X-class submarine
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | X class |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | V class |
| Succeeded by | XE class |
| Subclasses | X3, X4, X5-10, X20-25, XT |
| Completed | 20 |
| Lost | 7 (5 scuttled, 1 foundered, 1 collision) |
| Preserved | 1 |
| General characteristics (X class) | |
| Type | midget submarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 51.25 ft (15.62 m) |
| Beam | 5.75 ft (1.75 m) |
| Draught | 5.3 ft (1.60 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Test depth | 300 ft (91.5 m) |
| Complement | 4 |
| Armament | 2 × 4,400 lb detachable amatol charges |
The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44. It was substantially larger than the original Chariot manned torpedo.
Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to their intended area of operations by a full-size "mother" submarine – usually one of the T class or S class – with a passage crew on board, the operational crew being transferred from the towing submarine to the X-Craft by dinghy when the operational area was reached, and the passage crew returning with the dinghy to the towing submarine. Once the attack was over, the X-Craft would rendezvous with the towing submarine and then be towed home.
Range was limited primarily by the endurance and determination of their crews, but was thought to be up to 14 days in the craft or 1,000 nmi (1,900 km), after suitable training. Actual range of the X-Craft itself was 600 nmi (1,100 km) surfaced and 80 nmi (150 km) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h) submerged.[2]
Specification
The craft was about 51 ft (16 m) long, 5.5 ft (1.7 m) maximum diameter and displaced 27 long tons (27 t) surfaced and 30 long tons (30 t) submerged. Propulsion was by a 4-cylinder
The weapons on the "X-Craft" were two side-cargoes –
Service
A number of development craft were built before it was felt that a feasible weapon had been produced. The first operational craft was X3 (or HM S/M X.3), launched on the night of 15 March 1942. Training with the craft began in September 1942, with X4 arriving in October. In December 1942 and January 1943, six of the "5-10" class began to arrive, identical externally but with a completely reworked interior.
These operations were part of a longer series of frogman operations; see human torpedo.
The operational base and training establishment was HMS Varbel at the former Kyles Hydro Hotel at Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland.
Major operations
Their first deployment was
For this action, Cameron and Place were awarded the
The lost boats were replaced early in 1944 with X20 to X25 and six training-only craft.
Submarines X20 to X25 were dispatched to Bergen, Norway. On 15 April 1944, in Operation Guidance X24 attacked the Laksevåg floating dock. X22 was intended for the mission, but had been accidentally rammed during training and sunk with all hands. X24 made the approach and escaped successfully, but the charges were placed under Bärenfels, a 7,569-gross register ton (GRT) merchant vessel alongside the dock; the ship was sunk but the dock suffered only minor damage. On 11 September the operation was repeated by X24; this time she succeeded in sinking the dock.[8]
X-Craft were involved in the preparatory work for .
X20 and X23, each with a crew of five, acted as navigational beacons to help the
Legacy
The only remaining intact example of an X-Craft, X24, was transferred from
X-craft and crews
- X3 – unofficially named Piker 1, was lost on 4 November 1942 in Loch Striven due to a leaking engine valve. All crew escaped by utilizing their Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus.[11]
- X5 – unofficially named Platypus,
- X6 – named Piker II,Leading Seaman McGregor, Stoker Oxley.[13] Cameron earned a VC, Lorimer and Kendall DSOs, Goddard a Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.[13]
- X7 – unofficially named Pdinichthys,Basil C. G. Place, crew S-Lt. R. Aitken, Lt. Whittam, and ERA Whitley; passage crew Lt Philip (commanding), Leading Seaman J. Magennis, Stoker Luck.[13] Vessel was scuttled immediately following the Tirpitz attack, but only Place escaped before she sank. Aitken escaped from the bottom of the fjord, but Whittam and Whitley were unable to escape before their air gave out. Place also earned a VC, Aitken a DSO, while Philip earned an MBE;[16]
- X8 – unofficially named Expectant, commanded by Lt. McFarlane RAN[13] (Lt. Smart was passage crew commander)
- X9 – unofficially named Pluto,Syrtis.
- X10 – unofficially named Excalibur,[18] commanded by Lt. Hudspeth RANVR[13]
The depot ship for X craft was HMS Bonaventure.[19]
Builders
The numbering sequence of the X class began with X3 because the designations X1 and X2 had already been used previously –
- Prototypes
- X3 – built by Varley Marine, Hamble, scrapped 1945
- X4 – built by Portsmouth Dockyard, scrapped 1945
- X5-type
- X5 – built by Altenfjord, 22 September 1943
- X6 – built by Vickers, used in Operation Source, scuttled Altenfjord, 22 September 1943
- X7 – built by Vickers, used in Operation Source, scuttled Altenfjord, 22 September 1943, salved 1976 for museum restoration
- X8 – built by Vickers, used in Operation Source, scuttled in North Sea, 17 September 1943
- X9 – built by Vickers, used in Operation Source, foundered under tow in North Sea, 16 September 1943 with all hands[20]
- X10 – built by Vickers, used in Operation Source, scuttled in North Sea 3 October 1943
- X5 – built by
- X20-type
- X20 – built by Broadbent, Huddersfield, used in Operation Postage Able (surveying Normandy beaches prior to invasion) and on Operation Gambit
- X21 – built by Broadbent
- X22 – built by Markham & Co., Chesterfield, collided with HMS Syrtis and lost with all hands while training, 7 February 1944
- X23 – built by Markham, used on Operation Gambit, sold 1945
- X24 – built by Marshall, Gainsborough, used on Operation Guidance (attacking Laksevåg floating dock at Bergen 15 April 1944) when the merchant ship Barenfels alongside the dock was sunk; the dock was attacked and sunk on Operation Heckle on 11 September 1944, again by X24 which was hulked 1945
- X25 – built by Marshall, sold 1945
- Training craft
- XT1 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
- XT2 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
- XT3 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
- XT4 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
- XT5 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
- XT6 – built by Vickers, scrapped 1945
Surviving examples
- X24 – the only one to have seen combat and survive is at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport
- The remains of two XT-class craft are present on the beach at Aberlady Bay in East Lothian, Scotland. They were towed there in 1946 and moored to a large concrete block at the low tide level and were used as targets for aircraft. Much of the structure remains, semisubmerged in the sand, and can be reached at low spring tides.
In the media
This type of midget submarine was portrayed in the 1955 war film,
An X-class submarine – marked as "X2" – features in the 1959 film The Giant Behemoth (a.k.a. Behemoth the Sea Monster).
This class of submarine was later featured in the 1968 movie
A 1976 Douglas Reeman novel, Surface with Daring, features a fictionalized account of X-class midget submarines, especially XE-16 and its crew, performing several highly secret operations in occupied Europe.[21]
A 2006 Alexander Fullerton novel, The Gatecrashers, features a fictionalized account of X-class midget submarines, including X-12 piloted by one of the protagonists, that lays explosive charges to damage the Tirpitz.[22]
See also
- HM Submarine X1– World War 1 submarine.
- HM Submarine X2 – Name given to the Italian Submarine, Galileo Galilei, after she was captured and taken into service by the Royal Navy.
- XE class submarine– Improved X Class submarine.
- Stickleback class submarine– Improved XE class submarine, in service in the 1950s.
References
- ^ a b "Engine Forum" (PDF). gardnerengineforum.co.uk. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
- ^ a b c d e "How the Royal Navy's X-Class Midget Subs Helped Make D-Day Possible". 6 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-0718306281.
- ^ a b "Lost heroes of the 'Tirpitz'". BBC History. BBC. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "No. 36390". The London Gazette (Supplement). 10 September 1943. pp. 901–902.
- ^ "No. 36295". The London Gazette (Supplement). 17 December 1943. pp. 5539–5540.
- ISBN 978-1840650822.
- ^ "How the Royal Navy's X-Class Midget Subs Helped Make D-Day Possible". 6 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-1408194003.
- ^ "X24 – Certificate no 1843". National Historic Ships. 11 March 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ "Submarine Casualties Booklet". U.S. Naval Submarine School. 1966. Archived from the original on 11 September 2009. Retrieved 8 September 2009.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Grove, Eric. Sea Battles in Close-up: World War 2, Volume 2 (Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, 1993), pp.124 & 128.
- ^ a b c d e f g Grove, p.127.
- ^ a b Grove, p.124.
- ^ Grove, pp.127 & 128.
- ^ Magennis earned a VC in the midget submarine attack on Takao. Grove, p.127.
- ^ [1] Supplement to THE London Gazette, p.996 of the article or p.4 of the PDF file
- ^ Grove, p.128.
- ^ "HMS Bonaventure, British Depot Ship, WW2". naval-history.net. Archived from the original on 6 March 2008.
- ^ [2] Supplement to The London Gazette, p. 996 of article or p. 4 of PDF file
- ISBN 9781448106110.
- ISBN 978-1911591580. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
Bibliography
- Above Us The Waves by ISBN 1-84415-440-8
- Submarines in Colour by ISBN 0-7137-0780-1
- Submarines - The History and Evolution of Underwater Fighting Vessels by Antony Preston - Octopus Books - 1974 - ISBN 0-7064-0429-7
External links
