HMS Olympus (N35)
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 Official badge of HMS Olympus[1] |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Olympus (N35) |
| Builder: | William Beardmore and Company |
| Laid down: | 14 April 1927 |
| Launched: | 11 December 1928 |
| Commissioned: | 14 June 1930 |
| Fate: | Sunk by mine off Malta, 8 May 1942. |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 1781 tons surfaced 2038 tons submerged |
| Length: | 283 ft 8 in (86.5 m) |
| Beam: | 19 ft 11 in (6.1 m) |
| Draught: | 16 ft 1 in (4.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft diesel electric. 4250 hp Admiralty diesels Electric motors: 1390 hp |
| Speed: | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h) surfaced 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged |
| Complement: | 53-55 officers and men |
| Armament: | 8 x 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern) 1 x four-inch deck gun 2 x .303" AA machine guns |
HMS Olympus (N35) was an Odin class submarine, a class originally designed for the Royal Australian Navy to cope with long distance patrolling in Pacific waters; Olympus was built to the same design for the Royal Navy. She served 1931-1939 with the 4th Flotilla, China Station and 1939-1940 with the 8th Flotilla, Colombo.[2] In 1940 she was redeployed to the Mediterranean. She was sunk by a mine off Malta in May 1942, with 9 survivors.
[edit] Notable events in career
- 7 July 1940: HMS Olympus (Lt.Cdr. Herbert George Dymott, RN) was bombed and damaged by Italian aircraft while in dock in Malta. Repairs and refit were completed on 29 November 1940.
- 29 July 1941: HMS Olympus torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant ship Monteponi (742 GRT) about 10 nautical miles (20 km) north of Cape Comino, Sardinia, Italy in position 40°40'N, 09°50'E.
- 9 November 1941: HMS Olympus attacks the Italian merchant ship Mauro Croce (1049 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire in the Gulf of Genoa. The target escapes without damage.
- 8 May 1942: HMS Olympus was mined and sunk off Malta in approximate position 35°55'N, 14°35'E. She had just left Malta on passage to Gibraltar with personnel including many of the crews of the sunken submarines HMS Pandora, HMS P36 and HMS P39. There were only 9 survivors out of 98 aboard. They had to swim 7 miles (11 km) back to Malta. 89 crew and passengers were lost with the ship.
[edit] References
- Submariners Association: O Class
- Battleships-cruisers.co.uk: Odin Class
- Uboat.net
- D.K. Brown - Nelson to Vanguard , Chatham Maritime Press ISBN 1 86176 136 8
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