HMS Cachalot (S06)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Cachalot.

HMS Cachalot (S06)
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Cost£2,340,000 [1]
Laid down1 August 1955
Launched11 December 1957
Commissioned1 September 1959
FateSold for scrap, 12 November 1979
General characteristics
Displacement
  • 2,080 tons surfaced
  • 2,450 tons submerged
Length290 ft (88 m)
Beam26.5 ft (8.1 m)
Draught18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion
  • 2 × ASR 16VVS AS21 diesel generators totalling 3,680 bhp (2,740 kW)
  • 2 × English Electric main motors totalling 12,000 hp (8,900 kW) driving two shafts
  • 2 × 880 V batteries each of 224 cells
Speed12 knots surfaced, 17 knots submerged
Complement64
Armament
  • 6 × 21 inch (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes
  • 2 × 21 inch (533 mm) stern torpedo tubes
  • 30 torpedoes could be carried (usually Mk8 or Mk23) or mines

HMS Cachalot (S06) was a Porpoise-class submarine. Her keel was laid down on 1 August 1955 by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Greenock. She was launched on 11 December 1957, and commissioned on 1 September 1959.

Design

The Porpoise class was the first class of operational submarines built for the Royal Navy after the end of the Second World War, and were designed to take advantage of experience gained by studying German Type XXI U-boats and British wartime experiments with the submarine Seraph, which was modified by streamlining and fitting a bigger battery.[2][3][4]

The Porpoise-class submarines were 290 feet 3 inches (88.47 m) long overall and 241 feet 0 inches (73.46 m) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 26 feet 6 inches (8.08 m) and a draught of 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 m). Displacement was 1,565 long tons (1,590 t) standard and 1,975 long tons (2,007 t) full load surfaced and 2,303 long tons (2,340 t) submerged.[2] Propulsion machinery consisted of two Admiralty Standard Range diesel generators rated at a total of 3,680 brake horsepower (2,740 kW), which could charge the submarine's batteries or directly drive the electric motors. These were rated at 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kW), and drove two shafts, giving a speed of 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) on the surface and 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) submerged.[5][4] Eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted; six in the bow, and two in the stern. Up to 30 torpedoes could be carried, with the initial outfit consisting of the unguided Mark 8 and the homing Mark 20 torpedoes.[2]

HMS Cachalot crest plaque presented whilst on visit to the Tyne / Blyth

Service

Cachalot attended the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review off Spithead when she was part of the Submarine Flotilla.[6]

She was sold on 12 November 1979 for breaking up at Blyth.

References

  1. ^ The Times (London), Saturday, 8 April 1961, p.6
  2. ^ a b c Gardiner & Chumbley 1995, p. 529
  3. ^ Brown 2012, p. 116
  4. ^ a b Brown & Moore 2012, p. 114
  5. ^ Blackman 1971, p. 339
  6. ^ Official Souvenir Programme, 1977. Silver Jubilee Fleet Review, HMSO

Publications

  • Blackman, Raymond V. B. (1971). Jane's Fighting Ships 1971–72. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company. ISBN 0-354-00096-9.
  • Brown, David K. (2012). Nelson to Vanguard: Warship Design and Development 1923–1945. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-149-6.
  • Brown, David K.; Moore, David (2012). Rebuilding the Royal Navy: Warship Design Since 1945. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-150-2.
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
  • Gardiner, Robert; Chumbley, Stephen, eds. (1995). Conway's All The World's Fighting Ships 1947–1995. Annapolis, Maryland, USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-132-7.