HMS ''Shark'' was a second-batch S-class

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

built during the 1930s for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

. Completed in 1934, the boat fought in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. ''Shark'' is one of twelve boats named in the song " Twelve Little S-Boats".

Design and description

The second batch of S-class

s were designed as slightly improved and enlarged versions of the earlier boats of the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

and were intended to operate in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

s.Harrison, Chapter 16 The submarines had a length of

overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...

, a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a mean draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged.Chesneau, p. 49 The S-class submarines had a crew of 40 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of .McCartney, p. 6 For surface running, the boats were powered by two

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...

. When submerged each propeller was driven by a

electric motor An electric motor is an Electric machine, electrical machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a Electromagneti ...

. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the second-batch boats had a range of at and at submerged. The S-class boats were armed with six

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm)

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose ...

Construction and career

Ordered on 12 June 1933, ''Shark'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

on 15 June 1933 at HM Dockyard, Chatham and was launched on 31 May 1934. The boat was completed on 31 December 1934. The submarine was attacked by German aircraft while surfacing on patrol off the coast of Norway near

Skudenes Skudenes is a former municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It was part of the traditional district of Haugaland. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1965. The administrative centre was the town of Skudeneshavn (whi ...

on 5 July 1940. While trying to fight off the aircraft, the submarine succeeded in shooting down a

Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber produced by Dornier Flugzeugwerke for the German Luftwaffe during World War II. Designed in the early 1930s as a ''Schnellbomber'' ("fast bomber") intended to be fast enough to outrun opposing a ...

. Due to the damage the submarine had suffered and likely further attack from the enemy aircraft overhead it was decided to surrender the submarine. The next day at about 04:00 the German minesweeping trawlers ''M-1803'', ''M-1806'' and ''M-1807'' arrived at the scene and took the crew on board. ''Shark'' was taken under tow but the crew had scuttled her prior to leaving. Amidst much cheering from the captured British sailors, the German trawler crews were forced to cut the hawsers before ''Shark'' sank and took the towing vessels with her. ''Shark'' sank stern first about west-south-west of Egersund, Norway.

Crew

The boat's captain, Lieutenant Commander Peter Buckley, was involved in planning a number of escape attempts from his

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

camp. ERA W. E. "Wally" Hammond made a number of escape attempts before being held in Oflag IV-C – Colditz. With ERA Don "Tubby" Lister (from the captured submarine ) he made a successful

escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

by campaigning for a transfer from Colditz, arguing that he was not an officer. He was transferred to Lamsdorf prison, escaped from a Breslau work party, and reached England via Switzerland in 1943.

Citations

References

* * * * * * *

External links

IWM Interview with Peter Buckley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shark (54S) British S-class submarines (1931) World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1934 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Submarines sunk by aircraft Maritime incidents in July 1940 Naval ships of the United Kingdom captured by Germany during World War II Ships sunk by German aircraft Scuttled vessels of the United Kingdom