uboat.net

Allied Warships

HMS Cachalot (N 83)

Submarine of the Porpoise class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassPorpoise 
PennantN 83 
Built byScotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland) 
Ordered 
Laid down12 May, 1936 
Launched2 Dec, 1937 
Commissioned15 Aug, 1938 
Lost30 Jul, 1941 
Loss position32.49N, 20.11E (See a map)
 
HistoryHMS Cachalot (Lt. Hugo Rowland Barnwell Newton, DSO, RN) was rammed and sunk about 45 nautical miles north of Benghazi, Libya in position 32º49'N, 20º11'E by the Italian torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa. Cachalot was attacking the Italian merchant Capo Orso (3149 GRT) with gunfire when she was rammed and sunk by it's escort.

Commanding Officers:
Lt.Cdr. Sydney William Floyd Bennetts, RN
26 August 1937 - 14 June 1940

Lt.Cdr. John David Luce, RN
14 June 1940 - 21 February 1941
Promoted to Cdr on 31 December 1940
DSO awarded on 12 November 1940

Lt. Hugo Rowland Barnwell Newton, DSC, RN
21 February 1941 - 30 July 1941 > POW 


Noteable events involving Cachalot include:

19 Aug, 1940
HMS Cachalot (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Luce, RN) lays minefield FD 24 (50 mines) west of the Gironde estuary.

20 Aug, 1940
The German submarine U-51 was torpedoed and sunk in the Bay of Biscay west of Nantes, France in position 47º06'N, 04º51'W, by a torpedo from the British submarine HMS Cachalot (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Luce, RN). (see map)

23 Sep, 1940
The German auxiliary minesweeper M 1604 / Österreich (494 GRT) sinks after hitting a mine laid by HMS Cachalot (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Luce, RN) off Penmarch, France in position 47º52'N, 04º19'W. The mine was one of field FD 27 (50 mines) laid that day by HMS Cachalot. (see map)

24 Sep, 1940
HMS Cachalot (Lt.Cdr. J.D. Luce, RN) attacks a submarine with torpedoes in the Bay of Biscay in position 46º58'N, 05º56'W. The target is not hit. (see map)

26 Jan, 1941
HMS Cachalot (Cdr. J.D. Luce, DSO, RN) lays minefield FD 28 (50 mines) off Bud, Norway.

15 Feb, 1941
HMS Cachalot (Cdr. J.D. Luce, DSO, RN) lays minefield FD 30 (50 mines) in the Vest Fjord, Norway.

The same day she also makes a torpedo attack on a merchant ship but without result.


Return to the Allied Warships section