HMS ''Alaric'' (P441), was an ''Amphion''-class

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 ...

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 ...

, built by

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

laid down in May 1944 and launched 18 February 1946.

Design

Like all

Amphion-class submarine The ''Amphion'' class (also known as the "A" class and ''Acheron'' class) of United Kingdom, British Submarine#Diesel-electric transmission, diesel-electric submarines were designed for use in the Pacific War. Only two were completed before th ...

s, ''Alaric'' 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 . She 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 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

''Alaric'' served on the home station all her life and was modernised in the 1960s. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the

Coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1968 she was part of the First Submarine Squadron based at

HMS Dolphin Numerous Royal Navy vessels have been named HMS ''Dolphin'' after the dolphin. * The first seven ''Dolphins'' were small ketches and fireships. * , launched in 1731, was a 20-gun post ship, renamed ''Firebrand'' in 1755 and ''Penguin'' in 1757. * ...

and took part in Navy Days at Portsmouth during that year.Programme, ''Navy Days at Portsmouth 31 August – 2 September 1968, p. 21.'' Following decommissioning, ''Alaric'' was sold to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, business primarily working steel, engineering and cement. It began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture ...

for scrapping at

Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; ) is a coastal town, parish and historic Royal burgh in Fife, Scotland. The town lies on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, northwest of Edinburgh city centre and south of Dunfermline. A town of ancient origin, Inverke ...

, arriving there in July 1971.

References

Publications

External links

Pictures of HMS Alaric at MaritimeQuest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alaric (P441) Amphion-class submarines Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Mersey 1946 ships