View source for HMS Porpoise (N14)

{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Porpoise}}

{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Porpoise-1-.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Porpoise''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship badge=[[File:PORPOISE badge-1-.jpg|left|100px]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Porpoise''
|Ship ordered=11 June 1931
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers Armstrong]], [[Barrow-in-Furness|Barrow]]
|Ship laid down=22 September 1931
|Ship launched=30 August 1932
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=11 March 1933
|Ship recommissioned=
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|Ship out of service=
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|Ship fate=Sunk 19 January 1945
|Ship homeport=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Grampus|submarine}}
|Ship displacement=*1,768 tons surfaced
*2,035 tons submerged
|Ship length={{convert|289|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|29|ft|10|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|10|in|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=2 shaft, Diesel ({{convert|3,300|hp|kW|abbr=on}}) plus electric ({{convert|1,630|hp|abbr=on}})
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15.5|kn|km/h}} surfaced
*{{convert|8.75|kn|km/h}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement=59
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*6 × [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] torpedo tubes (bow)
*12 torpedoes
*1 × {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} deck gun
*50 [[Naval mine|mines]]
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'''HMS ''Porpoise'' (N14)''' was one of the six-ship class of {{sclass|Grampus|submarine|0}} [[naval mine|mine]]-laying [[submarine]]s of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was built at [[Vickers Armstrong]], [[Barrow-in-Furness|Barrow]] and [[ship naming and launching|launched]] 30 August 1932. She served in [[World War II]] in most of the naval theatres of the war, in home waters, the Mediterranean and the [[Far East]]. She was sunk with all hands by Japanese aircraft on 19 January 1945, and was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost to enemy action.

==Career==
In 1940, she was operating in the [[North Sea]]. She unsuccessfully attacked the {{GS|U-3|1935|6}}, and later sank the German [[minesweeper]] ''M 5'' when she hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise''. She reported firing on an unknown submarine, which may have been {{GS|U-1|1935|2}} which disappeared about this time. However ''U-1'' may have hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise''{{'}}s sister, {{HMS|Narwhal|N45|6}}.

Throughout late 1941 and 1942, ''Porpoise'' operated in the Mediterranean. On 9 December a few miles south of the [[Peloponnese]] she torpedoed and badly damaged the German passenger and cargo ship {{MV|Sebastiano Veniero|1940|2}} (Jansen), which was carrying about 2,000 UK, South African and other Commonwealth prisoners of war. At least 300 PoWs were killed, and the Germans beached the merchant ship at [[Methoni, Messenia|Methoni]] in Greece to prevent her sinking and further loss of life.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?98746 |title=MV Sebastiano Veniero [+1941] |last1=Lettens |first1=Jan |last2=de Neumann |first2=Bernard |date=2 June 2013 |work=WreckSite |publisher=wrecksite.eu |access-date=28 September 2014}}</ref> ''Porpoise'' then returned to minelaying off [[Crete]].

[[File:Submarine Porpoise Took Petrol To Malta. 20 January 1943, Portsmouth, Hm Submarine Porpoise Returned To a British Base Recently, After 14 Months in the Mediterranean. She Played a Big Part in Keeping Malta Supp A14004.jpg|thumb|left|HMS ''Porpoise'' at Malta on 20 January 1943 (IWM A14004)]]
In 1942, under the command of [[Leslie Bennington]], she sank the Italian merchant ''Citta di Livorno'' and later the Italian transport ''Ogaden'', but missed the escorting Italian torpedo boat ''Montanari''. ''Porpoise'' went on to torpedo and sink the Italian merchant ''Lerici'', and unsuccessfully attacked the merchant ''Iseo'' on 19 August, an action during which she was damaged by depth charges from the escorting torpedo boat ''[[Italian torpedo boat Lince|Lince]]''. Towards the end of the year she sank the Italian tanker ''Giulio Giordani'' and the auxiliary patrol vessel F-39 / ''Fertilia'', several days after an earlier attack on the ship had failed. The Italian torpedo boat {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Generale Antonio Cantore||2}} struck a mine laid by ''Porpoise'' and was also sunk.

1944 found ''Porpoise'' operating in the Pacific against Japanese forces. She directly sank several small sailing vessels, whilst the Japanese auxiliary [[submarine chaser]]s ''Cha 8'' and ''Cha 9'', the army [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] ''Takekun Maru'' and the auxiliary minelayer ''Ma 1'' were sunk after hitting mines laid by ''Porpoise''. The auxiliary minesweeper ''Kyo Maru No. 1'' and the submarine chaser ''Ch 57'' were damaged by mines.<ref name=U739>{{cite web |url= http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3412.html |title=HMS Porpoise (N 14) |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |date=1995–2014 |work=uboat.net |publisher=Guðmundur Helgason }}</ref>

On 11 September 1944, ''Porpoise'' took part in [[Operation Rimau]] by ferrying 24 Australian commandoes to the island of [[Merapas]], a small island off the coast of [[Singapore]].<ref name=waterloo2015>{{cite web |url= http://www.therecord.com/news-story/5799051-vanished-waterloo-woman-s-brother-died-in-1945-pacific-battle/|title=Vanished: Waterloo woman's brother died in 1945 Pacific battle |last=Outhit |first=Jeff |publisher=Waterloo Region Record |date=14 August 2015}}</ref>

''Porpoise'' returned to [[Fremantle]], Australia on 24 October. On its return from Operation Rimau, ''Porpoise'' is noted to have encountered a small enemy convoy and later a large tanker. ''Porpoise'' declined an engagement at either opportunity as her orders were to remain hidden unless an important target presented itself. ''Porpoise'' is believed to have sustained unknown damages during the Rimau mission and was noted to be leaking fuel. Heavy weather was also encountered during the return trip to Fremantle. The submarine's journey was mainly on the surface during heavy rainstorms. ''Porpoise'' was required to dive somewhere in the [[Lombok Strait]] nearly losing control as it plunged violently in the strong currents and eddies associated with that strait.<ref name=waterloo2015 />

After repairing at Fremantle, ''Porpoise'' sailed to [[Ceylon]] in November 1944 and operated from that area for the rest of the war.<ref name=waterloo2015 />

==Sinking==

In January 1945, HMS ''Porpoise'' was laying mines in the [[Straits of Malacca]] in the vicinity of [[Penang]]. On 9 January, ''Porpoise'' signalled confirming their mission had been successfully carried out.<ref name=waterloo2015 /> The submarine was never heard from again.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Fremantle's Submarines: How Allied Submariners and Western Australians Helped Win the War in the Pacific|last=Sturma|first=Michael|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=2015|isbn=9781612518619|pages=2}}</ref>

Japanese records show that [[radio direction finder]]s at Penang picked up her position and subchaser ''CH-8'' was dispatched to the area and conducted an attack on ''Porpoise''. Later that day, a submarine was spotted and bombed by aircraft in the vicinity of Penang. The aircraft scored a hit with one of its bombs and the submarine sank, bringing up a large oil slick. ''CH-8'' found the submarine still sitting on the bottom with its sonar.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.combinedfleet.com/CH-8_t.htm|title=Japanese Subchasers}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/what-we-have/memorial-chapel/submarine-losses?start=17 |work=Submarine losses 1904 to present day |title=Page 18 |publisher=[[Royal Navy Submarine Museum]] |year=2010 |access-date=16 August 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041531/https://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/what-we-have/memorial-chapel/submarine-losses?start=17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Publications==

* {{cite journal|last1=Caruana|first1=Joseph|year=2012 |title=Emergency Victualling of Malta During WWII|journal=Warship International|volume=LXIX |issue=4 |pages=357–364 |issn=0043-0374}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}

==External links==
*[http://www.maritimequest.com/daily_event_archive/2007/pages/jan/02_hms_porpoise_n14.htm Roll of Honour]

{{Grampus class submarine}}
{{January 1945 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Indian Ocean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porpoise (N14)}}
[[Category:1932 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:Grampus-class submarines]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1945]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by aircraft]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Strait of Malacca]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by Japanese aircraft]]
[[Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands]]