HMS ''Acheron'' (P411) was an of 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 ...
, laid down 26 August 1944, launched 25 March 1947 and completed in 1948.
Design
Like all s, ''Acheron'' had a displacement of when at the surface and while submerged. She had a total length of , a beam of , and a draught of . The submarine was powered by two Admiralty ML eight-cylinder diesel engines generating a power of each. She also contained four electric motors each producing that drove two shafts.
She could carry a maximum of of diesel, although she usually carried between .
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of and a submerged speed of . When submerged, she could operate at for or at for . When surfaced, she was able to travel at or at .
''Acheron'' was fitted with ten
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, one
QF 4 inch naval gun Mk XXIII
The QF 4-inch gun Mark XXIII was introduced in late 1945 as a deck gun for Royal Navy submarines. It was the last type of gun to be fitted to British submarines, finally being retired in 1974.
Development and service
Development of the Mark XXII ...
, one
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
, and a
.303 British Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
. Her torpedo tubes were fitted to the
bow BOW as an acronym may refer to:
* Bag of waters, amniotic sac
* Bartow Municipal Airport (IATA:BOW), a public use airport near Bartow, Florida, United States
* Basic operating weight of an aircraft
* BOW counties, made of Brown, Outagamie, and Winn ...
and stern, and she could carry twenty torpedoes. Her
complement
Complement may refer to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-class collections into complementary sets
* Complementary color, in the visu ...
was sixty-one crew members.
Service history
''Acheron'' took part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. she carried out 'General Naval Service' around the UK until the end of 1964. A geomagnetic storm in February 1956, during
solar cycle 19
Solar cycle 19 was the nineteenth solar cycle since 1755, when extensive recording of solar sunspot activity began. The solar cycle lasted 10.5 years, beginning in April 1954 and ending in October 1964. The International Geophysical Year occurred ...
, interfered with radio communications and prompted a search for the submarine after she lost radio contact. From August to December 1959, she took part in a cruise to South Africa and Pakistan.
She was decommissioned and broken up in 1972 at the yard of
J Cashmore of
Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
* Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...
.
References
Publications
*
External links
Pictures of HMS Acheron at MaritimeQuest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acheron (P411)
Amphion-class submarines
Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom
1947 ships