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Depot Ships

The Submarine Depot Ships, while clearly being the 'ugly ducklings' of the Fleet, were indispensable to a mobile submarine force. Royal Navy submarines were never designed for long distance operations - in fact the U and S classes were designed for training only - so the need for portable support close to the areas of operation was essential. Also, while the fuel carried on a 'T'-class boat was sufficient for perhaps five East-West trips across the Mediterranean, the patrols would have had to be of about six weeks or more. In addition, a Mediterranean submarine's targets might have been found in just about any part of that sea, making a reload of torpedoes and gun ammunition essential. The fluctuations of war necessitated submarine support in some bases that were never designed to operate submarines and, without permanent shore headquarters, a submarine war could never have been conducted without the portable facilities for workshops, accommodation, operational control, recreation and rest that the depot ships provided. As it turned out, the two most important Depot Ships to RN submarine operations were, for the most important part of the submarine war, at each end of the Mediterranean - Gibraltar and Alexandria. As well as the Mediterranean, the remainder of the submarine depot ships were to be found at the temporary bases around Britain - Blyth, Dundee, Rosyth and the Scottish islands and lochs - and, later on, at Colombo and Trincomalee in Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and, later still, at Fremantle, Western Australia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. The movements and dispositions of each depot ship, as the war progressed, is worth a website in itself, so I will restrict this page, for the time being, to some details of the ships themselves.

HMS Cyclops, 1928 Launched by Sir James Laing & Son at Sunderland 27th Oct 1905. Commissioned at Devonport as Home Fleet repair ship. Based at Scapa Flow throughout World War 1. After a refit in 1920, Cyclops became the Depot Ship for the First Submarine Flotilla, at Chatham, then took that Flotilla out to Malta in 1926. Cyclops remained in the Mediterranean until 1938, when she was relieved by Maidstone. She served in home waters throughout the Second World War, firstly at Harwich, then Rosyth and then at Rothesay from June 1940, working with the operational boats of the 3rd Flotilla running from HMS Forth at Holy Loch, further up the River Clyde. She was paid off in 1945, replaced at Rothesay by the Forth, and was sold in 1947. Scrapped at Newport.
HMS Forth, 1953. HMS Forth during the war, in Holy Loch.	The Forth was built by John Brown & Co at Clydebank, launched 11th August 1938 and completed 14th May 1939. Served with the 2nd Submarine Flotilla 1939-1941, based at Dundee, Rosyth and then Holy Loch. In Feb 1941 she crossed the Atlantic for a short period, operating submarines from Halifax, Nova Scotia, when they were used to protect convoys against surface raiders. For a short period she maintained A/S vessels and then reverted to S/M support. The 3rd and 2nd Submarine Flotillas combined from December 1941 and Forth remained at Holy Loch until 1945, and at Rothesay from 1945 to 47. Returned to Devonport in October 1960 after 12 years in the Mediterranean including providing relief for Greek earthquake victims in 1953 and in 1956 being the Headquarters ship at Port Said for the Naval Officer-in-Charge during the Suez Crisis, 1956. Refitted at Chatham 1962-1966 to support nuclear submarines. At Singapore 1966-1971, with the 7th Submarine Squadron, and then returned to Devonport. Renamed Defiance in Feb 1972, she looked after the needs of the boats of the 2nd SM Squadron and was finally placed on the disposal list in 1978 as Defiance became a shore base. On 25th July 1985, Forth/Defiance arrived for scrap on the Medway, Kent, after 47 years of valuable service. Forth at Malta
HMS Lucia, with L-boats alongside.	Lucia was built in 1907 as the Hamburg-Amerika liner Spreewald and was captured in September 1914. She was converted to a submarine depot ship in 1916 on the Clyde and served in the First World War on the River Tees. It would seem from other correspondence that she was given the nickname of 'Lucifer' by her crews. In the Second World War she served in the East, mainly at Colombo, being badly damaged there in April 1942 by Japanese aircraft. She was sold in 1946 and finally broken up in 1951.
HMS Adamant in 1957.	Adamant was built by Harland & Wolff at Belfast and launched in November 1940. Completed in 1942 and served in the Eastern Fleet (Colombo/Trincomalee) with 4th SM Flotilla from April 1943 until April 1945 and then serviced her flotilla at Fremantle, Australia, then Sydney, then Hong Kong. 1950-1954 Flagship of Senior Officer, Reserve Fleet, Portsmouth. Commissioned as depot ship to the 3rd Submarine Squadron based on Rothesay until 1957, when it moved to Faslane, further up the Clyde on Gare Loch until early 1964, when she went to Devonport for the 2nd Submarine Squadron. Listed for disposal March 1966 and arrived Inverkeithing September 1970 to be broken up. Adamant in Sydney, August 1945, prior to departing for Hong Kong.
HMS Maidstone in 1943 and 1946.
Maidstone was built by John Browns at Clydebank, launched 21st October 1937 and completed 5th May 1938. This is a ship that deserves a website all of her own to do her justice! During the war Maidstone served initially at Rosyth with 3rd Flotilla from May 1940 to Sept 1940. In March 1941 she took up residence at Gibraltar with the 8th Flotilla, then, after taking part in Op. Torch (invasion of North Africa) from Nov 1942 to Nov 1943 worked at Algiers. In March 1944 she set up shop at Trincomalee and in September 1944 moved on to Fremantle. From May 1945 to Sept 1945 she was at Subic Bay in the Philippines and then went to Hong Kong, arriving - with six submarines - just before the Japanese surrendered. After her return to the UK she later became the Flagship of C-in-C, Home Fleet from 1956 to 1958. Reconstructed 1958-1962. Based at Faslane with refits at Rosyth until August 1968 when she joined the Reserve Fleet at Rosyth before returning to Portsmouth. From 1969 to 1977 she was used as an Army accommodation ship and then prison ship at Belfast. On 23rd May 1978, after forty years service, Maidstone arrived at Inverkeithing to be broken up.
HMS Medway in 1929(left) and in 1934 (right) in Far East - Four O to starboard, six P to port.
Medway was the first large submarine depot ship to be designed as such and built for the Royal Navy. She was launched at Barrow by Vickers Armstrong on 19th July 1928 and commissioned at Devonport on 6th July 1929. She sailed for China with six O-class submarines to replace the Titania and her L-class boats, remaining on the China Station until April 1940, when she was sent to the Mediterranean, based at Alexandria and operating the 1st SM Flotilla. On 30th June 1942 she was torpedoed by U372 off Alexandria whilst on passage to Haifa and Beirut. 30 of her crew were lost, a Third Officer WRNS being Mentioned in Despatches. Fortunately 47 of her stock of 90 torpedoes floated clear but much valuable equipment was lost with her. The small depot ship Talbot moved from Malta to take her place at Beirut, changing her name to Medway II. Dramatic pictures of the sinking of HMS Medway
Originally built as a Torpedo Boat carrier, being launched at Portsmouth on 13 June 1889, the Vulcan was converted to a submarine depot ship in 1915. She is seen in this photograph at Portland supporting the Sixth Flotilla comprising H class boats and the R4. Shortly afterwards she was relieved by the Titania, which had just returned from the China Station. She then started a third career, being converted at Devonport prior to becoming Defiance III, part of the Torpedo and Electrical School at Wilcove. She remained there until December 1955, when she was towed to Belgium for breaking up - sixty-six years' service! HMS Vulcan around the 1890s HMS Vulcan, before 1900
This ship remains unknown - I had previously assumed it was the Vulcan, as shown in a reliable publication, though it has similarities to Cyclops.
HMS Titania in 1937 (left) and possibly a little earlier (1930-35) with the 6th Flotilla.
Titania - Originally built as a merchant ship launched March 1915 by Clyde Shipbdg. Co at Glasgow. Purchased by the Admiralty and completed November 1915 as a submarine depot ship and based at Blyth. In Oct 1919 commissioned at Chatham as depot ship for the 4th S/M Flotilla, China. Recommissioned at Hong Kong 1921, 1924 and 1926. In 1930 commissioned at Chatham for the 6th Flotilla based at Weymouth/Portland. 1935 temporarily with the 3rd Flotilla, Atlantic Fleet. 1935 Flagship of the Flag Officer Commanding Submarines at the Silver Jubilee Review at Spithead. 1936 attached to 6th Flotilla, Portland. 1937 Coronation Review at Spithead as Flag Officer Submarines' Flagship. 1939 based at Blyth with the 6th Flotilla. 1940 refitted on the Tyne, subsequently transferred to Holy Loch, and was seconded to Loch Erisort and then Port Cairnbawn to assist with chariot training from 1942. 1945 transferred to Portsmouth as depot hulk for the 5th Flotilla. June 1948 broken up at Faslane. There's a good painting of Titania at Subart Interesting postscript - the small ship alongside the Titania in the picture on the left is HMS Elfin, a tender, also described as a depot ship, torpedo recovery vessel and others. The ship - known during the war as HMS Nettle - is still around, having had an even more interesting career, and was still in active use in 1989. She is now being restored in Amsterdam. Thanks to Arnoud Boom in the Netherlands for informing me. Take a look at the website dedicated to Elfin/Nettle.
HMS Wolfe in 1937	HMS Wolfe was a former Canadian Pacific liner, launched 1920, and originally named Montcalm. Requisitioned as an armed merchant cruiser in 1939. Purchased in 1942 and converted into a submarine depot ship. Wolfe spent most of the war, from 1943, on Holy Loch, with HMS Forth. 1946-47 Flagship of the Captain 1st Submarine Flotilla. Paid off in 1949, broken up in 1952.
HMS Montclare 1946	A sister ship, the Montclare, had a similar history but remained a Destroyer Depot Ship until conversion to a S/M depot ship just after the war, when it served the 3rd S/M Flotilla at Rothesay, where it stayed until 1954, to be replaced by Adamant. It was eventually broken up at Inverkeithing in 1958 after a cancelled refit.
HMS Mull of Kintyre, late 1940s	Not actually a wartime submarine depot ship, but in 1947 HMS Mull of Kintyre was moored further out in the bay as the base ship for a series of explosion trials carried out in Loch Striven and lasting into 1950. These involved detonating charges close to the hull of a number of redundant cruisers, destroyers and submarines which then went to the breakers yard. The cruiser HMS Emerald had to be beached in Kames Bay and salvaged before being towed away.
HMS Bonaventure	In addition to those listed above, there were other small tenders - In September 1942 HMS Varbel was commissioned at Port Bannatyne (the Hydro) as the shore base for X craft midget submarines of the 12th Flotilla, a further base was established in Loch Striven as HMS Varbel II. Use was also made of the Bute Slip Dock yard at Ardmaleish Point. The Bonaventure was completed as a depot ship for the X craft in January 1943, and moved temporarily to Loch Cairnbawn for the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in August 1943 before taking the 14th Flotilla of X craft to the Far East in February 1945. Bonaventure also operated with the chariots and X-craft in Australia and ended the war at Sydney. It was then stripped of her craft and all the equipment pertaining to them within the shortest possible time. She was transferred to 'trooping' and running stores between Sydney and Hong Kong. Later, Bonaventure was returned to her owners, with whom she resumed her original name, Clan Davidson. .
Two Dutch tenders, the Colombia and the Plancius served in various ports, like Dundee - some of the Flotillas mentioned above were supplemented by, or operated alongside, submarines of the Netherlands, Polish, Norwegian and Free French navies. For more information, take a look at the Dutch Submarines website at www.dutchsubmarines.com	A recent correspondent, John Harlow (ex-Tel) has informed me of the "Wu Chang" - This ship was previously a gunboat operating in the Far East until the beginning of the Second World War. It was in Singapore in 1942, presumably up until just before the island fell to the Japanese, but escaped with some Australian soldiers. It was used as an overflow depot ship in Trincomalee from 1944 until the end of the war.