HMS Aeneas (P427)

HMS Aeneas (P427) was a British Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Cammell Laird and launched on 9 October 1945.[1] It was named after the hero Aeneas from Greek mythology.

Amphion-class submarine HMS Aeneas
History
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Aeneas
Namesake: Aeneas
Builder: Cammell Laird
Laid down: 10 October 1944
Launched: 25 October 1945
Commissioned: 31 July 1946
Identification: Pennant number P427
Fate: Scrapped, 1974
General characteristics
Class and type: Amphion-class submarine
Displacement: 1,360/1,590 tons (surface/submerged)
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: 2 × 2,150 hp (1,600 kW) Admiralty ML 8-cylinder diesel engine, 2 × 625 hp (466 kW) electric motors for submergence driving two shafts
Speed:
  • 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h; 21.3 mph) surfaced
  • 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) submerged
Range:
  • 10,500 nautical miles (19,400 km) at 11 knots (20 km/h) surfaced
  • 16 nautical miles (30 km) at 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged
Test depth: 350 ft (110 m)
Complement: 5 officers 55 enlisted
Armament:
  • 6 × 21 inch (533 mm) (2 external) bow torpedo tube, 4 × 21 in (533 mm) (2 external) stern torpedo tube, containing a total of 20 torpedoes
  • Mines: 26
  • 1 × 4 in (102 mm) main deck gun, 3 × 0.303 in (7.70 mm) machine gun, 1 × Oerlikon 20 mm gun

Service history

Aeneas took part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.[2]

Aeneas played the part of the M1 submarine in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

In 1972 Aeneas was hired by Vickers for use in what proved to be successful trials of the Submarine-Launched Airflight Missile (SLAM) system, an anti-aircraft system using a cluster of four Shorts Blowpipe missiles on an extendable mast, allowing attacks against low flying aircraft while the submarine was at periscope depth.

Aeneas was broken up in 1974.

On 26 September 2012 DNCS at the company's Le Mourillon plant announced plans to design and build a submarine canister-based air defence weapon based on MBDA's Mistral. The concept is based on the British SLAM, Submarine Launched Airflight Missile[lower-roman 1] which was based on the Blowpipe developed by Vickers in the 1970s, and used on HMS Aeneas.[3]

References
  1. Not to be confused with the American SLAM Stand off Land Attack Missile
  2. Souvenir Programme, Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15 June 1953, HMSO, Gale and Polden
  3. Janes International Defence Review Vol 45 France revives hard-kill submarine defences, page XIV

Further reading
  • 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.
  • Submarines in Colour by Bill Gunston - Blandford Colour Series - Blandford - 1976 - ISBN 0-7137-0780-1


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