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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 - July 22

1927	Oxley (N 55)	Completed
1935	Sunfish (N 81) / V1 (USSR)	Laid Down
1940	Narwhal (N 45)	HMS Narwhal left the Humber on 22 July for a minelaying mission off Norway, she fails to return On the afternoon of 23rd July she should have passed through (German) grid square 4856, where an aircraft reported attacking a submarine. This was believed to be Porpoise by the Germans but as Narwhal did not report again, it was assumed this attack sank her.
1940	Clyde (N 12)	West of Bergen, Norway HMS Clyde fires 6 torpedoes at what is thought to be and enemy submarine. Luckily the torpedoes miss as they we aimed against HMS Truant.
1941	Tetrarch (N 77)	HMS Tetrarch claims to have damaged a sailing vessel with gunfire in the Aegean off Karlovassi.
1943	Safari (P 211)	HMS Safari torpedoes and sinks the Italian minelayer Durazzo east of Corsica, France.
1944	Vivid (P 77)	HMS Vivid torpedoes and sinks the German guardboat GA 71/Pétrel VI north of Suda Bay, Crete, Greece.
1947	Ambush (P 418)	Completed
2003	Unseen (S 41)	HMCS Victoria transits Panama Canal to become first Canadian Pacific Fleet submarine since 1974.

Lastest Comments

13/05/2026 on page H 49
kevin walker wrote:
	believe was also attacked on 1-10-1940 near Texel by Sperrbrecher 3/H3 (ex M/S Belgrad) with pattern of 4 depth charges

16/04/2026 on page Thorough (P 324)
navy42 wrote:
	Lord Kitchener was lost in the sinking of HMS Hampshire, denoted by the black field. As Secretary of State, he initiated the recruiting scheme which raised the new army. The first complete New Army formation (as opposed to divisions) as a result of this scheme was the 4th Army under the command of G ...

12/04/2026 on page Cecil Broad 1905 - 1978
navy42 wrote:
	I believe that he also designed the Badge for HMS Thorough. It\'s a great pity that his notes do not appear to have survived

10/04/2026 on page One Submarine, Two Captains - The Early Years of HMS Repulse
Mike Watson wrote:
	I served on Repulse port crew 1st commission. Everything said about Phil Wadman is correct. I would like to also like to mention Toby Elliott who was communications officer, another top man. Soapy Watson

09/04/2026 on page Onslaught (S 14)
Stephen Alexander wrote:
	Stern torpedo tubes removed in final refit in 1982/83 in Devonport Dockyard

RN Subs

Featured Badge

Spirit (P 245)

Class:	1935 - 1970: Improved S Class
Built By:	Cammell Laird (Mersey)
Build Group:	S3
Fate:
Scrapped Grays 4th July 1950

'Underwater, underhanded and damned un-English' they might have been but submarine development and deployment has long been an integral part of naval warfare.

For centuries man has been fascinated with the possibility of an underwater vessel, the ultimate method of improving the odds against a superior surface fleet. Being submerged beneath the sea was the obvious means by which a warship could be approached and attacked without detection - but the attempts to create the perfect sub was a long and often tragic affair.

This DVD tracks the evolution of underwater crafts from the early Turtle to a privileged look inside the salvaged U-Boat 534 and beyond. Aboard the famous U-Boat 534 we examine the living conditions and the true bravery shown by all her crew.

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