|
HMS ''Porpoise'' (N14) was one of the six-ship class of mine-laying submarines of the Royal Navy. She was built at Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and 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 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 , and later sunk the German minesweeper ''M 5'' when she hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise''. She reported firing on an unknown submarine, which may have been which disappeared about this time. However ''U-1'' may have hit a mine laid by ''Porpoise's'' sister, . 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 , which was carrying about 2,000 UK and Dominion prisoners of war. At least 300 PoWs were killed, and the Germans beached the merchant ship at Methoni in Greece to prevent her sinking and further loss of life. ''Porpoise'' then returned to minelaying off Crete. In 1942 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'', during which she was damaged by depth charges from the escorting ships. 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 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 chasers ''Cha 8'' and ''Cha 9'', the army 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. On September 11, 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. Porpoise returned to Fremantle, Australia on October 24. 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. The 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.〔 After repairing at Fremantle, Porpoise sailed to Ceylon in November 1944 and operated from that area for the rest of the war.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Porpoise (N14)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|