HMS Tabard (P342)

HMS Tabard, prior to modifications in 1950
History
United Kingdom
NameTabard
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down6 September 1944
Launched21 November 1945
Commissioned25 June 1946
IdentificationPennant number: P342
MottoMy cloak the sea
FateSold January 1974, scrapped March 1974
Badge
General characteristics
Class & typeT-class submarine (Group III)
Displacement
  • 1,327 tons surfaced
  • 1,571 tons submerged
Length273 ft (83 m)
Beam25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
Draught
  • 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) forward
  • 14 ft 7 in (4.45 m) aft
Propulsion
  • Two diesel engines 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) each
  • Two electric motors 1,450 hp (1,080 kW) each
Speed
  • 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) surfaced
  • 8.75 kn (16.21 km/h; 10.07 mph) submerged
Range4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced
Test depth350 ft (110 m) max
Complement63
Armament
  • 6 internal forward-facing 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
  • 2 external forward-facing torpedo tubes
  • 2 external amidships rear-facing torpedo tubes
  • 1 external rear-facing torpedo tubes
  • 6 reload torpedoes
  • QF 4 inch (100 mm) deck gun
  • Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

HMS Tabard was a British submarine of the third group of the T class. She was built by Scotts, Greenock, and launched on 21 November 1945. So far she has been the only boat of the Royal Navy to bear the name Tabard, after the item of clothing. Having been launched after the war, she was selected, along with a number of boats of her class, to try out new streamlining techniques based on the German Type XXIII submarine. In May 1963, she was involved in a collision with HMAS Queenborough, and on 10 February 1964 she underwent exercises with HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Voyager in the hours before their collision. When she returned to the UK, she became the static training submarine at the shore establishment HMS Dolphin, until 1974 when she was sold and broken up.