- Design and description
- Construction and career
- Notes
- References
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}{{Infobox ship image| Ship image=HMS Spearhead.jpg | Ship caption=HMS Spearhead
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country=United Kingdom | Ship flag= | Ship name=HMS Spearhead | Ship ordered= | Ship awarded= | Ship builder=Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead | Ship laid down=18 August 1943 | Ship launched=2 October 1944 | Ship christened= | Ship acquired= | Ship commissioned=21 December 1944 | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship captured= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship fate=Sold to the Portuguese Navy in 1948 and renamed NRP Neptuno | Ship badge=
}}{{Infobox ship career | Hide header=title | Ship country=Portugal | Portugal|naval}} | Ship class= | Ship name= NRP Neptuno | Ship acquired=August 1948 | Ship commissioned= | Ship recommissioned= | Ship decommissioned= | Ship in service= | Ship out of service= | Ship renamed= | Ship reclassified= | Ship refit= | Ship captured= | Ship struck= | Ship reinstated= | Ship fate=Scrapped, 1967
}}{{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header= | Header caption= | Ship class=S-class submarine | 814|LT|t|abbr=on}} surfaced- {{convert|990|LT|t|abbr=on}} submerged
| 217|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} | 23|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}} | 14|ft|1|in|1|abbr=on}} | 1900|bhp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}} (diesel)- {{convert|1300|hp|kW|abbr=on}} (electric)
| Ship propulsion=*2 × diesel engines | 14.75|kn|lk=in}} surfaced- {{convert|9|kn}} submerged
| 7500|nmi|abbr=on|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} surface; {{convert|120|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|3|kn}} submerged | 350|ft|1}} | Ship complement=48 | 21|in|mm|0|abbr=on}} torpedo tubes- 1 × 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun
}} | HMS Spearhead was a S-class submarine of the third batch built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She survived the war and was sold to Portugal. Design and descriptionThe last 17 boats of the third batch were significantly modified from the earlier boats. They had a stronger hull, carried more fuel and their armament was revised. The submarines had a length of {{convert|217|ft|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|23|ft|9|in|m|1}} and a draft of {{convert|14|ft|1|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|814|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|990|LT|t}} submerged.[1] The S-class submarines had a crew of 48 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of {{convert|350|ft|1}}.[2] For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|950|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|650|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor.[3] They could reach {{convert|14.75|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|9|kn}} underwater.[1] On the surface, the third batch boats had a range of {{convert|7500|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} and {{convert|120|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|3|kn}} submerged.[2] Spearhead was armed with six 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes in the bow. She carried six reload torpedoes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the torpedoes. The boat was also equipped with a 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun.[1]Construction and careerHMS Spearhead was laid down at Cammell Laird's Birkenhead shipyard on 18 August 1943, was launched on 2 October 1944 and completed on 21 December 1944.[4] So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Spearhead.[5] Spearhead survived the Second World War and was sold to the Portuguese in August 1948 and renamed NRP Neptuno. Notes1. ^1 2 Chesneau, p. 52
2. ^1 McCartney, p. 7
3. ^Bagnasco, p. 110
4. ^{{Harvnb|Blackman|1964|p=200}}
5. ^HMS Spearhead, Uboat.net
References- {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Bagnasco |first=Erminio |title=Submarines of World War Two |year=1977 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-962-6}}
- {{cite book|last=Blackman |first=Raymond V. B. |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1962–63 |year=1962| publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd. |location=London|ref=harv}}
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
- {{Colledge}}
- {{cite book|last=McCartney|first=Innes|location=Oxford, UK|title=British Submarines 1939–1945|series=New Vanguard|volume=129|year=2006|publisher=Osprey|isbn=1-84603-007-2}}
{{British S class submarine|others}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Spearhead (P263)}} 5 : British S-class submarines (1931)|Ships built in Merseyside|1944 ships|World War II submarines of the United Kingdom|British S-class submarines (1931) of the Portuguese Navy |