HMS Grampus (S04)

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

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.

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]

In 1964 she was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander J F Woodward RN.

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]

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. "HMS Grampus SO4 - Loch Fyne - Fyne Pioneer Dive Charters".

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.