HMS ''Otway'' (originally HMAS ''Otway'') was an of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) and

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 ...

(RN).

Design and construction

The s were built to a slightly modified design for Australian service. They were in

length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...

, with a beam of , and a mean draught of .Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 110 Displacement was 1,350 tons when surfaced, and 1,870 tons when submerged. The boats had diesel motors for surface running and electricity generation, but when underwater ran off electric motors. They had two propeller shafts. Maximum speed was on the surface, and when dived. ''Otway'' had a boat's company of 54. Armament consisted of eight torpedo tubes (six facing forward, two facing aft), one deck gun, and two machine guns. ''Otway'' was laid down by Vickers Limited of

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 ...

in England in March 1925, under the designation ''OA2''.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 111 She was launched on 7 September 1926, and commissioned into the RAN on 15 June 1927.

Operational history

After commissioning, ''Otway'' and ''Oxley'' were temporarily assigned to the Royal Navy's 5th Submarine Flotilla. On 8 February 1928, the two submarines set out for Australia in the longest unescorted voyage undertaken by a British submarine. En route to Malta, cracks were found on ''Otway''s engine columns. On arrival in Malta, similar fractures were found in ''Oxley''s engine columns, and the two boats were detained while improved columns were fabricated and installed. They resumed their voyage in November, and reached Sydney on 14 February 1929. Because of the deteriorating financial conditions leading into the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, the two submarines were placed into reserve a year later; ''Otway'' was paid off on 10 May 1930. The submarines were maintained in operational condition, and left the harbour twice a month for diving exercises. The ongoing cost of maintaining the boats, coupled with the tonnage limits imposed by the

London Naval Treaty The London Naval Treaty, officially the Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armament, was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Empire of Japan, Japan, French Third Republic, France, Kingdom of Italy, Italy, and the United Stat ...

prompted the Australian government to offer ''Otway'' and ''Oxley'' to the Royal Navy. The submarines were transferred and commissioned on 10 April 1931, and sailed to Britain. HMS ''Otway'' operated during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

with the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

51.Bastock, ''Australia's Ships of War'', p. 112 In 1942 it was under the command of Commander Howard Bone. The submarine left RN service in 1945, and in August was transported 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 ...

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 ...

, Scotland to be

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

Citations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Otway 1926 ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness Odin-class submarines of the Royal Navy World War II submarines of the United Kingdom