HMS ''Otus'' 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 31 May 1927, launched on 31 August 1928 and commissioned on 5 July 1929.

Service history

''Otus'' was first commissioned for service with the 4th Submarine Flotilla on the China Station, and when the war broke out in 1939 she was deployed with the 1st Submarine Flotilla based at

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

with the Mediterranean Fleet. From July to December 1941 the submarine was based at

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

from where she carried out interception patrols with the 1st Flotilla. During 1941 she carried out patrols off

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

in defence of HG convoys on passage to and from

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, and with for patrol of

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

to intercept Vichy reported to about to attempt passage to France during Operation Principal. On 14 August 1941 she was involved in a

friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy or hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while ...

incident, when the submarine under the command of Lt.Cdr. M. Willmott, RN mistook her for an enemy submarine and fired several torpedoes at her, approximately north-west of Alexandria (position 32°41'N, 27°35'E). On 3 September 1941, under command of Lt. R.M. Favell, RN, ''Otus'' unsuccessfully fired a torpedo at an unidentified enemy armed merchant cruiser of 4000 tons, approximately east of Valletta, Malta. During 1943 she was transferred to Simonstown,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

for purposes of anti-submarine training. During December 1944 she was nominated to be withdrawn from service. She was paid-off and transferred to Reserve status. During 1945 she was transferred to

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. ''Otus'' was scuttled off Durban in September 1946.

Discovery of the wreck

The wreck was located during March 2013 approximately south-east of the Durban Harbour entrance, at an approximate depth of .

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