HMS Finwhale

HMS Finwhale (S05)
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Finwhale
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Launched	21 July 1959
Commissioned	19 August 1960
Fate	Scrapped in 1988
General characteristics
Class and type	Porpoise-class submarine
Displacement	2,080 tons surfaced 2,450 tons submerged
Length	290 ft (88 m)
Beam	26 ft 7 in (8.10 m)
Draught	18 ft (5.5 m)
Propulsion	2 × Admiralty Standard range diesel generators, 1,650 hp (1,230 kW) 2 × English Electric main motors, 12,000 hp (8,900 kW) 2 shafts
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h) surfaced 17 knots (31 km/h)submerged
Range	9,000 nmi (17,000 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h)
Complement	71
Armament	8 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, 6 bow, 2 stern 30 × Mk 8 or Mk 23 torpedoes, later the Mark 24 Tigerfish

HMS Finwhale (S05) was the fifth Porpoise-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 21 July 1959 and first commissioned on 19 August 1960.

Operational service

During her first commission she went further under the ice than any other submarine at the time. She was recommissioned on 27 January 1964. In March 1965 on her second Arctic patrol she further eclipsed her first ice patrol, penetrating 95 miles into the ice. She was present at Portsmouth Navy Days in 1965 and 1966.^[1][2]

While in the Far East she was fitted with an Oerlikon deck gun.^[3]

She was used as a harbour training vessel between 1979 and 1987. She left under tow for scrapping in Spain on 28 March 1988. She has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named after the fin whale.

References

1. Programme, Portsmouth Navy Days, 28–30 August 1965, HMSO, p. 15
2. Programme, Portsmouth Navy Days, 27–29 August 1966, HMSO, p19
3. Tall, J. J; Paul Kemp (1996). HM Submarines in Camera An Illustrated History of British Submarines. Sutton Publishing. pp. 166–167. ISBN 0-7509-0875-0.

Publications

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.