Author Topic: HM Submarine Starfish (1933 -1940)  (Read 1870 times)

Offline stuartwaters

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HM Submarine Starfish (1933 -1940)
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2021, 06:40:03 PM »

HMS Starfish was a Group 1 "S" class coastal patrol submarine built at Chatham Royal Dockyard. The S Class went on to become the most numerous single type of British submarine ever built with 62 boats completed between the early 30s and the end of the Second World War.


She was laid down on No 7 slip on 26th September 1931. She was launched into the Medway by Mrs Summers on 14th March 1933 and fitted out at Chatham before being commissioned on 27th October. On completion, HMS Starfish was a vessel of 730 tos surfaced and 927 tons dived. She was armed with 6 x 21in torpedo tubes in her bows, with a 3in 18cwt gun on her casing in front of her fin and machine guns on the bridge. She was manned by a crew of 38 officers and men.


HMS Starfish running on the surface:





HMS Starfish crest:





Following trials and workup, she was stationed at Portsmouth from 1934 until 1935, when she moved to Portland to become part of the Home Fleet. She remained Portland-based until the outbreak of the Second World War. During 1937, she was moored at St Katherines Dock with another Chatham-built boat, HMS Swordfish for King George VI's Coronation celebrations.


HMS Starfish at the entrance to St. Katherines Dock:





On the outbreak of the Second World War, she was moved to Dundee, then Rosyth before being based at Blythe, in order to conduct war patrols in the North Sea.


On 5th January 1940, she departed from Blythe under Lt Thomas Anthony Turner RN to conduct a war patrol in the North Sea. On 9th January, she attempted to torpedo a German Minesweeper, M7 off the Heligoland Bight. The torpedoes failed to fire because of a drill error by the crew and she turned in to have another go, but the hydroplanes jammed, so Lt Turner decided to settle the boat on the bottom in 27 metres of water to carry out repairs. Unfortuntately, she had been detected by M7, which attacked with depth charges. This first attack did no damage. One of the boats electricians then asked permission to run the Sperry motors to prevent the boats gyros wandering and this was granted, but no sooner had they been started, the German vessel attacked again. 4 depth charges exploded over the boat causing widespread damage and these were followed by another 20. These also exploded near the hull and caused severe damage. Rivets had been fractured and hull plating had been damaged causing major leaks. By 18:00 on 9th January, the boat was in serious trouble. Engine room crank cases had been flooded, as had the starboard main motor bearings, the torpedo trenches and bilges were full of water and water was lapping at the casing of the starboard main motor. Realising the enemy was not going to leave the area any time soon and that if they stayed where they were they would all die there, Lt Turner ordered that the boat be surfaced. In order to achieve this, they released the drop-keel. Even then, HMS Starfish barely made it to the surface, coming up at a 45 degree angle caused by the amount of water in the boat and a severe shortage of high-pressure air with which to blow the ballast tanks properly.


On coming to the surface, the crew of HMS Starfish abandoned ship and the boat sank shortly afterwards. All of the crew survived their escape and all were taken into captivity by the Germans and spent the rest of the war as Prisoners of War.
"I did not say the French would not come, I said they will not come by sea" - Admiral Sir John Jervis, 1st Earl St Vincent.