HMS Grampus (N56) was a Grampus-class minelaying submarine of the Royal Navy, built at Chatham Dockyard. She was launched on 25 February 1936 and commissioned on 10 March 1937.
Key Facts
- Class: Grampus-class (Porpoise-type) minelaying submarine.
- Pennant Number: N56.
- Builder: Chatham Dockyard.
- Commissioned: 10 March 1937.
- Commanding Officer at loss: Lt Cdr Charles Alexander Rowe, RN.
Service
At the outbreak of the Second World War, Grampus was serving with the 4th Submarine Flotilla in the Far East, based at Singapore. She conducted patrols in the waters of the Dutch East Indies before being redeployed to the Mediterranean in 1940.
After a docking period in Hong Kong, she sailed west and arrived at Malta on 13 May 1940 to join the Mediterranean Fleet.
Loss
Grampus disappeared during her first Mediterranean war patrol. Her mission involved laying mines off the coast of Sicily near Syracuse and Augusta.
On 16 June 1940, Italian torpedo boats Circe, Clio, Calliope, and Polluce were conducting an anti-submarine sweep off Syracuse. They reported sighting a submarine, opening fire, observing possible torpedo tracks, and then carrying out a large-scale depth-charge attack. Oil and debris were later seen on the surface. Grampus was never heard from again and is generally accepted to have been destroyed in this action.
All hands were lost.
The class specialized in laying large minefields covertly. Grampus was among the earliest Royal Navy submarines lost in the Mediterranean campaign and was the first of the Grampus-class boats to be lost during the war.
