| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | Amphion |
| Fate: | Scrapped in February 1967 at Troon. |
| 1945: | Lieutenant (E) | Philip Morton Mansel-Pleydell | |
| 1948: | Lieutenant | Laurence Hugh Oliphant | DSC |
| 1951: | Lieutenant | Stephen Jenner | |
| 1951: | Lieutenant Commander | Allan Gordon Tait | DSC MID |
Only one of Amphion Class not converted.
| 21-06-1944 | Laid Down |
| 08-07-1945 | Launched |
| 07-02-1947 | Completed |
| 02-07-1947 | Aurochs was involved in a collision. |
| 10-09-1952 | There was a fatal runaccident on the Aurochs while docked in County Cork |
| 17-05-1958 | Aurochs was patrolling the Molucca Sea off Indonesia when an unidentified aircraft machine-gunned her. No casualties or damage were sustained. President Sukarno's Indonesian government told the UK Government that its armed forces had not made the attack. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that it accepted the assurance and assumed that North Celebes insurgents had carried out the attack. |
| Length overall | 280 ft 6in |
| Beam | 22 ft |
| Depth | 16ft |
| Displacement | 1385 tons (surface) |
| 1620 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 350 ft |
| Speed | Surface 18.5 knots (design) |
| Submarged 8 knots (design) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Armament | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes (2 external) |
| 4 x 21 inch stern tubes (2 external) | |
| 20 torpedoes carried | |
| 1 x 4 inch gun | |
| 1 x 20mm Qerlikon cannon | |
| 3 x 0.303in machine-guns | |
| Endurance | Surface: 10 500 miles at 11 knots (design) |
| Submerged: 16 miles at 8 knots or 90 miles at 3 knots | |
| Complement | 6 Officers and 55 Ratings. |
| 6 Officers and 58 Ratings after modernisation. |
Leslie Willcox, a section head in Industrial Services and an ex Royal Navy man of 24 years experience recently attended a very special service with his wife Georgina at Holy Trinity Church Gosport for the christening of their son, Richard.
"They were the only thing that really frightened me" So said the usually steadfast Winston Churchill of the German Navy's U-Boat fleet - the dreaded Wolf Pack, which stalked the Atlantic depths, bringing instant death to merchantman and warship alike.
Together with a formidable surface fleet, the U-Boats challenged the Royal Navy's traditional supremacy of the oceans, countering Britain's strength in numbers with a reign of silent terror. A decade of secret rebuilding had brought forth capital ships like the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen - names to strike fear into any Allied seafarer.
However, it was from under the water that the biggest threat was to come. Commanded by Admiral Karl Doenitz, the submarines laid waste to shipping, cutting supply lines and striking from within convoys where Allied escorts dare not use guns. The U-Boat captains were the equivalent of Luftwaffe aces - ruthless, cunning and ice-cool under pressure. Enduring harsh conditions for months on end and working in darkness with no chance of escape, this was truly a war of nerves.
"There is no margin for error on a submariner" said one captain. "You are either alive or dead." on May 4 1945, Doenitz issued orders to cease hostilities. "You have fought like lions" he said to his valiant survivors. "You are laying down your arms after a heroic fight which knows no equals."
The story of that light is told hare using rare archive footage, much of which has been unavailable in the West since World War II.
18 pages added or updated in the last 2 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.
| Length overall | 280 ft 6in |
| Beam | 22 ft |
| Depth | 16ft |
| Displacement | 1385 tons (surface) |
| 1620 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 350 ft |
| Speed | Surface 18.5 knots (design) |
| Submarged 8 knots (design) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Armament | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes (2 external) |
| 4 x 21 inch stern tubes (2 external) | |
| 20 torpedoes carried | |
| 1 x 4 inch gun | |
| 1 x 20mm Qerlikon cannon | |
| 3 x 0.303in machine-guns | |
| Endurance | Surface: 10 500 miles at 11 knots (design) |
| Submerged: 16 miles at 8 knots or 90 miles at 3 knots | |
| Complement | 6 Officers and 55 Ratings. |
| 6 Officers and 58 Ratings after modernisation. |
Leslie Willcox, a section head in Industrial Services and an ex Royal Navy man of 24 years experience recently attended a very special service with his wife Georgina at Holy Trinity Church Gosport for the christening of their son, Richard.
"They were the only thing that really frightened me" So said the usually steadfast Winston Churchill of the German Navy's U-Boat fleet - the dreaded Wolf Pack, which stalked the Atlantic depths, bringing instant death to merchantman and warship alike.
Together with a formidable surface fleet, the U-Boats challenged the Royal Navy's traditional supremacy of the oceans, countering Britain's strength in numbers with a reign of silent terror. A decade of secret rebuilding had brought forth capital ships like the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen - names to strike fear into any Allied seafarer.
However, it was from under the water that the biggest threat was to come. Commanded by Admiral Karl Doenitz, the submarines laid waste to shipping, cutting supply lines and striking from within convoys where Allied escorts dare not use guns. The U-Boat captains were the equivalent of Luftwaffe aces - ruthless, cunning and ice-cool under pressure. Enduring harsh conditions for months on end and working in darkness with no chance of escape, this was truly a war of nerves.
"There is no margin for error on a submariner" said one captain. "You are either alive or dead." on May 4 1945, Doenitz issued orders to cease hostilities. "You have fought like lions" he said to his valiant survivors. "You are laying down your arms after a heroic fight which knows no equals."
The story of that light is told hare using rare archive footage, much of which has been unavailable in the West since World War II.
18 pages added or updated in the last 2 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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