HMS Usurper (P56)
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMS Usurper |
| Builder: | Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 18 September 1941 |
| Launched: | 24 September 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 2 February 1943 |
| Fate: | sunk 3 October 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | U-class submarine |
| Displacement: | Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load
Submerged - 730 tons |
| Length: | 58.22 m (191 feet) |
| Beam: | 4.90 m (16 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 4.62 m (15 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft diesel-electric 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors |
| Speed: | 11.25 knots max surfaced
10 knots max submerged |
| Complement: | 27-31 |
| Armament: | 4 bow internal 21 inch torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes
1 - 3 inch gun |
HMS Usurper (P56) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Usurper.
Career
Usurper had a short-lived career with the Royal Navy. During her work-up patrol off the Norwegian coast, she made a torpedo attack on the German submarine U-467. The target was not hit. On being assigned to operate in the Mediterranean, she sank the French ship Château Yquem.
Sinking
Usurper had left Algiers on 24 September 1943 with instruction to patrol off La Spezia. On 3 October 1943 she was ordered to move to the Gulf of Genoa. No further contact was made and she failed to return to Algiers on 12 October 1943 as expected. The German anti-submarine vessel UJ-2208/Alfred reported attacking a submarine in the Gulf of Genoa on 3 October 1943 and it is believed that this may have been the Usurper.
During the War Usurper was adopted by the Town of Stroud as part of Warship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.[1]
References
Publications
- "HMS Usurper (P 56)". uboat.net.
- "Ursula to Utmost". British submarines of World War II.
- "Submarine losses 1904 to present day". RN Submarine Museum, Gosport.
- Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
- Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.
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