HMS Statesman was an S class submarine

British S class submarine (1931)

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...

 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...

, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 14 September 1943. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Statesman.

Career

She spent the time between August 1944 and August 1945 with the Eastern Fleet, where she had an eventful career. She sank the Japanese army cargo ship Sugi Maru No.5 (the former Panamanian flagged, Norwegian owned Gran), twenty five Japanese sailing vessels, the Japanese trawler Matsujima Maru No.3, four Japanese coasters, including the Nippon Maru No.19, Nanyo Maru No. 17 and Nippon Maru No.14, a small Japanese tanker, five small unidentified Japanese vessels, ten small Japanese landing craft, three Japanese barges and a derelict wreck drifting in the Straits of Malacca, described as probably a coaster.

The sinking of the Haguro

On 9 May 1945 the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro

Japanese cruiser Haguro

|-External reference links: -External links:**...

 and the Japanese destroyer Kamikaze

Japanese destroyer Kamikaze (1922)

was the lead ship of nine Kamikaze-class destroyers built for the Imperial Japanese Navy following World War I. Advanced for their time, these ships served as first-line destroyers through the 1930s, but were considered obsolescent by the start of the Pacific War.-History:Construction of the...

 left Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 for a transport run to the Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

. They were sighted the next day in the Malacca Strait by Statesman and her sister, HMS Subtle

HMS Subtle (P251)

HMS Subtle was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on January 27, 1944....

. To intercept the Japanese ships, a task force made up of two battleships, one heavy cruiser, two light cruisers, four escort carriers and eight destroyers left 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,...

. Aircraft from the escort carriers attacked the Nicobar Islands on the 11th, forcing Haguro and Kamikaze to head back to Singapore.
On 16 May 1945
On the 14th the Japanese ships again departed Singapore for the Andaman Islands. They were spotted the next day north-east of Sabang by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Shah

HMS Shah (D21)

The USS Jamaica , was an escort aircraft carrier of World War II that served in the British Royal Navy as HMS Shah . Returned to the USA at War's end, she was converted into a merchant vessel and she was sold into civilian service in 1946 as Salta...

. A few hours later they were attacked by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Emperor

HMS Emperor (D98)

The USS Pybus was laid down 23 June 1942 as MC Hull No. 245 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Washington; originally classified AVG-34, she was reclassified as ACV-34 on 20 August 1942; launched 7 October 1942; commissioned 31 May 1943 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Wash.; reclassified as CVE-34 15...

, causing light damage to Haguro. In the meantime Japanese aircraft had sighted Allied destroyers closing in on Haguro and once again the Japanese ships reversed course.

In anticipation on the Japanese reversal of course, the commander of the British 26th Destroyer Flotilla, Captain M.L. Power, on board HMS Saumarez

HMS Saumarez (G12)

HMS Saumarez was an S class destroyer of the Royal Navy, completed on 1 July 1943. As a flotilla leader, her standard displacement was 20 tons heavier than other ships of her class...

 and the other British destroyers HMS Venus

HMS Venus (R50)

HMS Venus was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, of Govan, Scotland and launched on 23 February 1943...

, HMS Verulam

HMS Verulam (R28)

HMS Verulam was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F29....

, HMS Vigilant

HMS Vigilant (R93)

HMS Vigilant was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F93....

 and HMS Virago

HMS Virago (R75)

HMS Virago was an V-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service during World War II. She was later converted into a Type 15 fast anti-submarine frigate, with the new pennant number F76....

 plotted a course to intercept the Japanese ships, which they did shortly before midnight on the 15th. After careful manoeuvering the destroyers began attacking the Japanese ships from all sides shortly after one o'clock on the 16th. Haguro was hit by torpedoes and gunfire and sank around 0230 hours, but not before she hit Saumarez with gunfire. The escorting Japanese destroyer Kamikaze escaped with only minor damage.

Postwar

She survived the Second World War and was lent to the French navy in 1952. She was renamed Sultane on 5 November 1959 and spent nine years in service with the French. She was returned to be sold on 3 January 1961 to Pounds, of Portsmouth to be broken up.

The conning tower now survives (or at least it's marked P246) on a hilltop in an ex-military fort at Portsdown Hill Hampshire. Here she is viewed from above.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=portdown+hill&sll=50.847172,-0.9261&sspn=0.011259,0.018089&ie=UTF8&ll=50.857945,-1.107213&spn=0.000352,0.000565&t=h&z=21