Top
Share
Home

Welcome

This website is brought to you in association with the Barrow-in-Furness Branch of the Submariners Association and is the premier UK internet resource for Submariners and anyone interested in Royal Navy Submarines.

Vickers and Barrow are names synonymous with the development of the submarine. Hundreds of submarines covering virtually every class have been built for the Royal Navy and foreign Navies. This site is dedicated to not only to those who have served on Her Majesty's Submarines but also to those employees past and present whose skills and efforts have given pride to the phrase 'Barrow built' and made the name Vickers known and respected throughout the world.

On This Day - November 19

1909 C 31 (I 61) Completed
1909 C 32 (I 62) Completed
1914 W 1 Launched
1918 H 32 Launched
1918 H 47 Launched
1941 Rorqual (N 74) HMS Rorqual lays 50 mines in the Bay of Biscay near La Rochelle, France.
1941 P 47 / Dolfijn (Dutch) Laid Down
1941 Unruly (P 49) Laid Down
1942 Porpoise (N 14) HMS Porpoise fires a torpedo against the Italian auxiliary patrol vessel F 39/Fertilia off the Libyan coast. The torpedo missed.
1943 Simoom (P 225) HMS Simoon believed lost by mines near the Dardanelles. No survivors

HMS Simoom sailed for a patrol in the Aegean on 2nd November 1943. On the 5th she received a signal to divert to the entrance of the Dardanelles. Ten days later she was sent orders to return to port. The submarine never arrived. On 15th November German radio broadcasts stated that a submarine had been destroyed in the Aegean and that several of the crew had been rescued. It is unlikely that this was Simoom, as it would have put her miles out of position. None of the claimed survivors stated that they were from Simoom. It is more likely that the submarine struck a mine or was lost through an accident.
1943 Sibyl (P 217) HMS Sibyl sinks a Greek sailing vessel with gunfire in the Gulf of Saloniki, Greece.
1943 Sickle (P 224) HMS Sickle torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant (in German service) Giovanni Boccaccio off Monemvasia, Greece.
1944 Stratagem (P 234) HMS Stratagem torpedoes and sinks the the Japanese tanker Nichinan Maru in the Malacca Strait.
1944 Thorough (P 324) HMS Thorough lays mines in the Strait of Malacca.
1948 Sidon (P 259) 19th November 1948 Taken in hand at Portsmouth for fitting ballast.
1964 Scotsman (P 243) Sold for scrap
1969 HMCS Grilse HMCS Grilse (ex-USS Burrfish) sunk as a target off San Clemente, California by USN
Lastest Comments
17/11/2025 on page P 222
Grace Absolom wrote:
Richard William Absolom is my grandfather. He was my dad\'s father. My dad was 3 years old when the P222 disappeared. We often talk about what might have happened.
10/11/2025 on page Thorn (N 11)
Stuart Newland wrote:
My uncle, John Leonard Newland went down on the Thorn. My dad was only about 6 when it happened but he still lays a poppy for him every year at the Royal Navy Memorial at Chatham where he is commemorated.
21/10/2025 on page Medway (F25) 1928 - 1942
L Bradley wrote:
My father Frederick Percival Collins was a leading torpedo man He served on HMS Medway and was in China 1931 I have family photos which are badly water /oil stained due I was told because they were in his wallet when his ship was torpedoed. No mention of this on his service records.
09/10/2025 on page E 54
Ian Wallace wrote:
I can confirm that Leading Seaman Crust died by suicide. He used a signal gun that was available in the conning tower where he was on duty. The effect was to blow a large part of his head off. My wife\'s grandfather was responsible for cleaning parts of his brain up which were scattered over the con ...
16/09/2025 on page Medway (F25) 1928 - 1942
Michael Barker wrote:
My Uncle was Charles Oliver Mansfield Vine 2nd Lieutenant who I believe served on the submarine Thrasher. I believe he died on the attack on the depot ship but have no detailed information. I would like to know more