' and patrol classes that began to be phased in during 1958. The last operational ''Amphion''-class boat, , was decommissioned in 1974.


Boats


Built at Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness

* HMS Amphion (P439), ''Amphion'' (P439/S39/S43) (laid down as ''Anchorite'' but name changed before launch) * HMS Astute (P447), ''Astute'' (P447/S47/S45) * HMS Auriga (P419), ''Auriga'' (P419/S19/S69) * HMS Aurochs (P426), ''Aurochs'' (P426/S26/S62) * HMS Alcide (P415), ''Alcide'' (P415/S15/S65) * HMS Alderney (P416), ''Alderney'' (P416/S16/S66) * HMS Alliance (P417), ''Alliance'' (P417/S17/S67) (now at Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport) * HMS Ambush (P418), ''Ambush'' (P418/S18/S68) * HMS Anchorite (P422), ''Anchorite'' (P422/S22/S64) (originally laid down as ''Amphion'' but name changed before launch) * HMS Andrew (P423), ''Andrew'' (P423/S23/S63)


Built at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead

* HMS Affray (P421), ''Affray'' (P421) (the last British submarine lost at sea) * HMS Aeneas (P427), ''Aeneas'' (P427/S27/S72/SSG72) * HMS Alaric (P441), ''Alaric'' (P441/S41)


Built at Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock

* HMS Artemis (P449), ''Artemis'' (P449/S39/S49) * HMS Artful (P456), ''Artful'' (P456/S56/S96)


Built at HM Dockyard, Chatham

* HMS Acheron (P411), ''Acheron'' (P411/S11/S61)


Built at HM Dockyard, Plymouth

These were the two vessels which were launched but not completed. * HMS Ace (P414), ''Ace'' (P414) * HMS Achates (P433), ''Achates'' (P433)


Cancelled orders

In 1945, besides the two vessels at Devonport, the following orders were cancelled:


See also

*List of ship classes of the Second World War


Notes and references


External links

*
Maritimequest Amphion Class IndexSubmarines On Stamps
{{UK submarine classes after 1945 Submarine classes Amphion-class submarines,