PORPOISE
Class submarines ordered on 1st May 1935
from Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow and laid down on the same day. This
minelaying submarine was launched on 21st July 1936 and was the 1st major RN
warship to bear the name, although it had been used by Z-Class Whaler (Z10)
during WW1. Build was completed on 2nd February 1937 and this submarine
was then commissioned for service in the 4th Submarine Flotilla on the China
Station where she was still deployed on the outbreak of war in September 1939.
Following a WARSHIP WEEK campaign for National
Savings in February 1942 she was adopted by the civil community of Weymouth,
Dorset.
B a t t l e H o n o u r s
MEDITERRANEAN 1940-43 - CRETE 1941 -
MALTA CONVOYS 1941-42 - SICILY 1943 - AEGEAN 1943 - ATLANTIC
1944
H e r a l d i c
D a t a
Badge
on a Field Blue, a rorqual Proper.
Motto
Nec Temere New Timide: Neither rashly nor timidly'
S u m m a r y o f
W a r S e r v i c e
1 9 3 9
January Deployed
with 4th Flotilla for fleet duties based at Hong Kong
to
(Note: Other submarines in Flotilla were:
July HM
Submarines PARTHIAN, PHOENIX, PROTEUS, PANDORA and GRAMPUS.
supported by HM Submarine Depot Ship MEDWAY
August Took up
war station for interception of enemy shipping.
September Deployed for
interception patrols with Flotilla
to December
1 9 4 0
January Flotilla
duties in continuation
February Nominated
for transfer to Mediterranean with Flotilla.
March Passage
to Alexandria.
April
Arrived in Alexandria and joined 1st Submarine Flotilla.
Retained in Alexandria with HM Submarines PARTHIAN, PHOENIX, PROTEUS,
PANDORA.
May
Deployed in Malta and carried out exercises with Fleet units in anticipation of
outbreak of
war with Italy
Nominated with HMS GRAMPUS based in Malta for minelay off Brindisi
Pennant Number for visual signalling purposes changed to N74.
June
Passage to Malta
10th Sailed
from Malta for minelay nine miles east of Brindisi. See Naval Staff History
(HMSO, 2001.)
14th
Carried out successful lay of 50 mines and returned to Malta on completion.
July
Commanding Officer Lieut Cdr R Dewhurst RN.
3rd
Sailed from Alexandria for support of Fleet operation to cover passage of convoy
to Malta
from Alexandria.
Deployed off Cape Spartivento, Sicily to intercept any attempt by Italian Fleet
units to
interfere with cover by Fleet units.
21st
Carried out lay of 50 mines off Tolmeita, Cyrenaica.
(Note: This field later claimed o 3,865 ton mercantile.)
August Deployed
with five other submarines to intercept convoys between Augusta and
Benghazi. See above reference.
17th
Carried out lay of 50 mines off Taukra, Cyrenaica which later claimed one ship
of
3,298 tons.
September Flotilla deployment based
at Alexandria in continuation for minelaying and interception
patrol.
October
4th Laid further 50
mines of Taukra
5th Carried out lay of
50 mines off Misurata, Tripolitania.
November
9th Laid further 50
mines off Misurata.
(Note: This
field claimed an Italian mercantile of 3,300 tons the same day and later the
Italian torpedo boats CALIPSO on 5th December and FRATELLI CAIROLI on 23rd
December.)
December Alexandria deployment in
continuation.
1 9 4 1
January
28th Carried out minelay
of two barrages off Sansego Island and off Ancona.
(Note: Italian
torpedo boat FRANCESCO STOCCO and a mercantile of 5,101 tons were
later damaged by these
mines.)
February Mediterranean deployment
in continuation.
March Passage to Malta to
embark mines and torpedoes.
25th Laid 10 mines in the
approaches to Palermo
26th Laid 40 mines in
approaches to Trapani.
(Note: Italian
torpedo boat GENERALE ANTONIO CHINNOTU was sunk in this field on
28th. One source
records submarine CAPPONI also but this is to be confirmed.)
April Mediterranean
deployment in continuation.
May
11th Carried out lay of 50
mines in Gulf of Salonika
12th Sank two small
sailing craft off Lemnos by surface gunfire and rescued seven Greek
nationals.
Deployed later
with HMS CACHALOT to take petrol to Malta
June Deployed with 1st
Flotilla at Alexandria and for transport of petrol to Malta.
(Note:
Submarines in Flotilla included:
HM Submarines
TRUANT, TRIUMPH, TAKU, TETRARCH, TORBAY, REGENT,
ROVER, OSIRIS,
OTUS, CACHALOT, PARTHIAN, PERSEUS, PANDORA and
five Greek
submarines.
July Deployed at
Alexandria for Flotilla duties.
August Commanding Officer Lieut
Napier, RN
26th Carried out lay of 50
mines off ZANE island in southern Adriatic.
27th Sank mercantile of
2,747 tons by torpedo.
September
30th Passage from Beirut
to Malta with stores.
October Commanding Officer
promoted to Lieut Cdr.
2nd Arrived in Malta with
stores
8th Laid 50 mines in
Gulf of Athens.
(Note: On 20th
October this field claimed Italian torpedo boats ALTAIR and then
ALDEBARAN which had gone to assist
her.)
Transferred to
western Mediterranean for minelaying operation.
21st Laid 10 mines off
Cavioli Island, Sardinia
22nd Laid 40 mines off Cape Ferrato, Sardina.
(Note:
Mercantile ss SALPI, 2,710 tons was sunk in this field later.)
November Commanding Officer:
Commander Dewhurst RN.
Deployed at
Gibraltar for minelaying operation in Bay of Biscay
19th Carried out lay of 50
mines off La Rochelle (Operation FD34.)
On completion
returned to Gibraltar
(Note: French
fishing vessel COLIGNY of 600 tons was sunk in this field later.)
Nominated for
refit
December Passage for refit
(Note: Refit may
have be carried out in UK. To be confirmed.)
1 9 4 2
February Refit period. Details to
be confirmed
to On completion of
post refit trials took passage to resume duties with 1st Flotilla
June (Note: Base for
Flotilla was moved to Haifa from Alexandria because of the German
advance towards
Egypt.)
July Deployed with HM
Submarines PARTHIAN, REGENT and PORPOISE to take petrol and
urgent stores to
Malta
(Note: The Naval
Staff History (Mining) records no minelay during off Cyrenaica in this
month but three
other sources record loss of HM Corvette ERICA in February 1943
after detonating
a British mine laid by this submarine off Benghazi. To be confirmed.)
August Deployed for transport of
supplies to Malta (Operation MAGIC CARPET.)
30th Carried out minelay
SE of Corfu
(Note: Only 15
Mk XVI mines were laid due to defect in mine rails.)
Sank mercantile
of 5,311 by torpedo during this operation.
September MARKET CARPET deployment in
continuation with HMS OTUS, HMS PARTHIAN and
HMS CLYDE.
October
2nd Delivered petrol and
supplies to Malta
3rd Carried out lay of
46 mines west of Tobruk
November Deployed in eastern
Mediterranean for Flotilla duties on completion of repairs
December
8th Carried out lay of
36 mines near Cannae Rocks off Bizerta.
(Note: Three
mines were not laid and later discharged in deep water.)
17th Carried out lay of 11
mines of Ischia near Naples.
(Note: This
field later claimed a small minesweeper.)
19th Carried out torpedo
attack on Italian mercantile mv PIETRO FOSCARI, 3,423 tons which
was damaged..)
1 9 4 3
January Deployed for minelaying
operations against Italian convoys between Sicily and Gulf of
Tunis.
18th Carried out lay of 48
mines near Cannae Rocks, off Bizerta.
(Note: Two mines
were not laid due to jamming of mine doors.)
February
24th Carried out minelay
of 50 mines SE of Marrettimo, Sicily.
March
22nd Carried out minelay of
50 mines off Trapani, Sicily.
April
7th Minelay off Sicily
to be confirmed. (Not in Naval Staff History.)
21st Carried out minelay
of 50 miles off Favignana, Sicily
30th Carried out minelay
of 50 mines off Marettimo, Sicily
May (Note: A blockade of
Cape Bon area was maintained during the early part of the month
to intercept any
attempts by enemy to escape to Sicily by sea.
(Operation
RETRIBUTION.)
15th Carried out lay of 50
mines off Punta Stilo, Calabria.
RETRIBUTION
June Flotilla deployment
in continuation.
July
2nd Carried out lay of 29
mines in Gulf of Kassandra, Greece.
Sank mercantile
of 7,020 tons by torpedo
3rd Carried out further
lay of 21miles in Skiathos Channel, Greece.
August
5th Carried out lay of
29 miles in Gulf of Salonika, Greece
6th Carried out lay of
21 mines at Lemnos in Aegean.
September
9th Carried out lay of
15 mines in Trikiri Channel, Aegean.
11th Carried out lay of 15
mines in Skiathos, Aegean
Carried further
lay of 20 mines off Lemnos.
October Deployed with HMS SEVERN
and four Italian submarines to carry stores in support of
military
operations in Cos and Leros.
November Eastern Mediterranean
deployment in continuation
Refit period to
be confirmed.
December
1 9 4 4
January Eastern Mediterranean
service in continuation
to Post refit trials
and resumed Flotilla duties to be confirmed.
February
March Deployed for
interception patrol in eastern Mediterranean
Sank supply ship
in Aegean.
April Nominated for
transfer to East Indies Station
to Passage to Colombo
to join Flotilla
December Deployed with HM Submarine
PORPOISE and Dutch O.19 for minelaying in India Ocean
(Note: Part of
East Indies Fleet .)
1 9 4 5
January
3rd Carried out lay of
50 MkXV1 mines near Phuket minelay (Operation ML022)
4th Carried out further
lay of 12 MkII mines near Phuket Island.(Operation ML023)
26th Carried out lay of 50
MkXVI mines in Ritchies Archipelago (Operation ML027)
27th Carried out lay of 12
MkII mines in Andaman Islands area.
February East Indies deployment in continuation
March During interception
patrol sank three coasters and three junks in Malacca Straits
Nominated for
transfer to British Pacific Fleet
April Took passage to
Fremantle to join 4th Submarine Flotilla.
May
10th Carried out lay of 50
MkXVI and 12 MkII mines south of Thousand Islands, Java
Nominated for
return to UK
June On passage to UK
to
July
August Paid-off and reduced to
Reserve status
P o s t W a r N o t e s
HMS RORQUAL laid 1,214 mines, a greater total than any other submarine
and she was the only minelaying submarine to survive war service. She was place on the Disposal List
after VJ Day and sold to BISCO on 19th December 1945 for demolition by J Cashmore at Newport. She arrived at
Newport in tow on 17th March 1946. The name was carried forward in 1956 when given to another submarine
built at Barrow.
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