Strongbow to SturgeonPage last Updated:
3-Jan-2008
| Name | Class | Pennant | Crew | Built | Builder
| Disposal Date | Method |
Strongbow | S3 | P235 | 48 | 30-Aug-43 | Scotts, Greenock |
01-Apr-46 | Scrap | | Lt J A Troup. Eastern Fleet from 8/44. Sank Japanese
cargo ships Toso Maru No.1 west of Siam on 2-Sep-44 and Manryo Maru in Malacca Strait 12-Oct-44. 3 Sep 1944, sank
three Siamese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Siam. 5 Sep 1944, sank three small Japanese vessels with gunfire
off the west coast of Siam. 12 Oct 1944, torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Manryo Maru (1185 BRT) in the
Malacca Strait in position 02º50'N, 100º50'E. 28 Nov 1944, sank a Japanese tug and a Japanese barge with gunfire off the west coast
of Sumatra. 30 Nov 1944, sank three Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Sumatra. 10 Jan 1945 sank a
Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire south of the Malacca Strait. 13 Jan 1945, detected on the
surface, possibly from radar transmissions, off Port Swettenham, Malaya. Attacked by 4 Japanese submarine chasers
whilst in just 165 feet of water. The boat travelled 22 miles in total trying to escape. The attack was very accurate -
Strongbow had her periscopes damaged and one main engine was moved sideways on its mountings. The boat was blasted to the
bottom, severely damaged. The temperature in each compartment rose to 122 degrees F. After a total of 26 very close depth charges
being dropped, the Japanese departed and Strongbow made her escape, but had sustained such depth charge damage that she was
rendered unfit for further service. Some time after the War, the C.O., Lt Troup, contacted
the Japanese Navy and was put in touch with the senior officer in charge of the attack on Strongbow . When asked why they
had not finished them off, his reply was "a lot of debris came to the surface — we assumed you were destroyed and in any case
you had got to the edge of one of our minefields and it was not safe for us to go further". Strongbow escaped through this
minefield. Lieutenant Troup was the second youngest man ever to pass the submarine commanding officers course at the age
of 22. He eventually achieved the position of Flag Officer Submarines with the rank of Vice Admiral.
Strongbow was laid up at Falmouth 6/45. Scrap Preston 4/46.
 |
Stubborn | S3 | P238 | 48 | 20-Feb-43 |
Cammell Laird | 30-Apr-46 | Target | 
Lt AA Duff (later Sir Anthony, GCMG, CVO, DSO, DSC, having a distinguished career in the British Foreign Office -
Ambassador to Nepal, High Commissioner to Malaysia and to Kenya, Deputy Under Sec of State 75-8, Deputy Sec
Cabinet Office 80-85 - died 13/8/2000).
2 Jul 43, while on patrol in the Bay of Biscay, 44º47'N, 02º55'W, fired torpedoes at a group of
three German submarines escorted by two destroyers. All missed and the attack was not observed by the Germans. The submarines concerned
were U-180, U-518, U-530. The two escorts were indentified by Stubborn as 'Narvik-class'
destroyers. The German submarines were returning to Bordeaux from patrol.
One of the towing submarines used in the midget raid on Tirpitz, Kå
Fjord, Norway, Sept 1943. Towed X7 (Lt BCG Place VC) outbound - a floating mine was
kicked away by Lt Place en route! After waiting off Kå Fjord for five days, X10
(Lt KR Hudspeth RANVR) found her and took a tow homeward, though X10 was later scuttled in a gale. -
See Tirpitz raid details.
11 Feb 44, in the Fro Havet area, Norway, sank Makki Faulbaums, 1,907 grt,
and Felix, 2,047 grt. Attacked a convoy 13-Feb-44 off Trondheim, Norway, and severely depth-charged.
After hydroplane jammed to dive and the boat dived to 400ft before shooting to the surface, in sight of the enemy and diving again,
this time to over 540ft (200ft more than test depth). The boat survived the depth-charge attack and surfaced more than seven hours
later with an estimated bow-up angle of 60-70 degrees. Despite damaged ballast tanks, destroyed ASDIC and broken rudder, she managed
to make her way home. Home Fleet mobilized to bring her home: At 1455 on 16 Feb, the destroyers HMS Musketeer and Scourge
were in company, the tow being finally secured early on the 17th. Eleven hours later the tow parted, but by ingeniously listing the submarine forward
and to one side Stubborn was induced to proceed more or less in the right direction at about 7 knots. On the 18th an escort of Beaufighters and
later the trawler Narvik joined the escort which had been reinforced by the destroyers HMS Meteor and Swift. These two last,
however, left that evening. Further attempts to tow were made by the two destroyers on the 19th and at 0945 on the 20th; Stubborn was safely
berthed at Lerwick, Shetland.
Joined Eastern Fleet - Sank Japanese patrol boat No.2 (formerly the destroyer Nadakaze), off Surabaya in the Java Sea
25-Jul-45, two of four torpedoes hitting home. During this patrol Stubborn
searched and destroyed cargo from various junks and sunk others, for at this
late stage of war, large ships were very scarce and the Japanese were using
any sailing craft they could find to move vital cargo. On 30 Jul 45 Stubborn
bombarded Bewleleng Roads, off northern Bali, causing damage to slipways and
landing craft before action had to be broken off with the appearance of an
aircraft.
Sunk as A/S target off Malta in 1946. |
Sturdy | S3 | P248 c/s GGWL | 48 | 30-Sep-43 |
Cammell Laird Birkenhead | 01-May-58 | Scrap |  Had extra external torpedo tube. Sank 30+ Jap small craft. (Sir)
John Harvey-Jones (later of ICI) 3rd Hand.
29 Jun 44, sank a Japanese sailing vessel with demolition charges off the west coast of Siam.
4 Jul 44, sank two Japanese tugboats and three barges with gunfire off the west coast of Siam.
6 Jul 44, sank two small Japanese vessels with gunfire and demolition charges off the west coast of Siam.
7 Jul 44, sank two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Siam.
14 Aug 44, sank two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Burma.
27 Aug 44, sank a Japanese fishing vessel with gunfire.
8 Oct 44, sank a coaster with gunfire in the Gulf of Boni, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
9 Oct 44, sank a small Japanese vessel with gunfire in the Gulf of Boni, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
13 Oct 44, sank the Japanese Kosei Maru (99 GRT) and Hansei Maru (approx. 150 GRT) off Towari, Celebes,
Dutch East Indies, 04-34'S, 121-27'E.
14 Oct 44, sank the Japanese Communication Vessel No.128 (230 GRT) with gunfire in the Gulf of Boni, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
15 Oct 44, sank three Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire in the Gulf of Boni, Celebes, Dutch East Indies.
25 Nov 44, sank a Japanese vessel with gunfire south-east of Borneo.
26 Nov 44, sank two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire south-east of Borneo.
29 Nov 44, sank two Japanese fishing vessels with gunfire in the Java Sea, 06.20S, 112.40E.
1 Dec 44, sank a Japanese vessel with gunfire in Makassar Strait.
2 Dec 44, sank the Japanese Communication Vessel No.142 (200 GRT) with gunfire in Makassar Strait, 04-05'S, 119-32'E.
5 Dec 44, sank a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire in Makassar Strait.
At Palembang 24 Jan 45.
5 Mar 45, sank two small Japanese landing craft with gunfire in the eastern part of the Java Sea.
9 Jul 55 suffered an explosion. Discarded in Malta '57. Broken up on Tyne.
|
Sturgeon | S1 | 73S | 36 | 08-Jan-32 |
HMDY Chatham | 01-Jan-47 | Scrap |  1933-1939 6th Flotilla except for a short period in the 3rd Flotilla and a brief
stay at Gibraltar in 1935-36. Aug 1939 - Oct 1939 2nd Flotilla.
Lt. G.D.A. Gregory, DSO.
14 Sep 39, in a similar
occurrence to the loss of Oxley, Sturgeon fired three torpedoes at Swordfish but missed.
Damaged in air attack Sep 39.
Picture.
14 Oct 39, fired three torpedoes at the German Type IIb U-boat U-23 in the Skagerrak about 20 nm WNW of Skagen, Denmark,
57º49'N, 09º59'E. All three torpedoes missed their target.
Nov 1939 6th Flotilla patrolling from Blyth.
20 Nov 1939, sank the German A/S trawler V209 in Heligoland Bight,
(pictures).
2 Sep 40, torpedoed and sank the German troop transport Pionier (3624 GRT) about 15 nm north of Skagen, Denmark in position 57º58'N, 10º45'E.
From the Sturgeon's Log - "At 19.39 a large transport could be seen escorted by a "T"-class torpedo boat on either bow. There
were some smaller vessels astern. Two torpedoes were fired at 19.53 from a range of 6000 yards. The target was silhouetted against
the sun. One explosion was heard at 19.58 and when the periscope was raised a dense column of black smoke was seen rising from the
target to a height of about 2000 feet. The small vessels astern of "Pionier" scattered and no attack on them was possible.
"Sturgeon" went deep to reload her torpedo tubes at 21.15 and at that time "Pionier" was burning furiously and settling
low in the water. "Sturgeon" surfaced at 22.30 and by that time the "Pionier" had disappeared.
3 Nov 40, (Lt.Cdr. D. St Clair Ford, RN) torpedoed and sank the Danish merchant Sigrun (1337 GRT) about 10 nm ESE of Larvik, Norway
in position 59º01'N, 10º20'E. Report
6 Nov 40, torpedoed and sank the Norwegian merchant Delfinus (1294 GRT) west of Varhaug, Jæren, Norway, 58º34'N, 05º37'E.
April 1941 5th Flotilla at Portsmouth. January 1942 3rd Flotilla based on the Clyde. Nov 1942 detached to Mediterranean.
12 Aug 42, (Lt. M.R.G. Wingfield, RN) torpedoed and sank the German merchant
Boltenhagen (3335 GRT) off southern Norway in position 58º08'N, 06º25'E.
April 1943 returned to UK for refit, during which she was transferred to the Netherlands Navy and
renamed Zeehond. Details
here. Sep 1945 returned to RN at Dundee. 1947 Scrapped at Granton.
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Stygian to Syrtis