HMS H31

HMS H31
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS H31
Builder	Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down	19 April 1917
Launched	16 November 1918
Commissioned	21 February 1919
Fate	Sunk, between 19 and 24 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type	H class submarine
Displacement	423 long tons (430 t) surfaced 510 long tons (518 t) submerged
Length	171 ft 0 in (52.12 m)
Beam	15 ft 4 in (4.67 m)
Propulsion	1 × 480 hp (358 kW) diesel engine 2 × 620 hp (462 kW) electric motors
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) surfaced 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged
Range	2,985 nmi (5,528 km) at 7.5 kn (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) surfaced 130 nmi (240 km) at 2 kn (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) submerged
Complement	22
Armament	4 × 21 in (533 mm) bow torpedo tubes 8 × 21 inch torpedoes

HMS H31 was a British H class submarine built by Vickers Limited, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 19 April 1917 and was commissioned on 21 February 1919.

HMS H31 survived until World War II. During the war, she took part in the operation to keep the Scharnhorst in Brest, France in december 1941 before the "Channel Dash" to German homeports in the company of Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen in February 1942. During the operation, H31 was sunk by unknown causes, but most believe she was mined in the Bay of Biscay after leaving port on 19 December and failing to respond on 24 December 1941.^[1]