HMS Aurochs (P426)
 HMS Aurochs | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name: | HMS Aurochs |
| Namesake: | Aurochs |
| Ordered: | Very late in World War II |
| Builder: | Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 21 June 1944 |
| Launched: | 28 July 1945 |
| Commissioned: | 7 February 1947 |
| Decommissioned: | 1966 |
| Identification: | Pennant number P246 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap on 7 February 1967. Scrapped at Troon, Scotland in February 1967. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Amphion-class submarine |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 293 ft 6 in (89.46 m) |
| Beam: | 22 ft 4 in (6.81 m) |
| Draught: | 18 ft 1 in (5.51 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | |
| Range: |
|
| Test depth: | 350 ft (110 m) |
| Complement: | 5 officers & 55 enlisted |
| Armament: |
|
HMS Aurochs (P426), was an Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Vickers Armstrong and launched 28 July 1945.[1] Her namesake was the aurochs (Bos primigenius), an extinct Eurasian wild ox ancestral to domestic cattle and often portrayed in cave art and heraldry.
Operational history
In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.[2]
On 17 May 1958 Aurochs was patrolling the Molucca Sea off Indonesia when an unidentified aircraft machine-gunned her.[3] The aircraft remained at high altitude and Aurochs sustained no casualties or damage.[3] President Sukarno's Indonesian government told the UK's Conservative Government that its armed forces had not made the attack.[3] The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office stated that it accepted the assurance and assumed that North Celebes rebels had carried out the attack.[3]
It is true that Permesta rebels in North Sulawesi were supported by a "Revolutionary Air Force", AUREV (Angkatan Udara Revolusioner).[4] However, all AUREV aircraft, munitions and pilots were supplied by the Nationalist Chinese air force[5] or the CIA.[6] Two CIA pilots, William H Beale, Jr[7] and Allen Pope,[8] had been using Douglas B-26 Invader aircraft to attack Indonesian and foreign targets in the area since April 1958. By 17 May Beale had quit the operation,[9] but Pope continued to fly sorties until the day after Aurochs was attacked, 18 May, when he tried to attack an Indonesian Navy convoy[10] but was shot down[11] and captured.[12]
Apart from the Affray which had been lost in an accident in 1951, Aurochs was the only one of her class not to be modernised.[13] In March 1961, the submarine was among the vessels that took part in a combined naval exercise with the United States Navy off Nova Scotia.[14]
Aurochs was decommissioned in 1966 and arrived at Troon in February 1967 for breaking up.[13]
Commanding officers
| From | To | Captain |
|---|---|---|
| 1953 | 1953 | Lieutenant-Commander A. G. Tait DSC RN |
| 1957 | 1959 | Lieutenant-Commander C. A. J. French RN |
| 1958 | 1962 | Lieutenant-Commander O. B. Sharp RN |
| 1966 | 1966 | In reserve |
References
- ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur (1995–2011). "HMS Aurochs (P426)". uboat.net. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ↑ Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15 June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
- 1 2 3 4 David Ormsby-Gore, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (11 June 1958). "Indonesia (British Vessels)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. col. 202–203. Retrieved 2011-11-21.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, p. 85.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, pp. 101,105.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, pp. 86–87.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, p. 99.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, p. 100.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, p. 125.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, pp. 136–137.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, pp. 138–139.
- ↑ Conboy & Morrison 1999, pp. 140–141.
- 1 2 Warlow, Ben. Channel Sweep. Liskeard: Maritime Books. p. 13. ISBN 0-907771-40-8.
- ↑ "A/S Exercise Off Nova Scotia". The Crowsnest. Vol. 13 no. 6. Queen's Printer. April 1961. p. 2.
Sources
- Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9.