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This website is brought to you in association with the Barrow-in-Furness Branch of the Submariners Association and is the premier UK internet resource for Submariners and anyone interested in Royal Navy Submarines.

Vickers and Barrow are names synonymous with the development of the submarine. Hundreds of submarines covering virtually every class have been built for the Royal Navy and foreign Navies. This site is dedicated to not only to those who have served on Her Majesty's Submarines but also to those employees past and present whose skills and efforts have given pride to the phrase 'Barrow built' and made the name Vickers known and respected throughout the world.

On This Day - January 20

1890 1891 - 1921: Royal Arthur Laid down
1921 K5 HMS K5 sailed from Torbay as part of a fleet bound for Spain, which included the Cruiser Inconstant and Submarines K8, K9, K15 and K22. It was decided to conduct a mock battle in the Bay of Biscay and the vessels split up to take their positions. A signal was received from K5 that she was diving, but she failed to reappear at the end of the exercise. An hour before dusk a battery cover from a K boat was recovered and the next morning a sailor's ditty box was found - the last trace of K5. It is believed an accident caused K5 to exceed her maximum diving depth.
1940 Thorn (N11) Laid Down
1940 O22 (Dutch) Launched
1943 Saracen (P247) HMS Saracen sinks the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser V 3/Maria Angelette with gunfire about 30 nautical miles south of Isola di Capri, Italy.
1943 Unrivalled (P45) While on patrol of Tunisia HMS Unrivalled intercepts a small Italian naval auxiliary towing a schooner. She sinks the naval auxiliary with gunfire.
1943 Untiring (P59) Launched
1945 Sidon (P259) Damaged in a submerged collision with HMS Turpin. Her stem cutter was turned to starboard by a length of 4 feet.
2006 Spartan (S105) Decommissioning ceremony was held to mark the successful completion of Spartan's service.
Lastest Comments
18/01/2025 on page Unruly (P49)
Caroline Wetton wrote:
My husband\'s uncle, Geoff Coe, served on the Unruly after his ship HMS Calcutta was torpedoed and sunk in the Med....
11/01/2025 on page Sturdy (P248)
Joy Davis (nee Wellings) wrote:
My dad swapped shifts with Ronald Hiett that day. It should have been dad who was on watch. He tried to contact his family when the war was over but with no success. He felt guilty that he had survived and Ronald didn\'t....
29/11/2024 on page Oswald (N58)
David Tooes wrote:
My father was A/B Jack Tooes he was a gunlayer on the Oswald. He is mentioned in the Courts Martial. It concludes by having to have his record reviewed for 5 years. In 1946 he is awarded the BEM for his courageous escape from the notorious prison camp for recidivist escapers. POW Camp 5 or Gavi F...
10/11/2024 on page Memories of Donald (Buckwheat) Harris
John Swallow wrote:
My father William (Bill) Swallow served on HMS Telemachus from trials to 1946. ...
01/11/2024 on page Repulse (S23)
Keith (Mo) Morison wrote:
I served on Port crew from 1972 to 1974. I was the ECM Operator - LRO (w) as an extra watchkeeper, but my main duty was Forward Hydroplanes and Steering. Doing 3 off-crew and 3 on-crew stints, I completed a Work-up (angles and dangles and drills etc.), a Demonstration and Shakedown Operation (DASO) ...