Welman submarine
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Welman submarine was a Second World War British midget submarine. It only saw action once and was never particularly successful.
Contents |
[edit] Design and production
The prototype was built at Welwyn Garden City, and most of the 100+ produced (precise numbers are not known) were built at the Morris car plant at Oxford. Vision was through armoured glass segments in the small 'conning tower' (there was no periscope). Designed to fix a 560-pound charge to its target by means of magnetic clips. Initially thought of as ideal for beach reconnaissance, crews were generally drawn from No 2 Commando Royal Marines (Special Boat Service).
[edit] First uses
First stationed at HMS Bonaventure, the depot ship at Loch Cairnbawn, Scotland, alongside the X and XE Craft and the Chariots, one (W10) was lost early on in a training accident alongside HMS Titania at Holy Loch.
In the autumn of 1943 the Combined Ops commander, General Sir Robert Laycock (who took over from the then Lord Louis Mountbatten) decided that the Welman was unsuitable for their purposes, so the craft were returned to the Royal Navy. Admiral Sir Lionel Wells, Flag Officer commanding Orkney and Shetland, thought they might be useful for attacks on German shipping using coastal waters inside the Leads off Norway. MTBs of the 30th Flotilla, manned by officers and men of the Royal Norwegian Navy, were making these raids already and agreed to try the Welmans. On 20 November 1943 MTB635 and MTB625 left Lunna Voe, Shetland, carrying Welmans W45 (Lt. C. Johnsen Royal Norwegian Navy), W46 (Lt B. Pedersen, Norwegian Army), W47 (Lt. B. Marris RNVR) and W48 (Lt. J. Holmes RN).
[edit] Active service
- Failed attack on the Floating Dock in Bergen (eventually sunk in Sept 1944 by X-24) and shipping in the area. Pedersen's W46 encountered a net and was forced to the surface, where she was spotted by a German patrol craft. Pedersen was captured along with the Welman (used in the design of the Biber), surviving the war in a prison camp. The other three therefore lost the element of surprise and could not press the attack and so eventually had to be scuttled. Their operators made their way north and were picked up in February 1944 by MTB653. The failure made the Royal Navy concentrate on X craft and XE craft, although further Welman trials occurred, especially in Australia.
[edit] Surviving examples in British museums
Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport
[edit] 'Welfreighters'
[edit] Technical specifications
- Crew-One
- Displacement: 4,600 lb (2,086.5 kg) without warhead, (warhead: 1,910 lb (540 kg).
- Dimensions: Length 20 ft 2 in (6.1 m) (including charge) - 16 ft 10 in (4.3 m) without charge; Beam 3 ft 6 in (1.06 m); Overall height 5 ft 9 in (1.7 m).
- Propulsion: One electric motor, 2.5 hp. powered by a 40v 220amp/hr battery.
- Speed: 3 knots
- Range (surfaced) 36nm at 4kt.
- Armament: One 540 kg charge. (or 600 lb Amatol)
- Test depth: 300 ft (95 m) (but reduced to 100 ft after trials)
