Class

Usurper (P 56)

Built By:	Vickers (Tyne)
Build Group:	U2
Fate:	On 24th September 1943 HMS Usurper left Algiers for a patrol off La Spezia, Italy. On 3rd October. Lieutenant Mott was ordered to move north to an area in the Gulf of Genoa in an area later identified as containing Italian Minefield QB192. HMS Usurper was patrolling in the Gulf of Genoa when the German anti-submarine vessel UJ-2208 reported that she had been unsuccessfully attacked. In the counterattack which followed UJ-2208 reported sinking a Submarine. It is possible that HMS Usurper was sunk in this attack but, she might also have been lost in a minefield. HMS Usurper did not respond to any signals and failed to arrive back at Algiers on 12th October 1942 and was reported lost with all hands

Usurper (P 56)

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Commanders

1942:

Lieutenant

David Roger Oakeley Mott

DSC

Roll of Honour

Abraham, Cedric Ernest William

C/JX 215054

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 26

Able Seaman

Allan, Wilfred

D/JX 563155

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 18

Ordinary Seaman

Anderson, John David Shanks

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Sub Lieutenant

Appleby, Thomas William

P/JX 155434

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 21

Leading Telegraphist

Baker, George William

P/JX 358368

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Able Seaman

Ballantyne, James Ross

D/KX 86977

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 27

Stoker Petty Officer

Bethell, William John

D/JX 286982

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Bird, William Henry

P/MX 48306

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 36

Chief Engine Room Artificer

Carson, Edward Henry Sidney

D/JX 158782

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 20

Telegraphist

Charman, John

P/JX 142727

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 25

Chief Petty Officer

Collins, Michael Higgins

P/SSX 22995

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Leading Seaman

Cooper, Sidney George

C/JX 142915

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 24

Leading Seaman

Davies, Mervyn Ebenezer DSM

P/JX 143196

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 24

Petty Officer Telegraphist

Davies, Thomas Barrie

P/JX 358192

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Able Seaman

Eldridge, Hubert Arthur

C/JX180661

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Telegraphist

Flynn, James Reginald

P/KX 95906

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Leading Stoker

Frost, Patrick Anthony Stirling

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 21

Sub Lieutenant

Fylan, James Reginald

P/KX 82494

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 28

Stoker Petty Officer

Griffiths, William John

D/JX 269375

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Telegraphist

Harman, William Parker

P/MX 93368

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Hilton, Joshua Herbert

D/KX 133098

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 21

Stoker 1st Class

Jackson, Leonard Philips

P/J 112129

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 34

Able Seaman

Johnstone, William Plunkett Dunning

C/JX 151079

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Petty Officer

Jordan, Sidney Lloyd

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Lieutenant

Knowles, Maurice Henry

D/KX 159978

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 20

Stoker 2nd Class

Little, Arthur

D/MX 74203

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Meaker, Eric Knowles

P/JX 149714

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Mott, David Roger Oakley DSC

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Lieutenant

Pike, Robert Francis

D/JX 366699

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Ordinary Seaman

Quayle, William Horsley

P/KX 146834

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 35

Stoker 1st Class

Rayner, Bertie William Fearnley DSM

C/JX 130051

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 32

Petty Officer

Render, Oswald

D/JX 287917

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Roberts, James William

C/KX 140723

Born: 6th May, 1926.

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 17

Stoker 1st Class

RN DoB 06/05/1924

Rodwell, Richard Herbert

P/JX 235070

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Searle, Frederick William

C/SSX 32296

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Able Seaman

Smallwood, Thomas Jack

C/SSX 32523

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Leading Seaman

Smedley, Frank

D/JX 237791

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 21

Able Seaman

Sutton, Thomas Henry

P/KX 88994

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 28

Stoker Petty Officer

Taaffe, Geoffrey

C/KX 152295

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 19

Stoker 1st Class

Taylor, Clifford

P/JX 168050

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 24

Able Seaman

Taylor, Victor

P/JX 273528

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Upex, Francis Arthur Edwin

P/JX 148084

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 23

Leading Signalman

White, George

P/JX 263859

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 32

Able Seaman

Whitfield, Leslie George Herbert

D/KX 144682

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 20

Stoker 1st Class

Wisdom, Robert Edward

D/JX 293581

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 20

Able Seaman

Worth, John Harold

Died: 12th Oct, 1943.

Aged: 25

Lieutenant

Events

19-08-1941	Laid Down

24-09-1942	Launched

02-02-1943	Completed

28-04-1943	HMS Usurper makes a torpedo attack on the German submarine U-467 in the Norwegian Sea. The target was not hit.

27-07-1943	HMS Usurper sinks the French Chateau Yquem

12-10-1943	On 24th September 1943 HMS Usurper left Algiers for a patrol off La Spezia, Italy. On 3rd October. Lieutenant Mott was ordered to move north to an area in the Gulf of Genoa in an area later identified as containing Italian Minefield QB192. HMS Usurper was patrolling in the Gulf of Genoa when the German anti-submarine vessel UJ-2208 reported that she had been unsuccessfully attacked. In the counterattack which followed UJ-2208 reported sinking a Submarine. It is possible that HMS Usurper was sunk in this attack but, she might also have been lost in a minefield. HMS Usurper did not respond to any signals and failed to arrive back at Algiers on 12th October 1942 and was reported lost with all hands

U2 Specification

Length overall	195 ft 6 inch
Beam	15 ft 9 inch
Depth	15 ft 10 inch
Displacement	648 tons (surface)
	735 tons (submerged)
Diving Depth	200 ft
Speed	11.5 knots (surface)
	9 knots (submerged)
No. of shafts	2
Endurance	Surface: 4050 miles at 10 knots (design)
	Submerged: 23 miles at 8 knots or 170 miles at 2.5 knots (design)
Armament	4 x 21 inch bow tubes (8 torpedoes carried)
	1 x 3 inch gun
	3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns
Complement	4 Officers, 29 Others.

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Class:	1941 - 1958: V Class
Built By:	Vickers (Tyne)
Build Group:	V2
Fate:
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The year 2001 records the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Submarine Service, and Antony Preston presents a day-by-day account of life in the service. In 1901, Holland One, the Royal Navy's first submarine, fitted with a single torpedo tube, was born at Vickers-Armstrong amidst great controversy, in an era when the submarine was regarded as the weapon of the weaker power

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