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"Of all the branches of men in the Forces, there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariner.
Great deeds are done in the air and on the land; nevertheless, nothing surpasses your exploits." Winston Churchill.

"Only in attack does a submarine reveal herself, before creeping away to the concealment of the deep"

HMS Venturer

Lt J S Launders DSO & Bar. DSC & Bar

HMS Venturer was a Second World War British submarine of the V (Vampire) class that sank two German U-boats and five merchant ships during the war. Following the war, the boat was sold to Norway and was renamed HNoMS Utstein. She was discarded in 1964. In January 2023 I watched a tv programme called Hell under the Water. This particular episode featured Venturer and her amazing Capt. Lt JS Launders. DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar.

German submarine U-864 was a Type IXD2 U-boat of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in World War II. On 9 February 1945, it became the only submarine in history to be sunk by an enemy submarine while both were submerged.U-864 was sunk by the British submarine HMS Venturer, and all 73 men on board died. Launders had been shadowing the U Boat for some time, having been diverted there by British Intelligence who had heard from Norwegian Resistance thay the sub was in Bergen for repairs and 'had two japanese' people on board. Intleligence realised this could be carrying a secret cargo to Japan. The U boat doscovered her shadow and began zig zag moves to thwart any torpedo attack. No submarine to this point had ever been attacked whilst both were submerged. This was to be the first. Launders did some calulations, estimated speed, estimated depth, at what point would the submarine be in postition to be hit. He counted down 2 minutes and ordered a torpedo fired. The U boat began evasive manoeuvres in both course, speed and depth. Launders had done his sums! Launders fired 2 more of his remaining 4 torpedoes at different depth and then, after a pause, fired his last torpedo at a given estimated depth. This hit the U Boat sending it and her dangerous cargo to the bottom. They were 2.5 miles from the coast of Norway, trying to return to Bergen due to a 'knocking' diesel engine.

Length overall	195' 6"
Beam	15' 9"
Depth	15' 10"
Displacement	648 tons (surface)
	735 tons (submerged)
Diving Depth	300'
Speed	11.5 knots (surface)
	9 knots (submerged)
No. of shafts	2
Endurance	Surface: 4050 miles at 10 knots (design)
	Submerged: 23 miles at 8 knots or 170 miles at 2.5 knots (design)
Armament	4 21" bow tubes
	(8 torpedoes carried)
	1 3" gun
	3 0.303" machine-guns
Complement	33

 

 

The German U-Boat U-864 was assigned to carry out Operation Caesar, a plan to take critical advanced war supplies and design documents to Japan, in December 1944. U-864 was a large Type IX U-Boat, displacing 1,800 tons and designed for long ocean-going missions with a range of over 18,000 miles. A series of mishaps and Allied bombings delayed her sailing until February 1945, when she left Bergen, Norway for the Far East. She was carrying parts and drawings for jet fighter aircraft and V-2 missile guidance systems as well as 67 tons of mercury stowed in more than 1,800 steel bottles. Mercury was critical for the manufacture of explosives, especially detonators. On board were 73 men, including two Japanese engineers and her captain, Ralf-Reimar Wolfram.

While at periscope depth, Venturer spotted U-864's periscope or snorkel and began tracking the German sub, waiting for it to surface in order to get a good shot at it. U-864 soon detected it was being followed and remained under the surface, where it knew it would be safe from the enemy submarine, and Wolfram commenced zig-zag procedures. For several hours Venturer followed U-864, but it was apparent that the German was not going to surface, so Launders began to calculate a three-dimensional firing solution. A ship on the surface moves in only two dimensions, forward/backward and left/right, and is difficult enough to hit. U-864 had an extra dimension to play with-- up/down-- and such a complex solution had never been tried before, since the mathematics was so difficult. Adding to the problem was the fact that surface targets were visually acquired, while the three-dimensional location of U-864 was based on sound alone.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/chalcraft/sm/print.html Complete List of British Subs of WW2

http://www.uboat.net/index.html Best site on U Boats - all listed