HMS Rorqual (N74) was a British mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

-laying submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

, one of the six ship class of Grampus-class

Grampus class submarine

The Grampus-class submarines were a group of minelaying submarines built for the Royal Navy in the late 1930s. These boats are sometimes referred to as the Porpoise class from the single prototype, HMS Porpoise built in 1932. Five boats to a modified design were built between 1936 and 1938...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She was built by Vickers Armstrong

Vickers Armstrong

Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...

, Barrow

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

 and launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 27 July 1936. She served in the Second World War in the Mediterranean and in the far east. She was the only Grampus class submarine to survive the war.

The Mediterranean

Sent to the Mediterranean in 1940, Rorqual began laying minefields and attacking enemy shipping. Amongst the shipping lost to mines laid by Rorqual were the Italian merchants Loasso, Celio, Leopardi, Verde, Ticino, and Salpi; the Italian pilot vessel F 34 / Rina Croce, the Italian torpedo boats Calipso, Fratelli Cairoli, Generale Antonio Chinotto, Altair and Aldebaran; the Italian auxiliary minesweeper AS 99 / Zani, the German troop transport Ankara; the French merchant (in German service), P.L.M. 24; and the French fishing vessel Coligny.

The Italian merchants Caffaro, Ischia and the brand-new Italian merchant Carbonello A. were damaged by mines laid by Rorqual. Rorqual was also active in attacking enemy shipping herself, torpedoing and sinking the Italian tanker Laura Corrado; the Italian submarine Pier Capponi; the Italian merchants Cilicia and Monstella; the German tanker Wilhemsburg and the French merchant (in German service) Nantaise. Rorqual's torpedoes also damaged the Italian auxiliary cruiser Piero Foscari, unsuccessfully attacked an Italian submarine and the Italian merchant Securitas, and sunk two Greek sailing vessels with gunfire.

In August 1940 she attacked an Italian convoy, missing the Italian merchants Verace and Doris Ursino with torpedoes. Following this failed attack Rorqual was heavily depth charged by the Italian torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa.

In January 1941 Rorqual attacked the tug Ursus and a floating battery

Floating battery

A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries a heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship.An early appearance was during the Great Siege of Gibraltar....

 mounted on a lighter

Lighter (barge)

A lighter is a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods and passengers to and from moored ships. Lighters were traditionally unpowered and were moved and steered using long oars called "sweeps," with their motive power provided by water currents...

. The lighter could not be torpedoed, as she was of too shallow draught for the normal depth setting of the torpedoes, and the only other weapon the Rorqual had was her single 4-inch gun. Rorqual surfaced at about 500 yards range. Her opening attack hit the Ursus and damaged the battery. Heavy fire from the damaged tug forced Rorqual to shift her fire from the battery and engage the Ursus again, forcing her crew to abandon her. Though badly damaged, the floating battery opened fire and forced the Rorqual to dive. She then fired a torpedo set to run on the surface, only to find that the torpedo developed a gyro failure and returned on its own tracks. Rorqual had to dive deep to avoid it. When last seen, the Ursus was sinking and the battery was on fire. The battery however did not sink, and was later towed to Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

.

The Far East

Rorqual arrived in the far east in 1945 to operate against the Japanese, serving as part of the British Pacific Fleet

British Pacific Fleet

The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...

. She laid minefields and sank three Japanese sailing craft and three coasters with gunfire, and damaged a fourth coaster.

Post war

By the end of the war, she was the only surviving ship of the Grampus class. She was sold off, and arrived at the yards of Cashmore

John Cashmore Ltd

John Cashmore Ltd was a company based at Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales...

, Newport

Newport

Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...

for breaking up on 17 March 1946.

External links

• HMS Rorqual from uboat.net