Author Topic: HM Submarine Grampus (1934 - 1940)  (Read 1995 times)

Offline stuartwaters

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HM Submarine Grampus (1934 - 1940)
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2021, 02:48:38 PM »

HMS Grampus was the lead boat of a class of five large submarine minelayers, two of which (the other was HMS Seal) were built at Chatham. Originally intended to be a sister-boats to HMS Porpoise, HMS Grampus and her sister-boats ended up being built to an improved design, with internal fuel tanks and were 5ft longer, 4ft 6 narrower and were heavier.


HMS Grampus under way:





HMS Grampus was laid down on the No. 7 slipway on 20th August 1934, launched into the River Medway on 25th February 1936 and after fitting out at Chatham, was commissioned on 10th March 1937, under the command of Lt-Cdr J W Moir. On completion, she displaced 1810 tons surfaced and 2157 tons dived. Clearly very large boats for their day, being more than twice the size of an 'S' class boat, their size can be seen in the photo above. She was armed with 6 x 21in torpedo tubes, all in the bows and a 4in deck gun. She could also carry up to 50 mines, with the mine tracks being located under the much enlarged casing aft of the conning tower.


The crest of HMS Grampus:





On commissioning, she was initially sent to Hong Kong, where she was part of the 4th Submarine Flotilla looked after by the depot ship HMS Medway. In 1939, Grampus received her 2nd commander, Lt-Cdr C A Rowe.


In August 1939, she commenced war patrols from Singapore looking for German surface raiders as the declaration of war seemed imminent. Her first war patrol lasted from 13th September to 3rd October 1939, when she patrolled the Sundra Straits. Her second war patrol was in the same place and lasted from 14th October 1939 to 6th November. On 2nd December 1939, she departed Singapore for her 3rd war patrol off Western Sumatra. She was ordered to search for the German battleship Graf Spee which was thought to be in the area. This patrol also passed without incident and ended at Singapore on 16th December.


She stayed in Singapore until March 1940, when in response to the Italian declaration of war, she was sent to the Mediterranean Sea. HMS Grampus arrived in Alexandria on 22nd May 1940 and was sent on to Malta to commence war patrols.


On 11th June 1940, HMS Grampus set off from Malta to conduct her 4th war patrol and with orders to lay a minefield off Augusta, Sicily. On 13th June, she signalled that this operation had been completed and that she was commencing her patrol of the area. Earlier in the day, the Italian submarine Giovanni Bausan  inbound to Augusta at the time, reported that she had avoided a torpedo attack. If this report was genuine, then it would have been the work of HMS Grampus. This is not certain however, as on many occasions, nervous and inexperienced crews often mistook porpoises for torpedo tracks.


On 14th June, the Italian torpedo boat Polluce, returning to Augusta in company with the Italian torpedo boats Circe, Calliope and Clio also reported a near miss by torpedoes, which could also only have been fired by HMS Grampus.


On 16th June, the same Italian vessels while conducting an anti-submarine sweep of the area opened fire with their 100mm guns on what appeared to be a submarine conning tower at a range of 3-4000 metres. Later that day, the Polluce reported another near miss, with torpedoes passing ahead and astern. The Italian ships responded with a sustained depth charge attack which ended when a large oil slick, bubbles and debris were sighted on the surface. The commander of the Italian flotilla, Capitano di Fregata Aldo Rossi, was not convinced that the submarine target had been destroyed and ordered a further sweep, which was called off when nothing more was found. The Italians reported it as a 'probable' submarine kill.


On 18th June 1940, the Italian submarine Benedetto Brin, while departing Augusta for a patrol off Crete, reported a near miss from a torpedo fired from about 2,500 metres. If this report is genuine, the attacker must have been HMS Grampus. This incident challenges the accepted view that HMS Grampus had been destroyed by the depth charge attack on 16th June, although the 16th was also the date on which she should have ended her patrol and started back for Malta, so she shouldn't have been in the area. It may have been that the boat was too badly damaged to return to base and that something related to that had caused her loss at a slightly later date. Whatever the case may be, HMS Grampus was not seen or heard from again and was presumed lost with all hands. Until her wreck is found, we will never know the truth.


This link will take you to the Roll of Honour for HMS Grampus:


http://rnsubs.co.uk/crew/roh.html?BoatID=317
"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.