HMS Walrus (S08)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Walrus.

HMS Walrus (S08) was the last of the Porpoise class submarines of the Royal Navy. She was launched on 22 September 1959, and commissioned on 10 February 1961.

HMS Walrus (S08) and other ships in Kiel harbour, Germany
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Walrus
Builder	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down	12 February 1958
Launched	22 September 1959
Commissioned	10 February 1961
Fate	Sold in 1987 Broken up in 1991
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 MW) 2 × English Electric main motors, 12,000 hp (8.95 MW) 2 shafts
Speed	12 kn (22 km/h) surfaced 17 kn (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 × Mk8 or Mk23 torpedoes, later the Mark 24 Tigerfish

Royal Navy Service

On one occasion during exercises with HMS Ark Royal (R09) an error resulted in a practice torpedo becoming embedded in the submarine's casing.

Following an 18-month refit at Devonport Dockyard she commissioned for the third time on 3 December 1969. In 1970 she was present at Portsmouth Navy Days Walrus also attended the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review off Spithead when she was part of the Submarine Flotilla.

She was sold in 1987 to the Seaforth Group to be refitted for resale to Egypt, but was broken up at Grimsby in 1991.

Notable commanding officers

Notable commanding officers include Lieutenant Commander John Fieldhouse (1961–1962) and Lieutenant Commander Roger Lane-Nott (1974–1976).

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.