HMS Tapir (P335) was a Second World War British T class submarine

British T class submarine

The Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during the Second World War, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...

, built by Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness

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...

. So far she has been the only ship 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...

 to bear the name Tapir, after the animal

Tapir

A Tapir is a large browsing mammal, similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile snout. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South America, Central America, and Southeast Asia. There are four species of Tapirs: the Brazilian Tapir, the Malayan Tapir, Baird's Tapir and the Mountain...

.

As HMS Tapir

The submarine was laid down on the 29th of March 1943, and launched on 21 August 1944. Commissioned into the Royal Navy on the 30th of December of that year, she led a distinguished career for such a late entry into the war, torpedoing the German

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 submarine U-486

German submarine U-486

German submarine U-486 was a Type VIIC U-boat built for the German Kriegsmarine for service during World War II.On December 24, 1944, U-486 torpedoed the five miles off the coast of Cherbourg, France. This resulted in the death of over 750 Allied soldiers...

 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...

, to the north-west of Bergen, Norway at position 60°44′N 04°39′E on 12 April 1945, under the command of Lt

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 J.C.Y. Roxbourgh, DSO

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

, DSC

Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...

, RN

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...

.

As HNLMS Zeehond (2)

On 18 June 1948, she was deemed surplus to requirements, and was loaned to the Netherlands for a period of five years, being commissioned into the Royal Netherlands Navy as HNLMS Zeehond (2) (P335) on 12 July 1948. She served under the command of Ltz I Baron J.H. Mackay from 12 July 1948, until 30 April 1949, when, together with O24 and Hr.Ms. Van Kinsbergen, she visited Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

. Gravity measurements were taken during the trip (the first Dutch ones following the war) and the Zeehond (2) conducted a long snorkel

Submarine snorkel

A submarine snorkel is a device which allows a submarine to operate submerged while still taking in air from above the surface. Navy personnel often refer to it as the snort.-History:...

 trip on the way back. She was placed back under the command of Ltz Mackay until 28 November 1949, and had a rather quiet career under several commanders, until she was transferred back to the Royal Navy on 15 July 1953, finally being re-commissioned and re-named Tapir on 16 December of that year.

HMS Tapir was scrapped at Faslane in December 1966.

Exercises

June to July 1949: Zeehond (2) participates in Exercise Victory.

November 1949: Zeehond (2) and Dolfijn (2) participate in a Royal Navy exercise.

13 September - 26 September 1952: Zeehond (2) participates in the NATO exercise Mainbrace.

Commanders

• 29 March 1943 - 18 June 1948: (as HMS Tapir) Lt. J.C.Y. Roxbourgh, DSO, DSC, RN
• 12 July 1948 - 30 April 1949: (as Zeehond (2)) Ltz. I Baron J.H. Mackay.
• 4 June - 28 November 1949: Ltz. I Baron J.H. Mackay.
• 28 November 1949 - 15 October 1950: Ltz. I C.E. Wolderling.
• 5 February - 27 February 1951: Ltz. I C.E. Wolderling.
• 27 February - 24 April 1951: Ltz. I R. van Wely.
• 24 April 1951 - 12 January 1953: Ltz. I C.E. Wolderling.
• 12 January - 1 June 1953: Ltz. I S. van Ravesteijn.