HMS Oswald (N58)

Oswald before the Second World War
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Oswald
Ordered	2 December 1926
Builder	Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow
Laid down	30 May 1927
Launched	19 June 1928
Commissioned	1 May 1929
Identification	Pennant number: N58
Fate	Sunk, 1 August 1940
General characteristics
Class and type	Odin-class submarine
Displacement	1,781 long tons (1,810 t) (surfaced) 2,030 long tons (2,060 t) (submerged)
Length	283 ft 6 in (86.4 m)
Beam	30 ft (9.1 m)
Draught	16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
Installed power	4,600 bhp (3,400 kW) (diesel) 350 hp (260 kW) (electric motor)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric 2 × Vickers diesel engines 2 × electric motors 2 screws
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) (surfaced) 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) (submerged)
Range	8,400 nmi (15,600 km; 9,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced) 70 nmi (130 km; 81 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) (submerged)
Test depth	300 ft (91 m)
Complement	53–55 officers and ratings
Armament	8 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 bow, 2 stern) with 16 reloads 1 × QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XII deck gun 2 × Lewis machine guns

HMS Oswald was an Odin-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the 1920s.

Construction and career

She was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness on 30 May 1927, launched on 19 June 1928 and commissioned on 1 May 1929.

Loss

Oswald left Alexandria, Egypt, for a patrol east of Sicily on 19 July 1940. On 30 July, she spotted a convoy of several merchant ships. Her attack on the convoy was not successful and she was spotted by the convoy's escorting destroyers. Subsequently, on 1 August Oswald was rammed and sunk by the Italian destroyer Ugolino Vivaldi while on patrol south of Calabria; 52 crewmen were rescued by Italian warships and 3 were lost.

Bibliography

• Heden, Karl E. (2006). Sunken Ships, World War Two. Branden Books. ISBN 978-0-8283-2118-1.
• Lenton, H. T. (1972). British Submarines. Navies of the Second World War. London: MacDonald. ISBN 978-0-356-03612-0.