HMS Severn (N57) was an ocean-going type of 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...

 of the River Class

River class submarine

The River class, or Thames class were a class of submarines built for the Royal Navy.They were the last attempt by the Admiralty to produce "Fleet Submarines" that is submarines fast enough to operate as part of a fleet which at the time meant being able to manage somewhere around while surfaced...

. 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...

, at 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 on 16 January 1934. She was completed on 12 January 1935.

Construction

At the time of launch the River class were the fastest submarines afloat. They were powered by 10,000 h.p diesel engines for surface operations and electric motors for submerged operations giving top speeds of 22.5 knots (44.1 km/h) and 10 knots (20 km/h) respectively. She carried a complement of 60 crew and was armed with a 4 inches (102 mm) gun, two machine guns and six torpedo tubes for 21 inch weapons. The tonnage of the Severn was 1,850 on surface and 2,710 when submerged.

Service history

The outbreak of the Second World War found Severn in the Mediterranean with the 1st Submarine Flotilla stationed at Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

.
In September 1939 she was transferred to West Africa, stationed at Freetown

Freetown

Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...

, to act as convoy escort guarding against surface raiders.

In March 1940 Severn returned to home waters and was employed on interception patrols in the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

. This involved searching for U-boats, surface raiders and blockade runners, and she was active in this capacity during the Norwegian campaign.
In May 1940, she sank the Swedish sailing vessel Monark, which had been taken into German service.

In May 1941 Severn was re-assigned to Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 with the 8th Submarine Flotilla. During this period she made several patrols in the western Mediterranean, and she also sailed with HG 69 as ocean escort In June 1941 Severn fired upon an Italian Argonauta class submarine and later sank the Italian merchants Polinnia and Ugo Bassi. In August, she attacked an unidentified submarine.

She was one of a number of submarines ordered to track the German battleship Bismarck

German battleship Bismarck

Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...

 before her eventual sinking.

In 1942 Severn returned to home waters, where she employed again on interception duties.

In May 1943 she returned to the Mediterranean to join the naval operations leading up to the invasion of Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 (Operation Husky). Following this she was stationed at Haifa

Haifa

Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...

, and took part in relief operations to the garrison at Leros during the Aegean campaign.

In January 1944 Severn was assigned to the Eastern Fleet, joining 2nd Submarine Flotilla at Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

 in May. There she took part in interception patrols in the Indian Ocean. This continued until the end of hostilities with Japan, in August 1945.

Disposal

VJ-Day found Severn in Ceylon, where she was paid off and decommissioned.
Having survived the Second World War and was sold for breaking up in 1946 to T. Hassanally, of Bombay.