| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | P2 |
| Fate: | March 1977 sold for scrap to Davies and Cann Ltd. Left under tow on May 5th 1977 for Plymouth. |
She was built by the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The boat was named for both the Rorqual whale and the earlier Second World War-era submarine of the same name.
In 1958, Rorqual experienced a fire.
In 1963, she was caught in a trawler's net.
In 1966, Rorqual was off the coast of Mozambique en route to Singapore whan an explosion killed two crew members and injured twenty.
In 1969, Rorqual rammed a moored minesweeper, USS Endurance (MSO-435) while docking at River Point pier in Subic Bay, Philippines. The collision punched a large hole in Endurance's hull but did not damage Rorqual. At the time of the incident, Rorqual was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Gavin Menzies who retired the following year and later published the controversial book 1421: The Year China Discovered America.
In 1973, Rorqual won the SOCA Efficiency trophy.
The Adriatic, radiant in summer, with its many islands strung like jewels along the Dalmatian coast, is a pleasant sea in time of peace. With the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, it became yet another area of perilous opportunity for the Submarines of the Royal Navy. Among the shoals off Italy's eastern seaboard and the innumerable islands of the Yugoslavian coast, where the enemy played a desperate game of hide and seek with his ore ships bound for Fiume, the Submarines carried out many adventurous patrols.
| 15-01-1955 | Laid Down |
| 05-12-1956 | Launched |
| 24-10-1958 | Completed |
| Length overall | 295 ft 3 inch |
| Beam | 26 ft 6 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft |
| Displacement | 2030 tons (surface) |
| 2410 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 300 ft |
| Speed | 12 knots (surface) |
| 17 knots (submerged) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 12800 miles maximum (design) |
| Surface: 3860 miles at full power or 11500 miles at 8 knots (service) | |
| Submerged: 64 miles at 4 knots (design) | |
| Submerged: 8 miles at 9 knots or 66 miles at 6 knots (service) | |
| Armament | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| 2 x 21 inch stern tubes | |
| (24 torpedoes carried) | |
| Complement | 6 Officers and 65 Others |
| Class: | 1983 - 2025: Trafalgar Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | SSN 4b |
| Fate: | |
| Decommisioned 15-07-2012 at Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport | |
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| Length overall | 295 ft 3 inch |
| Beam | 26 ft 6 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft |
| Displacement | 2030 tons (surface) |
| 2410 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 300 ft |
| Speed | 12 knots (surface) |
| 17 knots (submerged) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 12800 miles maximum (design) |
| Surface: 3860 miles at full power or 11500 miles at 8 knots (service) | |
| Submerged: 64 miles at 4 knots (design) | |
| Submerged: 8 miles at 9 knots or 66 miles at 6 knots (service) | |
| Armament | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| 2 x 21 inch stern tubes | |
| (24 torpedoes carried) | |
| Complement | 6 Officers and 65 Others |
| Class: | 1983 - 2025: Trafalgar Class |
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | SSN 4b |
| Fate: | |
| Decommisioned 15-07-2012 at Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport | |
11 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. Or you can make a big one if you like :)
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
Comments
Comment by: Peter Moore on June 22nd, 2020
I was on Rorqual from 66 - 68 and can assure you that when we had the separator explosion, apart from the 2 who were killed, there were NOT 20 injured.
Comment by: Andy Anderson on October 16th, 2019
Served on this broken down death trap from 1973 to 1974. Too many break downs when dived and when surfaced. The scars of the poor sole that lost his life when the lub oil separator disintegrated were still on the engine room door.
What was outstanding was the comraderey oh how I miss it 40 years on.
God bless to all who serve in the dangerous world of submarines past and present.
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