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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 - September 30

1916	E 39	Completed
1936	Sunfish (N 81) / V1 (USSR)	Launched
1939	H 34	HMS H-34 fires two torpedoes at the German submarine U-3 15 nautical miles north of Kinnaird Head. The torpedoes miss.
1939	Artifex (F28) 1924 - 1961	Passenger ship Aurania requisitioned by the Admiralty from the Cunard White Star Ltd, Liverpool for conversion to an armed merchant cruiser.
1941	Trident (N 52)	HMS Trident fires three torpedoes against the German hospital ship Birka in the Breidsundet about 4 nautical miles north-west of Havaysund, Norway. All three missed.
1941	Urge (N 17)	Overnight, HMS URGE took part in an operation to deliver a package to an agent on a beach in the Gulf of Gioia. It turned out that the agent was a double agent and the officer who was paddling ashore to deliver the package was killed by gunfire from the shore.
1941	Taurus (P 339)	Laid Down
1943	Sibyl (P 217)	HMS Sibyl torpedoes and sinks the German auxiliary minesweeper M 7022/Hummer about 12 nautical miles north-east of Bastia, Corsica, France.
1943	Strongbow (P 235)	Launched
1943	Sturdy (P 248)	Launched
1954	USS Nautilus	The world's first nuclear reactor-powered vessel, USS Nautilus, is commissioned.
2011	Ambush (S 120)	Initial dive test completed in Devonshire Dock

Lastest Comments

29/09/2026 on page Chariots
Rhys Nolan wrote:
	In relation to the Operation Title, the fishing boat Arthur was not "newly built" in fact built 1898, lengthened at some point and converted for the operation. I have not seen any records of the mentioned breakdowns in the writings by Leif Larsen, doesn't mean that there weren't, just surprising he ...

22/09/2026 on page P 222
Colin Megill wrote:
	The night of December 12th, 1942, my grandfather, conscripted into the Italian infantry, departed by troop ship from Trapani, Sicily, some 200 miles southwest of where the P222 disappeared, and made the crossing to Bizerte, Tunisia. He made it safely home after years as a prisoner of war after their ...

19/09/2026 on page Israeli sub wreck found 31 years on
Janet Burns wrote:
	My Dad was the chief stocker on the Totem 45/47 I have his Talisman, unfortunately he passed away at 39 in 1962. I am so proud of him.

19/09/2026 on page Renown (S 26)
Alan Hewitt wrote:
	Commanding Officer (Port crew) 1972 - 1976 Commander H N M Thompson RN

29/08/2026 on page Stratagem (P 234)
Clare Cunningham wrote:
	My Uncle Frederick Hayes was a stoker on board when she went down. I’m trying to find as much information as possible. I’d love to see some pictures of the crew if there ever were any. His name is on the war memorial in Plymouth, UK, and whenever any of the family are near the memorial, we alway ...

RN Subs

Have You Read?

When A Wolf And An Eagle Came Up The Tay

The 'Orzel' (Eagle) and the 'Wulk' (Wolf) joined the five-nation (Britain, Poland, France, Holland and Norway) underwater fleet based on HMS Ambrose at Dundee's Stannergate from 1939 - 45. Both had escaped from the Baltic despite the German blockade of the Skagerrak and the Kattegat.

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Featured Book

July 1945. Eighteen young British, Australian and New Zealand special forces from a top-secret underwater warfare unit prepare to undertake three audacious missions against the Japanese.

Using XE-craft midget submarines, the raiders will creep deep behind Japanese lines to sink two huge warships off Singapore and sever two vitally important undersea communications cables. Success will hasten ultimate victory over Japan; but if any of the men are captured they can expect a gruesome execution.

Can the Sea Devils overcome Japanese defences, mechanical failures, oxygen poisoning and submarine disasters to fulfil their missions? Mark Felton tells the true story of a band of young men living on raw courage, nerves and adrenalin as they attempt to pull off what could be the last great raid of World War Two.

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