HMS Tabard (P342)

HMS ''Tabard'' was a British submarine of the third group of the T class. She was built by Scotts, Greenock, and launched on 21 November 1945. So far she has been the only boat of the Royal Navy to bear the name ''Tabard'', after the item of clothing. Having been launched after the war, she was selected, along with a number of boats of her class, to try out new streamlining techniques based on the German Type XXIII submarine. In May 1963, she was involved in a collision with , and on 10 February 1964 she underwent exercises with and in the hours before their collision. When she returned to the UK, she became the static training submarine at the shore establishment , until 1974 when she was sold and broken up.

Design and description

''Tabard'' had been originally ordered from Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, but the orders were switched to Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock. Akermann (2002): p. 380 Ordered as P. 342, she was named ''Tabard'' in May 1943 after the tabard, the official dress of a herald, and she is the only boat of the Royal Navy to bear the name. Akermann (2002): p. 385 She was laid down on 6 September 1944, and launched on 21 November 1945 before being completed on 25 June 1946. Akermann (2002): p. 377 It was one of fourteen boats ordered under the 1942 Programme, and was one of the five which were completed. Unlike some of the earlier boats of its class, it was not equipped with a 4 inch gun with a full shield, rather than a standard open gun mounting. Akermann (2002): p. 381 Further aft, she had an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon mounting which was modified for boats by having holes cut in the pedestal for drainage. Roberts (1979): p. 127 Being from the third group, she has an all–welded hull, which increased her diving depth to . McCartney (2006): p. 13

Following post war tests by the British Navy on German Type XXIII submarines, it was decided by the Admiralty to modify eight T-class submarines to enlarge the batteries, increase the power of the motors and streamline the hulls. In 1950, Akermann (2002): p. xvi ''Tarbard''s pressure hull was cut at the after end of the engine room and the submarine was lengthened by . This gave enough room to add an additional battery compartment and a second pair of electric motors. The propulsion system was changed from direct to diesel–electric transmission. Akermann (2002): p. 383 Along with , ''Tabard'' was one of two boats which were further modified by incorporating their bridge into a streamlined fin. Other streamlining adjustments were made to the hull with all external fittings removed, including the external torpedo tubes and gun. The periscopes, radar masts, snort mast and wireless mast were all incorporated into the new bridge fin.

Service

''Tabard'' was commissioned after the end of the Second World War, Akermann (2002): p. 386 initially being sent for Mediterranean duties. In March 1949, she was one of a number of ships to take part in Operation Two Step, a training exercise which combined the bulk of the Home Fleet with the Mediterranean Fleet to make up the biggest concentration of British ships since Operation Torch in November 1942. On 17 January 1950, along with carrying Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, she escorted carrying Admiral Sir Arthur Power to meet with Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia for talks at Jeddah. While being refitted in Malta during June 1950, she was damaged by electrical cables being installed by a disgruntled workman. Reports in the British media arose a little over a month later, mistakenly attributing the damage to . On 18 December 1950, she rescued Roi Wilson, later captain of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, after he and his observer James Hawker had downed their Fairey Firefly.

In 1960, ''Tabard'' along with and ''Trump'', joined the 4th Submarine Squadron in Sydney, Australia. She underwent a refit at Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney between 9 January 1961 and 26 March 1962, Jeremy (2005): p. 242 becoming the submarine to be refitted there. Jeremy (2005): p. 147 There, they operated with units of the Far East Fleet, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Navy. In April 1963 she collided with a wharf when docking in Brisbane, damaging her ASDIC sonar equipment. On 8 May, ''Tabard'' was involved in a further minor collision with Royal Australian Navy frigate , following a week of anti-submarine training exercises. Weaver (1994): p. 194 ''Tabard'' was at periscope depth when ''Queenborough'' passed above her, bending the submarine's fin and the frigate's keel and port propeller. Both vessels were able to safely return to Sydney, where they docked at naval base HMAS ''Kuttabul'' for repairs.

On 10 February 196, she participated in anti–submarine exercises with the aircraft carrier and the destroyer , finishing at 1800 hours that day. Less than three hours later, ''Voyager'' sailed under ''Melbourne''s bow and was cut in two and sunk, killing 82 of her crew in what was to become known as the Voyager Incident. Later that year in June, she participated in the ''NEWS EX'' anti–submarine exercise in the Hauraki Gulf

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