HMS ''Osiris'' was an O-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 ...

. She was laid down by

Vickers-Armstrongs 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 ...

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 ...

on 12 May 1927, launched on 19 May 1928 and commissioned on 25 Jan 1929. She was first commissioned for service with the 4th Submarine Flotilla on the China Station.

Wartime history

In September 1939, she was nominated for service on the

East Indies Station The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies. Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' wa ...

and deployed with the 8th Flotilla at

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

for flotilla duties. During January 1940 she transferred to the

British Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between ...

and was deployed with the 1st Submarine Flotilla based at Alexandria.HMS ''Osiris'' (N67)
Naval-History.net Retrieved 27 September On 16 August 1940, ''Osiris'' sank the Italian merchantman ''Morea'' (1,968 tons) approximately west of Durazzo, Albania, with gunfire in a surface engagement, after ''Morea'' twice evaded torpedoes fired at the ship.HMS ''Osiris'' (N67)
uboat.net Retrieved 27 September 2013 During an attack carried out on a convoy in the Otranto Strait on 22 September 1940 ''Osiris'' torpedoed and sank one of the convoy escorts, the (875 tons displacement), approximately west of Durazzo, Albania (position 41°19'N, 18°34'E). On returning to Alexandria, ''Osiris'' received a package from the commanding officer of the flotilla with instructions "not to come alongside unless this identity signal is showing". The package contained a Jolly Roger which was duly hoisted. From that day onward the Captain (S) gave each submarine in his flotilla a Jolly Roger as soon as she had achieved a success on patrol. On 14 July 1941 ''Osiris'' damaged the Italian merchant ship ''Capo d'Orso'' (3,149 tons) with gunfire in a surface engagement near Argostolion,

Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

, Greece. In another surface engagement on 27 June 1943, ''Osiris'' sank the Italian sailing vessel ''Vittorina'' (11 tons) north of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

(position 36°12'N, 26°45'E) with gunfire. During the

Allied invasion of Sicily The Allied invasion of Sicily, also known as the Battle of Sicily and Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II in which the Allies of World War II, Allied forces invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 and took it from the Axis p ...

from July to August 1943, she was deployed on interception patrol to prevent Italian warships interfering with the landings. From August 1943 she served with the Eastern Fleet training anti-submarine escorts before transferring to the new

East Indies Fleet The Eastern Fleet, later called the East Indies Fleet, was a Naval fleet, fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1941 and 1952. In 1904, the British First Sea Lord, Admiral John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher, Sir John Fisher, ordered that i ...

in November 1944. She was decommissioned on 7 March 1945. ''Osiris'' was sold to be broken up for scrap in September 1945. She was scrapped at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Otus (N84) Odin-class submarines of the Royal Navy 1928 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness World War II submarines of the United Kingdom