HMS/M Spearfish

HMS/M Spearfish 1937

British submarines were at sea on 3rd September 1939, taking up their patrol positions in the North Sea when the signal, "Commence hostilities against Germany", was sent out from the Admiralty.

So were the German U-boats. Four minutes after the signal was sent, the first shot of the war was fired. It was a torpedo, fired from a U-boat at the British submarine Spearfish as she was proceeding on the surface. The torpedo missed its mark, but it rang up the curtain on five and a half years of ruthless and relentless warfare conducted by submarines from the depths of the seas.

The Spearfish, having escaped the first shot, spent the next six hours in trying to get to grips with the enemy. From time to time the U-boat's periscope was sighted, but no opportunity came for firing a torpedo. In the end, as a desperate venture, her commanding officer, Lt. J.H. Eaden, attempted to ram while both boats were submerged, but the U-boat was too deep. Reluctantly the search for the U-boat was abandoned and the Spearfish set out for her patrol area in the Kattegat, the narrow strip of water that divides Denmark and Sweden.

On 22nd September, the Spearfish was sighted by the enemy and the hunt was on. With no depth of water in which to manoeuvre, there was only one thing the Spearfish could do. That was to lie motionless on the bottom and to maintain absolute silence in the boat so that no sound might reach those listening on hydrophones in the hunting craft above. Though sustaining severe damage from continuous depth charge attacks the Spearfish lay on the bottom all that day, the air getting fouler and making breathing more difficult.

When night fell, Eaden decided to make an attempt to bring her to the surface, though he was doubtful after her terrific shaking whether the ballast tanks would hold when he blew them. In addition, it was probable that the hunting craft were still in the vicinity, even though there had been no depth charge attack for some time. The gun's crew was closed up, to try to fight her way out if necessary, and scuttling charges placed to sink the submarine should there prove to be no chance of her getting clear. All the confidential books and papers on board were burnt. Then the main ballast tanks were blown. They held, and the Spearfish came up to the surface.

The sea was empty. The hunt had evidently been abandoned, but the Spearfish was by no means out of the wood yet. Her main engines and one motor were disabled, her wireless was out of order, and her periscopes smashed. She could not dive again because of the many leaks in her hull, and she was still in heavily defended enemy waters, hundreds of miles from a friendly port. On her one remaining electric motor she began her long voyage home.

By daybreak, as the result of hours of incessant work, her engine-room staff had repaired her two diesels, her wireless ratings had got her transmitting set into working order and she had been patched up to become more or less seaworthy again. She was able to signal home her position and the details of her plight. As she made her lonely way out of the Skagerrak and into the North Sea, the Home Fleet put out to her help. Destroyers reached her by midnight to escort her in, and the rest of the fleet covered her withdrawal, being ineffectually attacked by dive bombers during the process. But the Spearfish reached her base in safety and another submarine came home to fight another day.

In the Skagerrak, on 11th April 1940, the Spearfish, at sea again after her earlier adventures in the Kattegat and now commanded by Lt.Cdr. J.H. Forbes, fired at a heavy ship only just visible through the darkness of the night. Although it was not until some weeks later that the identity of the target became known, it was, in fact, the pocket-battleship Lützow and she was severely damaged by one torpedo that damaged the rudder and propellors.

Spearfish was lost 5th August 1940, east of Scotland in the North Sea (c 58-00'N, 1-00'E) - by 1 torpedo from the German Type VIIA U-Boat U.34

Lost on Spearfish August 1940

ARCHER, Henry E, Warrant Engineer

BEST, John P, Sub Lieutenant

BINNS, Harry E, Stoker 1c, P/KX 88596

BIRD, Arthur J T, Electrical Artificer 1c, C/M 39323

BIRD, Herbert F, Telegraphist, P/JX 137358

BRUCE, Robert W, Ty/Act/Leading Stoker, D/KX 86483

CARLTON, Edward C, Petty Officer Telegraphist, D/JX 136385

CARPENTER, Robert W, Able Seaman, P/JX 137114

CARTER, John A V, Able Seaman, D/JX 136337

CLIFFORD, Roland J J, Leading Signalman, RFR, P/J39219

DARCH, Edward J, Leading Stoker, RFR, D/K 63910 B 19392

DELUSSEY, Arthur, Stoker 1c, D/KX 86125

EVANS, Maurice A, Stoker 1c, C/KX 92190

FORBES, John H, Lieutenant Commander

FOSTER, John W T, Petty Officer, C/J 105134

GILLETT, Alec, Able Seaman, C/SSX 21172

GIMBLETT, Arthur R, Lieutenant, RNR

GLOVER, Albert J, Leading Seaman, P/JX 143787

HAWES, Edward H D, Able Seaman, C/JX 149819

HILL, Ronald E, Able Seaman, D/SSX 14854

IBBOTSON, William, Chief Petty Officer, D/J 48891

IVERSON, William S, Leading Seaman, RFR, C/J 95767 B 18800

JAMES, Thomas B, Able Seaman, D/JX 135857

LYNCH, Frank, Able Seaman, D/SSX 14231

MAXWELL, Maurice J, Stoker 1c, D/KX 81056

MORDUE, John W, Stoker 1c, P/KX 82401

MOREY, Ernest G, Able Seaman, C/JX 134230

O'HAIR, Edward E P, Engine Room Artificer 3c, P/MX 51968

OLIVER, Oswald, Engine Room Artificer 3c, D/MX 53256

PEEL, Stanley N, Engine Room Artificer 1c, C/M 27347

PIRIE, Donald A, Lieutenant

RAWLINGS, Arthur T, Leading Stoker, C/KX 83005

ROYLE, Reginald, Act/Stoker Petty Officer, P/KX 75033

SMITH, Arthur G, Petty Officer, D/J 114194

SMITH, Ernest, Stoker 1c, C/KX 82894

SMITH, Ernest W, Telegraphist, P/JX 141692

SMITH, Jack M, Engine Room Artificer 3c, C/MX 50827

TUSON, George W, Leading Telegraphist, D/JX 136092

WALKER, Harold W, Stoker 1c, D/KX 90217

WALKER, Philip G, Act/Leading Seaman, D/JX 141264

WILLIAMS, Francis J, Telegraphist, P/SSX 14240