| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | S |
| Pennant | N 69 |
| Built by | Cammell Laird Shipyard (Birkenhead, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 18 Feb 1935 |
| Laid down | 23 May 1935 |
| Launched | 21 Apr 1936 |
| Commissioned | 11 Dec 1936 |
| Lost | 1 Aug 1940 |
| Loss position | 58.07N, 01.32E |
| History | HMS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. John Hay Forbes, DSO, RN) sailed from Rosyth on 31 July 1940. The next day she was hit by 1 torpedo from the German submarine U-34 and sank about 130 nautical miles north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland in position 58º07'N, 01º32'E. U-34 was returning from her last patrol as a combat boat. She had only one torpedo remaining after a succesful patrol (already 4 ships sunk). The u-boat picked up the sole survivor from HMS Spearfish. Hit by U-boat |
| U-boat Attack | See our U-boat attack entry for the HMS Spearfish |
Commands listed for HMS Spearfish (N 69)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | ||
| 1 | Lt. John Henry Eaden, RN | 17 Dec 1938 | 12 Nov 1939 | |
| 2 | Lt.Cdr. John Hay Forbes, RN | Feb 1940 | 2 Aug 1940 (+) | |
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Noteable events involving Spearfish include:
24 Sep 1939
HMS Spearfish (Lt. J.H. Eaden, RN) was heavily damaged by German warships off Horns Reef. She was unable to submerge but nevertheless managed to escape. A rescue mission was undertaken by the British Humber force and Home fleet. Spearfish safely put in Rosyth on the 26th. Repairs to Spearfish were completed in early March 1940.
11 Apr 1940
While patrolling in the Kattegat HMS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Forbes, RN) torpedoed and damaged the German pocket battleship L?tzow 6 nautical miles north of Skagen, Denmark in position 57°50'N, 11°00'E putting her out of action for over a year as repairs were only completed in June 1941. (see map)
20 May 1940
HMS Spearfish (Lt.Cdr. J.H. Forbes, DSO, RN) sank the Danish fishing vessels S. 130 and S.175 with gunfire in the North Sea in approximate position 55?00'N, 03?30'E. (see map)
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