HMS Aurochs (P426)

Aurochs

Ship data flag  United Kingdom Ship type Submarine class Amphion class Shipyard Vickers , Barrow-in-Furness Launch July 28, 1945 Whereabouts Scrapped from February 1967

Ship dimensions and crew length 89.46 m ( Lüa ) width 6.81 m Draft Max. 5.51 m displacement surfaced: 1360 tn.l. submerged: 1590 tn.l.   crew 5 officers, 55 men

Machine system machine Diesel-electric Machine performance 2 × 2,150 PS surfaced, 4 × 625 PS submerged

Mission data submarine Radius of action at 11 kn: 10,500 nm Top speed submerged 8 kn (15 km / h) Top speed surfaced 18.5 kn (34 km / h)

Armament 10 × torpedo tubes ⌀ 53.3 cm (6 bow, 4 stern, 2 external non-reloadable torpedo tubes each) 20 × torpedo 1 × deck gun 10.2 cm 1 × cannon 2.0 cm Oerlikon 3 × MG 7.7 mm 26 × sea ​​mine

The HMS Aurochs ( ship identification P426, later S62) was a submarine of the Amphion class of the Submarine Service of the Royal Navy . She was in on June 21, 1944 Shipyard of Vickers -Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness , the only submarine shipyard Britain, to put Kiel , expired on 28 July 1945 from the stack and was completed on February 7, 1947 . As with all Amphion- class boats , their name begins with the letter A. It is named after the aurochs (Bos primigenius), an extinct Eurasian wild ox from which domestic cattle are descended and which is often depicted in cave paintings and heraldry .

construction

Like all Amphion- class submarines , the Aurochs had a displacement of 1,360 tons on the surface and 1,590 tons underwater. She had a total length of 89.46 m, a width of 6.81 m and a draft of 5.51 m. The submarine was powered by two Admiralty ML eight-cylinder diesel engines, each with an output of 2,150 PS (1,600 kW). It also contained four electric motors, each with an output of 625 hp (466 kW), that powered two shafts. It could bunker a maximum of 219 tons of diesel, but usually took between 159 and 165 tons.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.5 knots (34.3 km / h) and an underwater speed of 8 knots (15 km / h). Submerged, it could travel 90 nautical miles (170 km) at 3 knots (5.6 km / h) or 16 nautical miles (30 km) at 8 knots (15 km / h). When surfaced, it was able to cover 15,200 nautical miles (28,200 km) at 10 knots (19 km / h) or 10,500 nautical miles (19,400 km) at 11 knots (20 km / h). The Aurochs was equipped with ten torpedo tubes (21 inches, 53.3 cm), a 10.2 cm naval gun (QF, 4 inches, Mk XXIII), a 2.0 cm machine gun from Oerlikon and a British Vickers machine gun ( .303 ) equipped. The torpedo tubes were attached to the bow and stern , and there were twenty torpedoes on board. The crew consisted of sixty men.

Mission history

In 1953, the Aurochs took part in the fleet parade to celebrate the coronation of Elizabeth II .

On May 17, 1958 patrolled the aurochs before Indonesia on the Molukka , they shelled as an unknown aircraft with machine guns. The aircraft stayed at a great height and the Aurochs was neither lost nor damaged. President Sukarno's Indonesian government advised the UK Conservative government that the armed forces did not carry out the attack. The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it accepted the assurance and assumed that the rebels of northern Celebes, as Sulawesi were then called, carried out the attack. In fact, the Permesta rebels in North Sulawesi were supported by a "Revolutionary Air Force", AUREV (Angkatan Udara Revolusioner) (compare here ). However, all AUREV aircraft, ammunition and pilots were supplied by the National Chinese Air Force or the CIA . Two CIA pilots, William H. Beale and Allen Pope, had attacked Indonesian and foreign targets in the region with Douglas A-26 Invader aircraft since April 1958 . By May 17, Beale had suspended the operation, but Pope continued to fly sorties until the day the Aurochs were attacked. On May 18, when he attempted to attack an Indonesian naval convoy, he was shot down and captured.

Aside from the Affray , which sank in an accident in 1951, the Aurochs was the only one in its class that was not modernized. In March 1961, the submarine was one of the ships taking part in a combined naval exercise with the United States Navy off Nova Scotia .

The Aurochs was decommissioned in 1966 and came to Troon for scrapping in February 1967 .

literature

• Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957-1958. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9 .

Footnotes

1. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2011). "HMS Aurochs (P426)". uboat.net.
2. ^ Paul Akermann (November 1, 2002). Encyclopedia of British Submarines 1901-1955. Periscope Publishing Ltd. P. 422. ISBN 978-1-904381-05-1 .
3. ^ "Acheron class". World Naval Ships, Cranston Fine Arts
4. ^ Souvenir Program, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, June 15, 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden.
5. ^ David Ormsby-Gore, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (June 11, 1958). "Indonesia (British Vessels)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 202-203.
6. ↑ Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire, CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958, p.99 Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9 .
7. ↑ Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire, CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958, p.100 Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9 .
8. ↑ Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire, CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958, pp.136-141 Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9 .
9. ↑ Warlow, Ben. Channel sweep. Liskeard: Maritime Books. P. 13. ISBN 0-907771-40-8
10. ^ "A / S Exercise Off Nova Scotia". The Crowsnest. Vol. 13 no.6. Queen's Printer. April 1961. p. 2.