Underwaterpicture: © Unknown.
Greyscale picture showing HMS Sturgeon in 1933, another S-class submarine.
Built by: Cammell Laird
Shipyard.
Laid down: 10 Sep, 1941.
Launched: 11 Nov, 1942.
Commissioned: 20 Feb, 1943
Complement 36 men
Armament 6 torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes
76 mm AA gun.
HMS
Stubborn was one of the towing submarines used in the midget raid
on Tirpitz in Kåfjorden in Norway in September 1943. After waiting
off Kåfjorden for five days, X10 found her and took a tow homeward,
though X10 was later scuttled in a gale. Further on HMS Stubborn attacked
a convoy 13.February 1944 off Trondheim in Norway, and was later severely
depth-charged. After hydroplane jammed to dive and the boat dived
to 400 feet before shooting to the surface, in sight of the enemy
and diving again, this time to more than test depth! The submarine
survived the depth-charge attack and surfaced more than seven hours
later. Despite damaged ballast tanks, destroyed ASDIC and broken rudder,
she managed to make her way home to the UK. Thereafter HMS Stubborn
proceeded to Scapa Flow. Later she joined Eastern Fleet, where she
sank the Japanese patrol boat No.2 off Surabaya in the Java Sea 25.july
1945. Late In 1945 she was moved to Mediterranean and on 30. April
1946, she was scuttled to be used as a bottom ASDIC target for practise
reasons.
" Counterattack
"
On the morning of 11 February 1944, off the Norwegian coast, Stubborn
sighted a convoy of seven ships escorted by four trawlers, a whaler
and an aircraft. She fired four torpedoes at three of the escorted
vessels before taking avoiding action at a depth of 45m. The counter-attack
began half a minute after the last torpedo detonated. There were two
light explosions, probably bombs dropped by the aircraft at the end
of the torpedo tracks, and an initial shower of 15 depth charges,
all distant. The hunt was taken up by two trawlers and a minesweeper,
which dropped 36 depth charges close to Stubborn 15 minutes later.
Stubborn's after-planes jammed on "dive", a tank flooded
through its outboard vent and the starboard screw was fouled. Smoke
was seen, and the main motor was stopped. Stubborn sank to 120m before
its descent could be halted by blowing main ballast, and she drifted
for a time at 60-90m. At 1410 hours she broke surface, but on sighting
one of the whalers two miles away dived again, levelling out only
at 150m. Ten more depth charges were dropped but, surprisingly, no
close attack followed. In an attempt to escape detection, and with
much difficulty in maintaining trim, Stubborn's commander decided
to make a run for it through a minefield. With its bow up, the S-Class
sub managed to maintain a depth of around 110/120m until, some 35
minutes later, her rate of rise got out of control and she again broke
surface. With the minesweeper visible 1.5 miles away, all main ballast
was blown. Stubborn touched 150m and continued down, out of control.
She bounced four times onto an unexpected and uncharted bottom, with
the depth-gauge needle pointing off the scale! During the next fifteen
minutes, 16 depth charges exploded very close indeed, causing both
the ASDICs and hydrophones to flood. From 1930 hours, when it would
be dark above, attempts were made to surface, but it was not until
2225 that Stubborn began a slow ascent. After examining the damage,
it was decided that Stubborn had no choice but to remain drifting
on the surface, her rudder swinging free. An attempt to rig a sail
in heavy weather proved unsuccessful. It was not until 16 February,
five days after the action, that two British destroyers were sighted.
Stubborn had survived one of the worst attacks of the war, despite
the loss of her aft hydroplanes and rudder, and had carried out the
deepest-ever dive at the time, to an estimated 165m! HMS Scourge towed
her into Lerwick and, following repairs, she went on to see action
in the Pacific against the Japanese. In 1945 she could be found in
the Mediterranean and then, on 30 April 1946, Stubborn submerged for
the last time, this time without crew, to be used as a bottom ASDIC.