HMS Andrew (P423/S23/S63), was an of the Royal Navy, built by Vickers Armstrong and launched on 6 April 1946.
The submarine was fitted with a 4adj=onNaNadj=on deck gun in 1964 for service during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation to counter blockade-running junks.[1] The gun was fired for the last time in December 1974.[2] She was sold off in 1977 and was broken up.
Andrew was briefly the oldest Amphion-class submarine to remain in service, was the last British submarine with a deck gun, was the last British World War II-designed submarine in service, and was the first submarine to use a "snort" to cross the Atlantic (in May 1953).[3]
Like all Amphion-class submarines, Andrew had a displacement of 1360t when at the surface and 1590t while submerged. It had a total length of 293feet, a beam of 22feet, and a draught of 18feet. The submarine was powered by two Admiralty ML eight-cylinder diesel engines generating a power of each. It also contained four electric motors each producing that drove two shafts.[4] It could carry a maximum of 219t of diesel, although it usually carried between 159t165t.[4]
The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.5kn and a submerged speed of 8kn.[5] When submerged, it could operate at 3kn for 90nmi or at 8kn for 16nmi. When surfaced, it was able to travel 15200nmi at 10kn or 10500nmi at 11kn.[4] Andrew was fitted with ten 21inches torpedo tubes, one QF 4 inch naval gun Mk XXIII, one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, and a .303 British Vickers machine gun. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bow and stern, and it could carry twenty torpedoes. Its complement was sixty-one crew members.[4]
In September 1950 Andrew sailed to Canada for a three-month deployment training with the Royal Canadian Navy.[6] In February 1953, Andrew deployed to Bermuda for training with the Royal Canadian Navy cruiser, destroyer and minesweeper .[7] In June 1953, Andrew became the first submarine to cross the Atlantic submerged for the entire voyage, leaving Bermuda and arriving on 15 June in the English Channel. During the voyage a diesel engine was damaged and a periscope malfunctioned, however both were repaired while submerged. The submarine had been returning from its deployment with the Royal Canadian Navy.[8]
The submarine was used in Port Phillip Bay and tied up in Melbourne to portray the fictional United States Navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Sawfish in the 1959 Stanley Kramer film On the Beach.[9]
. The Royal Navy Submarine Service A Centennial History . Antony Preston (naval historian) . 2001 . Conway Maritime Press . 0-85177-891-7 . 129.