| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | Porpoise |
| Pennant | N 14 |
| Built by | Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 11 Jun 1931 |
| Laid down | 22 Sep 1931 |
| Launched | 30 Aug 1932 |
| Commissioned | 11 Mar 1933 |
| Lost | 19 Jan 1945 |
| Loss position | |
| History | HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. Hugh Bentley Turner, DSC, RN) was sunk by Japanese aircraft in the Malacca Strait on 19 January 1945. Commanding Officers: Cdr. Philip Quellyn Roberts, RN Lt.Cdr. Jack Gethin Hopkins, RN Lt.Cdr. Edward Fowle Pizey, DSC, RN Lt. Leslie William Abel Bennington, DSC, RN ??? Lt. John Bertram de Betham Kershaw, DSO, RN ??? Lt.Cdr. Hubert Anthony Lucius Marsham, OBE, RN A/Lt.Cdr. Hugh Bentley Turner, DSC, RN |
Commands listed for HMS Porpoise (N 14)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Cdr. George Walter Gillow Simpson, RN | 21 Sep 1938 | 14 Nov 1939 | |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. Philip Quellyn Roberts, RN | 14 Nov 1939 | 22 Aug 1940 | |
| 3 | Lt.Cdr. Jack Gethin Hopkins, RN | 22 Aug 1940 | 25 Sep 1941 | |
| 4 | Lt.Cdr. Edward Fowle Pizey, DSC, RN | 25 Sep 1941 | 11 May 1942 | |
| 5 | Lt. Leslie William Abel Bennington, DSC, RN | 11 May 1942 | 25 Jan 1943 | |
| 6 | Lt. John Bertram de Betham Kershaw, DSO, RN | 7 Mar 1943 | ??? | |
| 7 | Lt.Cdr. Hubert Anthony Lucius Marsham, RN | 6 Aug 1943 | 21 Nov 1944 | |
| 8 | A/Lt.Cdr. Hugh Bentley Turner, DSC, RN | 21 Nov 1944 | 19 Jan 1945 (+) | |
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Noteable events involving Porpoise include:
16 Apr 1940
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN) fires 6 torpedoes against the German submarine U-3 about 10 nautical miles south-west of Egersund, Norway in position 58º18'N, 05º47'E. All torpedoes fired missed their target. Porpoise is often credited with sinking U-1 but this is incorrect. (see map)
16 May 1940
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN) lays minefield FD 11 (48 mines) off Kalvag, Norway in position 61º44'N, 04º54'E. (see map)
14 Jun 1940
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN) lays minefield FD 18 (50 mines) off the Ramsoyfjord, Norway in approximate position 63º30'N, 08º12'E.
-----details-----
At 1448 hours Porpoise starts to lay the minefield. The lay was completed at 1530 hours.
In all 50 mines were laid in 3 lines.
Line 1;
Position of first mine:
63º29'40N, 08º13'20E
Course of lay: 270º
Spacing: 150 feet
No. of mines: 16
Line 2;
Position of first mine:
63º30'00N, 08º11'40E
Course of lay: 270º
Spacing: 150 feet
No. of mines: 18
Line 3;
Position of first mine:
63º30'20N, 08º10'00E
Course of lay: 270º
Spacing: 150 feet
No. of mines: 16 (see map)
18 Jun 1940
The German minesweeper M 5 (682 tons) is sunk north-west of Kristiansund, Norway in position 63º30'N, 08º09'E when she hits a mine laid on 14 June 1940 by the British submarine HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN).
(see map)
29 Jul 1940
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN) lays minefield FD 23 (50 mines) off southern Norway.
13 Sep 1940
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. P.Q. Roberts, RN) lays minefield FD 26 (48 mines) in the Bay of Biscay north-west of La Rochelle, France in position 46º25'N, 02º00'E. (see map)
7 Mar 1941
While enroute to Halifax, Canada, HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. J.G. Hopkins, RN) makes a torpedo attack on ' what is identified as ' a submarine in the North Atlantic in position 57º50'N, 19º50'W. The German submarine U-A was operating in this area so the attack might have been against this submarine but she reported no attack. (see map)
9 Dec 1941
HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSO, RN) torpedoes and heavy damages the Italian passenger / cargo ship Sebastiano Venier (6311 GRT) about 5 nautical miles south of Navarino. The damaged ship was grounded and wrecked off Cape Methene.
The Sebastiano Venier is transporting more then 1800 Allied POW's. Dispite the bad weather almost 1700 of these are rescued.
11 Jan 1942
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSO, RN) lays 50 mines off Suda Bay, Crete.
14 Jan 1942
The German auxiliary vessel 11V1 (former Greek Palaskas) sinks off Suda Bay after hitting a mine laid by HMS Porpoise (Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSO, RN) on 11 January. The Italian torpedo boat Castore is damaged in the same minefield.
18 Jan 1942
HMS Porpoise (Cdr. E.F. Pizey, DSO, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Citta di Livorno (2471 GRT) about 15 nautical miles north-east of Cape Maleka, Crete in position 35º42'N, 24º24'E. (see map)
12 Aug 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) lays a minefield (46 mines) off Ras el Tin, Libya.
Porpoise also torpedoes and sinks the Italian transport Ogaden (4553 GRT) 9 nautical miles bearing 308 from Ras el Tin, Libya. The escorting Italian torpedo boat Montanari was missed.
15 Aug 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Lerici (6070 GRT) about 120 nautical miles north of Ras Amir, Libya in position 34º50'N, 21º30'E. (see map)
19 Aug 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) attacks the Italian merchant Iseo (2366 GRT) off Derna, Libya. All torpedoes fired missed their target. During the counter attack by the Italian escorts, Porpoise was damaged by depth charges from the torpedo boat Lince.
22 Aug 1942
The Italian torpedo boat Generale Antonio Cantore (697 tons) hits a mine and sinks west of Tobruk. The mine was laid on 12 August 1942 by the British submarine HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN).
3 Oct 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) lays a minefield (46 mines) west of Tobruk, Libya.
18 Nov 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian tanker Giulio Giordani (10534 GRT) about 45 nautical miles north-east of Misurata, Libya in position 32º58'N, 15º38'E. (see map)
19 Nov 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) fires a torpedo against the Italian auxiliary patrol vessel F 39 / Fertilia (223 GRT) off the Libyan coast. The torpedo missed its target.
23 Nov 1942
HMS Porpoise (Lt. L.W.A. Bennington, DSC, RN) sinks the Italian auxiliary patrol vessel F 39 / Fertilia (223 GRT) with gunfire off Kerkennah, Tunisia.
6 Jul 1944
HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. H.A.L. Marsham, OBE, RN) sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca. Also on this day she lays 30 mines (minefield ML 014) off the mouth of the Deli river, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies.
At 0535 hours (time zone -6.5) something ahead was sighted so Porpoise dived. At 0700 hours the objext was identified as a small junk. At 0742 hours Porpoise surfaced and fired three rounds of 4" to stop the junk. Porpoise closed the junk, took the crew of four off and then sank the junk with gunfire in position 05º06'N, 98º46'E. The junk had no cargo on board when it was sunk.
Between 1816 and 1836 hours Porpoise laid 30 mines off the mouth of the Deli river. (see map)
8 Jul 1944
HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. H.A.L. Marsham, OBE, RN) lays 16 more mines of the mouth of the Deli river and 10 mines in the Strait of Malacca.
Between 0040 hours and 0206 hours (time zone -6.5) 26 mines were laid.
9 Sep 1944
The Japanese auxiliary submarine chasers Cha 8 and Cha 9 both sink about 7 nautical miles north of Belawan, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies in position 03º54'N, 98º42'E after hitting mines laid by the British submarione HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. H.A.L. Marsham, OBE, RN) on 6 - 8 July 1944. (see map)
10 Sep 1944
The Japanese army tanker Takekun Maru (3029 GRT) sinks about 7 nautical miles north of Belawan, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies in position 03º54'N, 98º42'E after hitting a mine laid by the British submarione HMS Porpoise (HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. H.A.L. Marsham, OBE, RN) on 8 July 1944. (see map)
9 Dec 1944
HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN) lays minefield ML 019 with 50 mines off Penang.
10 Dec 1944
HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN) sinks a small Japanese sailing vessel in the Strait of Malacca.
9 Jan 1945
On or around this date HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN) lays mines off Penang.
15 Jan 1945
The Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Kyo Maru No. 1 (340 GRT) hits a mine off Penang, Malaya in position 05º18'N, 100º20'E laid by the British submarine HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN) on 9 January. (see map)
27 Mar 1945
The Japanese auxiliary minelayer Ma 1 (215 tons) is sunk about 5 nautical miles north-east of Belawan, Sumatra, Netherlands East Indies in position 03º52'N, 98º45'E when she hits a mine laid by HMS Porpoise (Lt.Cdr. H.A.L. Marsham, OBE, RN) on 6 - 8 July 1944. (see map)
18 May 1945
The Japanese submarine chaser Ch 57 (420 tons) hits a mine and is damaged off Penang, Malaya in position 05º20'N, 100º08'E. The mine was laid by the British submarine HMS Porpoise (A/Lt.Cdr. H.B. Turner, DSC, RN) on 9 January. (see map)