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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 - October 15

1905	Commander John Wallace Linton	John Wallace Linton was born in Malpas, Monmouthshire
1912	Bonaventure (F139) 1892 - 1920	Recommissioned at Portsmouth
1913	E 6 (I 86)	Completed
1913	V 2	Laid Down
1914	E 15 (I 95)	Completed
1918	J 6	HMS J6 was lying on the surface outside Blythe. The Q-ship Cymric was also in the area and had already encountered two British submarines that day. At 1600 a third submarine was spotted closing to have what the Cymric thought was a good look before attacking. The Cymric at once went to action stations believing the submarine to be the German U-boat U6. As shells poured into the submarine the signalman attempting to hoist a recognition signal was killed. J6 attempted to lose the Q-ship by entering a fog bank Cymric followed and found the submarine settling in the water. It was only when survivors were picked up that the mistake became clear.
1931	X 2 (P 711)	Laid Down
1939	Seal (N 37)	HMS Seal arrived at Gibraltar. She departed for Portsmouth later the same day.
1940	Triad (N 53)	In October 1940 HMS Triad was patrolling the coast of Libya before proceeding to Alexandria. By 20th October the submarine was overdue. It was initially believed that Italian aircraft had bombed Triad off Calabria, but it was later discovered that she had been attacked and sunk by the Italian submarine Enrico Toti on 15th.
1940	L 27	HMS L 27 attacks a German convoy in the English Channel off Cape Barfleur, France. All torpedoes miss.
1940	Uredd (P 41)	Laid Down
1941	Torbay (N 79)	HMS Torbay bombards the port of Apollonia
1942	Traveller (N 48)	HMS Traveller attacks an Italian convoy to the West of Crete. 4 torpedoes were fired against the Italian merchant Anna Maria. No hits were obtained.
1943	Untiring (P 59)	In the Mediterranean U-616 encountered the British HMS Untiring, which fired three torpedoes without success
1943	Torbay (N 79)	HMS Torbay torpedoes and sinks the small Italian merchant Tarquinia off Kalymnos, Greece and a Greek fishing vessel with gunfire east of Leros, Greece. Following these sinkings Torbay had an encounter with the German Q-ship GA 45. Torbay's periscope was sighted first by GA 45 which dropped 5 depth-charges very close. Later Torbay surfaced intending to dispose of GA 45 with her gun but the German vessel was very alert and opened an accurate fire as soon as the submarine surfaced and forced her to break off the action. She did not drop any further depth-charges which led Torbay to conclude that she was out of depth-charges. The submarine was not damaged during this encounter.
1943	Vigorous (P 74)	Launched
1943	Vivid (P 77)	Launched
1944	Sturdy (P 248)	HMS Sturdy sinks three Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire in the Gulf of Boni, Celebes, Netherlands East Indies.

Lastest Comments

11/10/2026 on page Sahib (P 212)
Barry wrote:
	My father, Kenneth Hutchinson, served on the Sahib as a Stoker 1st Class. He was captured and then imprisoned in an Italian POW camp; he escaped along with a friend who was later wounded. They got back safely; Dad was mentioned in Dispatches and awarded the Oakleaf.

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

RN Subs

Have You Read?

The Jolly Roger

Sir Arthur Wilson was infamous within the Royal Navy for being an admiral with a tetchy temper. Yet a verbal broadside he delivered in 1901 was to spawn one of the Submarine Service's most loved and deeply ingrained traditions, the flying of the Jolly Roger flag to mark the victorious return from a successful patrol.

Read

Featured Film

From Alistair MacLean's best-selling novel of secrets, spies and sabotage!

The U.S. nuclear sub Tigerfish churns toward the North Pole. Its mission: rescue the imperiled members of weather outpost Ice Station Zebra. On board are Cmdr. Ferraday and his crew, several unexpected arrivals with secret orders, and enough suspicions, suspense and twists to make "Ice Station Zebra" an engrossing espionage thriller

The Cold War heats up as John Sturges (The Great Escape) directs Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan, Jim Brown and more in this epic adventure nominated for two Academy Awards and featuring taut action set pieces above and below the ice. All hands to stations for excitement!

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