View source for HMS Sterlet (2S)

{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Sterlet.jpg
|Ship caption=''Sterlet''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Sterlet''

|Ship namesake=[[Sterlet]]
|Ship ordered=2 March 1936

|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Chatham Dockyard]]
|Ship laid down=14 July 1936
|Ship launched=22 September 1937
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=6 April 1938
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] 2S
|Ship fate=Sunk, 18 April 1940
|Ship badge=[[File:STERLET badge-1-.jpg|80px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[British S-class submarine (1931)|S-class]] [[submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|768|LT|t}} surfaced
*{{convert|960|LT|t}} submerged
|Ship length={{convert|208|ft|8|in|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|24|ft|m|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|11|ft|10|in|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=*{{convert|1550|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)
*{{convert|1300|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (electric)
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[Diesel engine]]s
*2 × [[Electric motor]]s
|Ship speed=*{{convert|13.75|kn|lk=in}} surfaced
*{{convert|10|kn}} submerged
|Ship range={{convert|6000|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} surface; {{convert|64|nmi|abbr=on}}  at {{convert|2|kn}} submerged
|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|1}}
|Ship complement=40
|Ship armament=*6 × bow [[British 21-inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*1 × [[QF 3-inch 20 cwt|3-inch (76&nbsp;mm)]] [[deck gun]]
}}
|}
'''HMS ''Sterlet''''' was a second-batch [[British S-class submarine (1931)|S-class]] [[submarine]] built during the 1930s for the [[Royal Navy]]. Completed in 1938, the boat fought in the [[World War II|Second World War]]. The submarine is one of the 12 boats named in the song ''[[British S-class submarine (1931)#Service losses|Twelve Little S-Boats]]''. Thus far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named ''Sterlet''.

==Design and description==
The second batch of S-class submarines were designed as slightly improved and enlarged versions of the earlier boats of the [[ship class|class]] and were intended to operate in the [[North Sea|North]] and [[Baltic Sea]]s.<ref name=h6>Harrison, Chapter 16</ref> The submarines had a length of {{convert|208|ft|8|in|m|1}} [[length overall|overall]], a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{convert|24|ft|m|1}} and a mean [[draft (ship)|draught]] of {{convert|11|ft|10|in|m|1}}. They [[displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|768|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|960|LT|t}} submerged.<ref name=gg9>Chesneau, p. 49</ref> The S-class submarines had a crew of 40 officers and [[naval rating|ratings]]. They had a diving depth of {{convert|300|ft|1}}.<ref name=i7>McCartney, p. 6</ref>

For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|775|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} [[diesel engine]]s, each driving one [[propeller shaft]]. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|650|hp|0|adj=on}} [[electric motor]]. They could reach {{convert|13.75|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|10|kn}} underwater.<ref>Bagnasco, p. 110</ref> On the surface, the second-batch boats had a range of {{convert|6000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} and {{convert|64|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|2|kn}} submerged.<ref name=i7/>

The S-class boats were armed with six [[British 21 inch torpedo|21-inch (533 mm)]] [[torpedo tube]]s in the bow. They carried six reload torpedoes for a total of a dozen torpedoes. They were also armed with a [[QF 3-inch 20 cwt|3-inch (76&nbsp;mm)]] [[deck gun]].<ref name=gg9/>

==Construction and career==
Ordered on 2 March 1936, ''Sterlet'' was [[laid down]] on 14 July 1936 in [[HM Dockyard, Chatham]] and was [[Ship naming and launching|launched]] on 22 September 1936. The boat was completed on 6 April 1938.<ref>Akermann, p. 334</ref>

At the onset of the Second World War, ''Sterlet'' was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 23–26 August 1939 the 2nd Submarine Flotilla transferred to its war bases at [[Dundee]] and Blyth.<ref>Rohwer, p. 1</ref>

On 8 April 1940 ''Sterlet'' left for a patrol in the Skagerrak, off Norway under the command of Lt. Gerard Henry Stacpoole Haward. Four days later she unsuccessfully attacked a convoy of three merchant ships and a destroyer. The following day she was assigned a new patrol area and on 14 April torpedoed the German gunnery training ship {{ship|German training ship|Brummer||2}}, leading to her sinking the following day.<ref>German.navy.de: [http://german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/training/brummer/history.html ''Brummer'']</ref>

She was possibly sunk by the German anti-submarine trawlers ''UJ-125'', ''UJ-126'' and ''UJ-128'' on 18 April. Alternatively, she may have struck a mine whilst returning to port.<ref>Uboat.net: [http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3429.html HMS ''Sterlet'']</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Bagnasco |first=Erminio |title=Submarines of World War Two |year=1977 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-962-6}}
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
* {{cite web|url=http://rnsubs.co.uk/dits-bits/br-3043.html|title=The Development of HM Submarines From Holland No. 1 (1901) to Porpoise (1930) (BR3043)|last=Harrison|first=A. N.|date=January 1979|publisher=RN Subs|access-date=27 September 2022}}
* {{cite book|last=McCartney|first=Innes|location=Oxford, UK|title=British Submarines 1939–1945|series=New Vanguard|volume=129|year=2006|publisher=Osprey|isbn=1-84603-007-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |date=2005 |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |edition=Revised & Expanded |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

{{British S class submarine}}
{{February 1939 shipwrecks}}
{{April 1940 shipwrecks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sterlet}}
[[Category:British S-class submarines (1931)]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:1937 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1939]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1940]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by German warships]]