| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | T 3 |
| Fate: | She was purchased by the Dutch government and served with the cold war fleet, renamed Zwaardvis in 1950, decommissioned on 11 December 1962. |
HMS Talent was transferred to the Dutch and recommisoned as HNLMS Zwaardvisch
After the war she was purchased by the Dutch government and served with the cold war fleet, renamed Zwaardvis in 1950.
| 13-10-1942 | Laid Down |
| 23-03-1943 | Transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy. |
| 17-07-1943 | Launched as HMS Talent, but was not commissioned into the Royal Navy |
| 23-11-1943 | Commisioned into to the Royal Netherlands Navy. She was renamed Zwaardvisch, Dutch for 'Swordfish'. She went on to lead a distinguished career. |
| 11-12-1962 | Decommissioned |
Commander John McGregor OBE Royal Navy Crossed the Bar on August 12th 2025 at the age of 88. After a varied naval career, which included high pressure jobs in nuclear submarines, John McGregor was appointed as Engineer Commander of HMS Fearless in March 1982. At the time he may have thought that this would be a comparatively relaxing job, but all that changed when Fearless sailed with the Task Force for the Falklands War.
The 'X' stood for experimental, but it might equally have meant extraordinary, exotic or extravagant, as this giant submarine attracted superlatives. Built in the early 1920s, it was the world's largest, most heavily armed, and deepest diving submersible of the day. A controversial project conceived behind the backs of politicians, X.1 would remain an unwanted stepchild. As British diplomats attempted to outlaw the use of submarines as commerce raiders, the Admiralty was building the world's most powerful corsair submarine, designed to destroy entire convoys of merchant ships.
This book explores the historical background of submarine cruisers, the personalities involved in X.1's design and service, the spy drama surrounding her launch, the treason trial of a Royal Navy submarine commander, the ship's checkered career, and her political demise. Despite technical successes, the X.1 became the target of a misinformation campaign aimed at persuading foreign naval powers that the cruiser submarine did not work. While the myth of her failure persists even today, it was ignored by other navies, who went on building submarine cruisers of their own. The book analyses the submarine cruisers built by the US, French, and Japanese navies, as well as the projected German copy of X.1, the Type XI U-Boat.
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Commander John McGregor OBE Royal Navy Crossed the Bar on August 12th 2025 at the age of 88. After a varied naval career, which included high pressure jobs in nuclear submarines, John McGregor was appointed as Engineer Commander of HMS Fearless in March 1982. At the time he may have thought that this would be a comparatively relaxing job, but all that changed when Fearless sailed with the Task Force for the Falklands War.
The 'X' stood for experimental, but it might equally have meant extraordinary, exotic or extravagant, as this giant submarine attracted superlatives. Built in the early 1920s, it was the world's largest, most heavily armed, and deepest diving submersible of the day. A controversial project conceived behind the backs of politicians, X.1 would remain an unwanted stepchild. As British diplomats attempted to outlaw the use of submarines as commerce raiders, the Admiralty was building the world's most powerful corsair submarine, designed to destroy entire convoys of merchant ships.
This book explores the historical background of submarine cruisers, the personalities involved in X.1's design and service, the spy drama surrounding her launch, the treason trial of a Royal Navy submarine commander, the ship's checkered career, and her political demise. Despite technical successes, the X.1 became the target of a misinformation campaign aimed at persuading foreign naval powers that the cruiser submarine did not work. While the myth of her failure persists even today, it was ignored by other navies, who went on building submarine cruisers of their own. The book analyses the submarine cruisers built by the US, French, and Japanese navies, as well as the projected German copy of X.1, the Type XI U-Boat.
12 pages added or updated in the last Array 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.
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