HMS Affray (P421)

Affray, last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea.
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
OrderedLate May 1943
BuilderCammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down16 January 1944
Launched12 April 1944
Commissioned25 November 1945
StrickenJune 1951
IdentificationPennant number: P421
FateFoundered 16 April 1951
General characteristics
Displacement
  • 1,385 tons surfaced
  • 1,620 tons submerged
Length281 ft 9 in (85.88 m)
Beam22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Draught17 ft (5.2 m)
Propulsiondiesel-electric, 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) surfaced, 1,250 hp (930 kW) submerged
Speed
  • 18.5 knots (34.3 km/h) surfaced
  • 8 knots (15 km/h) submerged
Range10,500 nmi (19,400 km) at 11 kn (20 km/h) surfaced
Complement6 officers and 55 men
Armament
  • one 4-inch (100 mm) gun
  • one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
  • three .303-calibre machine guns
  • ten 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes (four bow, two bow external, two stern, two stern external), 20 torpedoes

HMS Affray was a British Amphion-class submarine. Affray was built in the closing stages of the Second World War. She was one of 16 submarines of her class which were originally designed for use in the Pacific Ocean against Japan.

It was the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost at sea, on 16 April 1951, with the loss of 75 lives.[1]

  1. ^ James Jinks; Peter Hennessy (29 October 2015). The Silent Deep: The Royal Navy Submarine Service Since 1945. Penguin UK. pp. 88–92. ISBN 978-0-14-197370-8.