HMS ''Grampus'' (N56) was the lead ship of her class of

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

-laying

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 ...

of 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 ...

. She was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 25 February 1936. She served in

World War II 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 ...

off

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

before moving to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. She was sunk with all hands by the ''

Regia Marina The ''Regia Marina'' (; ) was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy (''Regno d'Italia'') from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946, birth of the Italian Republic (''Repubblica Italiana''), the ''Regia Marina'' ch ...

'' on 16 June 1940. On 16 June 1940, under the command of

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

C. A. Rowe, ''Grampus'' laid mines in the

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

and

Augusta, Sicily Augusta (, archaically ''Agosta''; scn, Austa ; Greek and la, Megara Hyblaea, Medieval: ''Augusta'') is a town and in the province of Syracuse, located on the eastern coast of Sicily (southern Italy). The city is one of the main harbours in I ...

area. She was seen by the Italian torpedo boat ''Circe'', which was on anti-submarine patrol with , , and ''Polluce''. Within a very short time, ''Grampus'' was destroyed. Wreckage came to the surface along with air bubbles and oil. ''Polluce'' was credited with the kill. There were no survivors. Some sources give the date of this action as 24 June 1940.

References

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External links

HMS ''Grampus''
fro
uboat.net
Grampus-class submarines Ships built in Chatham 1936 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Lost submarines of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in June 1940 Submarines lost with all hands Submarines sunk by Italian warships Warships lost with all hands {{UK-mil-submarine-stub