HMS Grampus (S04)

HMS Grampus (S04) was a Porpoise-class submarine. Her keel was laid down in 1955 by Cammell Laird at Birkenhead. She was launched by Lady Shepheard on 30 May 1957.[1] She was first commissioned on 19 December 1958.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Grampus.

HMS Grampus (S04)
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Grampus
Builder: Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down: 1955
Launched: 30 May 1957
Commissioned: 19 December 1958
Reclassified: Harbour training ship between 1976 and 1979
Fate: Sunk as a target ship in 1980
General characteristics
Class and type: Porpoise class submarine
Displacement:
  • 2,080 tons surfaced
  • 2,450 tons submerged
Length: 290 ft (88 m)
Beam: 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m)
Draught: 18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion:
  • 2 × Admiralty Standard range diesel generators, 1,650 hp (1.230 MW)
  • 2 × English Electric main motors, 12,000 hp (8.95 MW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed:
  • 12 kn (22 km/h) surfaced
  • 17 kn (31 km/h)submerged
Range: 9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement: 71
Armament:
  • 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 6 bow, 2 stern
  • 30 × Mk8 or Mk23 torpedoes, later the Mark 24 Tigerfish

Service

On 1 April 1963, Grampus returned to Gosport after spending three weeks under the polar icecap looking for holes in the ice. During the patrol she superficially damaged her hull on the ice. During 1965 she refitted in Devonport Dockyard.[2]

On 11 January 1968, the French trawler Fomalhaut caught Grampus in her nets in the English Channel. Grampus surfaced and both crews spent over three hours disentangling the nets. In 1968 she was part of the First Submarine Squadron based at HMS Dolphin and in that year was present during 'Navy Days' in Portsmouth Dockyard.[3]

Grampus operated with USS Tigrone in a joint American-British oceanographic operation in the eastern Atlantic in 1972.

Grampus sank on 18 September 1980 in Loch Fyne as she was being towed as a sonar target. She sits upright in 120 metres of water.[4]

Commanding officers
FromToCaptain
19621964Lieutenant-Commander Compton-Hall
19641965Lieutenant-Commander J F Woodward RN
19651966Lieutenant-Commander T J Andrews RN
19671968Lieutenant-Commander T D A Thompson RN
19681969Lieutenant-Commander R O Shellard RN
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References
  1. Programme, Navy Days at Portsmouth August 31st-September 2nd 1968, p.21.
  2. Programme, Navy Days at Portsmouth August 31st-September 2nd 1968, p.21.
  3. Programme, Navy Days at Portsmouth August 31st-September 2nd 1968, p.21.
  4. http://www.fynepioneer.co.uk/Sites/Loch_Fyne/hmsgrampus

Publications
  • Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
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