HMS Statesman was an S-classsubmarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 14 September 1943. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Statesman.
She spent the time between August 1944 and August 1945 with the Eastern Fleet, where she had an eventful career. She sank the Japanese army cargo ship Sugi Maru No.5 (the former Panamanian-flagged, Norwegian-owned Gran), twenty-five Japanese sailing vessels, the Japanese trawler Matsujima Maru No.3, four Japanese coasters, including Nippon Maru No.19, Nanyo Maru No. 17 and Nippon Maru No.14, a small Japanese tanker, five small unidentified Japanese vessels, ten small Japanese landing craft, three Japanese barges and a derelict wreck drifting in the Straits of Malacca, described as probably a coaster.
On 14 May the Japanese ships again departed Singapore for the Andaman Islands. They were spotted the next day northeast of Sabang by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Shah. A few hours later they were attacked by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Emperor, causing light damage to Haguro. In the meantime Japanese aircraft had sighted Allied destroyers closing in on Haguro and once again the Japanese ships reversed course.
In anticipation on the Japanese reversal of course, the commander of the British 26th Destroyer Flotilla, Captain M.L. Power, on board HMS Saumarez and the other British destroyers HMS Venus, HMS Verulam, HMS Vigilant and HMS Virago plotted a course to intercept the Japanese ships, which they did shortly before midnight on 15 May. After careful manoeuvering the destroyers began attacking the Japanese ships from all sides shortly after one o'clock the following day. Haguro was hit by torpedoes and gunfire and sank around 0230 hours, but not before she hit Saumarez with gunfire. The escorting Japanese destroyer Kamikaze escaped with only minor damage.[1] It was during this operation that HMS Statesman put into Pangkor Laut, a small island in the Malacca Strait to retrieve Lt Col. Spencer Chapman, a British Army officer who had been operating behind Japanese lines since the invasion in 1942.
She survived the Second World War and was lent to the French Navy in 1952 who renamed her Sultane. She was returned on 5 November 1959 and was sold on 3 January 1961 to Pounds, of Portsmouth to be broken up. However, large parts of the vessel, including the conning tower, remained intact and these have since been restored and preserved as part of a private collection at Fort Southwick, Portsmouth.
statesman, class, submarine, royal, navy, part, third, group, built, that, class, built, cammell, laird, launched, september, 1943, been, only, ship, royal, navy, bear, name, statesman, history, united, kingdom, name, buildercammell, laird, limited, birkenhead. HMS Statesman was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy and part of the Third Group built of that class She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 14 September 1943 So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Statesman HMS StatesmanHistory United Kingdom NameHMS Statesman BuilderCammell Laird amp Co Limited Birkenhead Laid down2 November 1942 Launched14 September 1943 Commissioned13 December 1943 RenamedSultane 5 November 1959 ReclassifiedLent to French Navy 1952 FateSold 3 January 1961 Badge General characteristics Class and typeS class submarine Displacement814 872 tons surfaced 990 tons submerged Length217 ft 66 m Beam23 ft 6 in 7 16 m Draught11 ft 3 4 m Speed14 75 knots 27 32 km h 16 97 mph surfaced 8 knots 15 km h 9 2 mph submerged Complement48 Armament6 forward 21 in 533 mm torpedo tubes one aft 13 torpedoes 1 3 in 76 mm gun QF 4 in gun on later boats 1 20 mm cannon 3 303 calibre machine guns Contents 1 Career 1 1 Sinking of Haguro 2 Postwar 3 Citations 4 ReferencesCareer editShe spent the time between August 1944 and August 1945 with the Eastern Fleet where she had an eventful career She sank the Japanese army cargo ship Sugi Maru No 5 the former Panamanian flagged Norwegian owned Gran twenty five Japanese sailing vessels the Japanese trawler Matsujima Maru No 3 four Japanese coasters including Nippon Maru No 19 Nanyo Maru No 17 and Nippon Maru No 14 a small Japanese tanker five small unidentified Japanese vessels ten small Japanese landing craft three Japanese barges and a derelict wreck drifting in the Straits of Malacca described as probably a coaster Sinking of Haguro edit On 9 May 1945 the Japanese heavy cruiser Haguro and the Japanese destroyer Kamikaze left Singapore for a transport run to the Andaman Islands They were sighted the next day in the Malacca Strait by Statesman and her sister HMS Subtle To intercept the Japanese ships a task force made up of two battleships one heavy cruiser two light cruisers four escort carriers and eight destroyers left Trincomalee Aircraft from the escort carriers attacked the Nicobar Islands on 11 May forcing Haguro and Kamikaze to head back to Singapore On 14 May the Japanese ships again departed Singapore for the Andaman Islands They were spotted the next day northeast of Sabang by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Shah A few hours later they were attacked by aircraft from the British escort carrier HMS Emperor causing light damage to Haguro In the meantime Japanese aircraft had sighted Allied destroyers closing in on Haguro and once again the Japanese ships reversed course In anticipation on the Japanese reversal of course the commander of the British 26th Destroyer Flotilla Captain M L Power on board HMS Saumarez and the other British destroyers HMS Venus HMS Verulam HMS Vigilant and HMS Virago plotted a course to intercept the Japanese ships which they did shortly before midnight on 15 May After careful manoeuvering the destroyers began attacking the Japanese ships from all sides shortly after one o clock the following day Haguro was hit by torpedoes and gunfire and sank around 0230 hours but not before she hit Saumarez with gunfire The escorting Japanese destroyer Kamikaze escaped with only minor damage 1 It was during this operation that HMS Statesman put into Pangkor Laut a small island in the Malacca Strait to retrieve Lt Col Spencer Chapman a British Army officer who had been operating behind Japanese lines since the invasion in 1942 Postwar editFor other ships with the same name see French submarine Sultane She survived the Second World War and was lent to the French Navy in 1952 who renamed her Sultane She was returned on 5 November 1959 and was sold on 3 January 1961 to Pounds of Portsmouth to be broken up However large parts of the vessel including the conning tower remained intact and these have since been restored and preserved as part of a private collection at Fort Southwick Portsmouth Citations edit HMS Statesman Uboat netReferences editColledge J J Warlow Ben 2006 1969 Ships of the Royal Navy The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy Rev ed London Chatham Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 281 8 11 40 N 92 45 E 11 667 N 92 750 E 11 667 92 750 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Statesman amp oldid 1169310640, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
