| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | S |
| Pennant | N 39 |
| Built by | Chatham Dockyard (Chatham, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 18 Sep 1933 |
| Launched | 25 Oct 1934 |
| Commissioned | 14 Jun 1935 |
| Lost | 12 Feb 1941 |
| Loss position | |
| History | HMS Snapper (Lt. Geoffrey Vernon Prowse, RN) sailed from the Clyde to patrol in the Bay of Biscay off Ushant. She was not heard from again. It is possible that she fell victem to a German minefield. However it is also possible that she was sunk by German warships since a submarine attacked the German minesweepers M-2, M-13 and M-25 on the night of the 10/11th February in the area where Snapper might have been. The submarine was subjected to a counter-attack in which 56 depth charges were dropped in position 47º52'N, 05º47'W. Commanding Officers: Lt. Geoffrey Vernon Prowse, RN |
Commands listed for HMS Snapper (N 39)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. William Donald Aelian King, RN | 16 Apr 1939 | Dec 1940 |
| 2 | Lt. Geoffrey Vernon Prowse, RN | Dec 1940 | 12 Feb 1941 (+) |
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Noteable events involving Snapper include:
3 Dec 1939
HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, RN) is mistakenly attacked by a British aircraft when returning to Harwich after a patrol in the North Sea. Although suffering a direct hit no damage was done. Snapper terminated her patrol at Harwich on 6 December.
12 Apr 1940
HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, RN) sinks the small German tanker Moonsund (322 GRT) with gunfire off Larvik, Norway in position 58º53'N, 10º43'E. (see map)
14 Apr 1940
While operating in the Skaggerak HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, RN) torpedoes and sinks the German merchant Florida (6150 GRT) in position 58º10'N, 10º59'E. (see map)
15 Apr 1940
Still operating in the Skaggerak HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, RN) torpedoed and sinks the German auxiliary minesweepers M 1701 / H. M. Behrens (525 GRT) and M 1702 / Carsten Janssen (472 GRT) north-east of Skagen, Denmark in position 57º55'N, 10º53'E. (see map)
6 May 1940
HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, RN) attackes the German armed merchant cruiser Schiff 21 / Widder with 2 torpedoes east of Denmark in position 55º35'N, 07º16'E. However the torpedoes miss their target.
(see map)
25 Jun 1940
HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, DSO, RN) torpedoes and sinks the German armed trawler V 1107 / Portland (286 GRT) south of Stavanger, Norway in position 58º54'N, 05º05'E. (see map)
3 Jul 1940
HMS Snapper (Lt. W.D.A. King, DSO, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Norwegian merchant Cygnus (1334 GRT, offsite link) west of Hadryet, Norway in position 58º13'N, 05º06'E. Lt. King also claims to have damaged a second ship but this was not the case. (see map)