HMS Truncheon (P353)

HMS Truncheon (pennant number P353) was a group three T Class submarine of the Royal Navy which entered service in the last few months of World War II. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named Truncheon. She was sold to Israel in 1968 and commissioned into the Israeli Sea Corps as INS Dolphin.

HMS Truncheon secured to a buoy in Plymouth Sound, May 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Truncheon
Builder	Devonport Dockyard
Laid down	5 November 1942
Launched	22 February 1944
Commissioned	25 May 1945
Fate	Sold to Israeli Navy as INS Dolphin in 1968
Badge
Israel
Name	INS Dolphin
Commissioned	1968
Renamed	אח"י דולפין
Identification	צ-79
Fate	Scrapped 1977
General characteristics
Displacement	1,290 long tons (1,310 t) surfaced 1,560 long tons (1,590 t) submerged
Length	276 ft 6 in (84.28 m)
Beam	25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Draught	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) forward 14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) aft
Propulsion	Two shafts Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced Nine knots (20 km/h) submerged
Range	4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
Test depth	300 ft (91 m) max
Complement	61
Armament	Six internal forward-facing 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes Two external forward-facing torpedo tubes Two external amidships rear-facing torpedo tubes One external rear-facing torpedo tubes Six reload torpedoes QF 4 inch (100 mm) deck gun Three anti-aircraft machine guns

Career

As HMS Truncheon

At the end of the war, all surviving Group 1 and Group 2 boats were scrapped, but the group 3 boats (which were of welded rather than riveted construction), were retained and fitted with snorkel masts.

Truncheon was sold to the Israeli Navy in 1968, and renamed Dolphin.

As INS Dolphin

The submarine was purchased by Israel in 1968. Two of her T-class sisters, HMS Turpin and HMS Totem, were also sold to Israel. She was commissioned into the Israeli Sea Corps in 1968.

She was eventually scrapped in 1977. By the time of her decommissioning, she was the only T class submarine in service in the world. The lead boat of the new Dolphin-class submarine commissioned in 1999 carried on the name Dolphin.

Footnotes

• 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.
• Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.