HMS ''Severn'' (N57) was an ocean-going

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 River class. She was built by

Vickers Armstrong 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, wi ...

, at Barrow, and launched on 16 January 1934. She was completed on 12 January 1935.GB Mason, HMS ''Severn'' at naval-history.net

Construction

At the time of launch, the River class were the fastest submarines afloat. They were powered by 10,000 hp diesel engines for surface operations and electric motors for submerged operations giving top speeds of and respectively. She carried a complement of 60 crew and was armed with a gun, two machine guns and six torpedo tubes for 21 inch (533 mm) weapons. The tonnage of the ''Severn'' was 1,850 on surface and 2,710 when submerged. Like the rest of her classmates, ''Severn'' was of riveted construction, which was a significant limitation when it came to the safe diving depth: compared to the of the Odin-class.

Service history

The outbreak of the

Second World War 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 ...

found ''Severn'' in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

with the 1st Submarine Flotilla stationed 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 ...

. In September 1939 she was transferred to West Africa, stationed at

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

, to act as convoy escort guarding against surface raiders. She was on notice to take part in the hunt for the Graff Spee, but this notice was withdrawn following the Battle of the River Plate In March 1940 ''Severn'' returned to home waters and was employed on interception patrols in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. This involved searching for

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

s, surface raiders and blockade runners, and she was active in this capacity during the Norwegian campaign. In May 1940, she sank the Swedish merchant ''Monark'', which had been taken into German service. In May 1941 ''Severn'' was reassigned to

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 ...

with the 8th Submarine Flotilla. During this period she made several patrols in the western Mediterranean, and she also sailed with HG 69 as ocean escort In June 1941 ''Severn'' fired upon an Italian ''Argonauta'' class submarine and later sank the Italian merchants ''Polinnia'' and ''Ugo Bassi''. In August, she attacked an unidentified submarine.Medallion presented to the crew. She was one of a number of submarines ordered to track the German battleship ''Bismarck'' before her eventual

sinking Shipwrecking is any event causing a ship to wreck, such as a collision causing the ship to sink; the stranding of a ship on rocks, land or shoal; poor maintenance, resulting in a lack of seaworthiness; or the destruction of a ship either intent ...

. ''Severn'' returned to Gibraltar upon the sinking of ''Bismarck''. In 1942 ''Severn'' returned to home waters, where she employed again on interception duties. In May 1943 she returned to the Mediterranean to join the naval operations leading up to the invasion of

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

(

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

). Following this she was stationed at

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, and took part in relief operations to the garrison at Leros during the Aegean campaign. In January 1944 ''Severn'' was assigned to the Eastern Fleet, joining 2nd Submarine Flotilla at

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

in May. There she took part in interception patrols in the Indian Ocean.

Disposal

VJ-Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

found ''Severn'' in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, where she had been

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

and decommissioned on 23 December 1944. Having survived the

, she was sold for breaking up in 1946 to T. Hassanally, of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

* GB Maso
HMS ''Severn'' at naval-history.net
* G Helgaso

{{DEFAULTSORT:Severn (N57) River-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1934 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom