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HMS ''Seal'' was one of six ships of the mine-laying submarines of the Royal Navy. She served in the Second World War and was captured by the Kriegsmarine and taken into German service as ''U-B''. She was the only submarine the Germans captured at sea during World War II. Her capture allowed the Germans to correct a critical fault in their U-boat torpedoes.〔Bair, Clay (1966) ''Hitler's U-boat War: The Hunters''. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-58839-8〕 ''Seal'' was laid down at the Chatham Dockyard on 9 December 1936, launched on 27 September 1938 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 24 May 1939. During her entire British career, her commander was Rupert Lonsdale, for whom it was his second command. ==Early career== On being commissioned, ''Seal'' went for acceptance trials at Dartmouth and in Tor Bay. On the day of her first successful deep dive, 1 June 1939, news arrived of the loss of undergoing trials at Liverpool, a personal setback for the crew who had lost many friends. ''Seal'' moved to Gosport to complete torpedo trials.〔Warren and Benson (1961) pp23-24〕 On 4 August, she sailed to China to join and via Gibraltar, Malta and the Suez Canal. However, on the outbreak of the Second World War, she was detained at Aden and made two ad hoc patrols watching the Italians, whom it was feared might be towing German submarines while Italy was still not at war. She returned home, escorting a damaged destroyer in the Mediterranean. Back in the North Sea, she carried out one patrol near the Dogger Bank and received her first attack from German aircraft. She then augmented a convoy escort to Halifax, Nova Scotia, a 14-day crossing. She was back in time for Christmas leave and was based at Elfin, a temporary establishment at Blyth, Northumberland. She settled to a North Sea patrol routine as part of the Norwegian campaign being based at Rosyth. One night in February, ''Seal'' was given an extra set of personnel – an armed boarding party – and was assigned to take part in the hunt for the . However ''Seal'' played no part in the Altmark incident. Admiral Horton met ''Seal'' on one of her returns to Rosyth and commented, "You're too damn clean for a war-time boat. Something must be wrong". However, he revised his opinion when he reviewed the log-books to "you must have a damn good crew".〔Warren and Benson (1961) pp25-31〕 By the beginning of April 1940, the Germans had invaded Norway, and ''Seal'' was operating off the Norwegian coast. Lonsdale decided to enter Stavangerfjord, a hazardous operation and reached the port of Stavanger using the novel Asdic equipment. There were four merchant ships in the harbour, but they all carried neutral flags; Lonsdale's requests to attack a seaplane base and land a shore party to sabotage the railway met with firm refusals; and the German naval craft they encountered had too shallow a draught for ''Seal''s torpedoes to hit. The disappointed crew returned to Rosyth, narrowly escaping a torpedo attack at the same place and time as that in which was lost.〔Warren and Benson (1961) pp34-45〕 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 Seal (N37)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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