| Built By: | Chatham Dockyard (Medway) |
| Build Group: | F |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1920. |
| 1916: | Lieutenant | Frederick Henry Taylor | DSC |
| 1916: | Lieutenant | Frederick Henry Taylor | DSC |
| 1916: | Lieutenant | Frederick Henry Taylor | DSC |
| Displacement | 359 tons (surface) |
| 533 tons (submerged) | |
| Length | 151 ft |
| Draught | 10 ft 7 inch |
| Beam | 16 ft 1 1/4 inch |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft diesels, 2 electric motors, 900bhp/400shp |
| Speed | 14.5 knotsot (surface) |
| 8.75 knots (submerged) | |
| Endurance | 3000 miles at 9 knots |
| Armament | 2 x 18 inch bow torpedo tubes |
| 1 x 18 inch stern torpedo tube | |
| 6 torpedoes | |
| 1 x 2-pounder deck gun | |
| Complement | 2 Officers, 16 Ratings. |
| Class: | 1930 - 1946: Grampus Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | G2 |
| Fate: | |
| Possibly sunk off Penang by Japanese A/S aircraft on or about 11th January 1945. On 3rd January 1945 the Submarine left Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for her 23rd War Patrol (4th in the Far East) with orders to lay a minefield off Penang. On 9th Jan 1945, Lt. Cdr. H B Turner, DSC is understood to have reported by signal that he had successfully laid her mines off Penang. On 13th January 1945, HMS Stygian was sent a signal informing her that Porpoise was in trouble 17 miles northwest of Pulo Perak). This information came from an Ultra decrypt (now in the National Archives in London) reporting that on 11th January a Nakajima B6N2 bomber had attacked a Submarine, dropping two 60kg bombs. Further bombing attacks we made later but there was no further contact. Japanese records show that a submarine was spotted and bombed by aircraft in the vicinity of Penang. Although not destroyed in this attack, the submarine was wounded and leaking oil that left a trail for the Japanese anti-submarine forces to follow as they closed in for the kill. HMS Porpoise was later declared overdue and then as lost with all hands. | |
New Year 1915. The world is locked in a terrible conflict, and Winston Churchill has conceived of a bold plan. Constantinople would be seized and Turkey knocked out of the war. The key is the Dardanelles.
The British submarine E14 approached the portal of the Ottoman Empire, viewing the ominous darkness from its small conning tower, eight feet above the waves. Its commander, Courtney Boyle, had told his superiors he thought the voyage – probably the longest dive ever contemplated in a submarine – was impossible. It would also take him past the wreckage of the submarines that had tried to pass that way in the days before: their dead buried on the beach, their survivors in captivity.
The crew had said their goodbyes. They had written their farewell letters and given them into safekeeping, knowing that the chances were now against their survival. This book sets out what happened next and tells the story of the pioneering submarines of the Dardanelles.
20 pages added or updated in the last 3 month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
| Displacement | 359 tons (surface) |
| 533 tons (submerged) | |
| Length | 151 ft |
| Draught | 10 ft 7 inch |
| Beam | 16 ft 1 1/4 inch |
| Propulsion | 2 shaft diesels, 2 electric motors, 900bhp/400shp |
| Speed | 14.5 knotsot (surface) |
| 8.75 knots (submerged) | |
| Endurance | 3000 miles at 9 knots |
| Armament | 2 x 18 inch bow torpedo tubes |
| 1 x 18 inch stern torpedo tube | |
| 6 torpedoes | |
| 1 x 2-pounder deck gun | |
| Complement | 2 Officers, 16 Ratings. |
| Class: | 1930 - 1946: Grampus Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | G2 |
| Fate: | |
| Possibly sunk off Penang by Japanese A/S aircraft on or about 11th January 1945. On 3rd January 1945 the Submarine left Trincomalee in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) for her 23rd War Patrol (4th in the Far East) with orders to lay a minefield off Penang. On 9th Jan 1945, Lt. Cdr. H B Turner, DSC is understood to have reported by signal that he had successfully laid her mines off Penang. On 13th January 1945, HMS Stygian was sent a signal informing her that Porpoise was in trouble 17 miles northwest of Pulo Perak). This information came from an Ultra decrypt (now in the National Archives in London) reporting that on 11th January a Nakajima B6N2 bomber had attacked a Submarine, dropping two 60kg bombs. Further bombing attacks we made later but there was no further contact. Japanese records show that a submarine was spotted and bombed by aircraft in the vicinity of Penang. Although not destroyed in this attack, the submarine was wounded and leaking oil that left a trail for the Japanese anti-submarine forces to follow as they closed in for the kill. HMS Porpoise was later declared overdue and then as lost with all hands. | |
New Year 1915. The world is locked in a terrible conflict, and Winston Churchill has conceived of a bold plan. Constantinople would be seized and Turkey knocked out of the war. The key is the Dardanelles.
The British submarine E14 approached the portal of the Ottoman Empire, viewing the ominous darkness from its small conning tower, eight feet above the waves. Its commander, Courtney Boyle, had told his superiors he thought the voyage – probably the longest dive ever contemplated in a submarine – was impossible. It would also take him past the wreckage of the submarines that had tried to pass that way in the days before: their dead buried on the beach, their survivors in captivity.
The crew had said their goodbyes. They had written their farewell letters and given them into safekeeping, knowing that the chances were now against their survival. This book sets out what happened next and tells the story of the pioneering submarines of the Dardanelles.
20 pages added or updated in the last 3 month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.

This form is for you to comment on, or add additional information to this page. Any questions will be deleted. If you wish to ask a question contact the Branch or the Webmaster using the Contact Us page or ask your question on our Facebook Page