HMS Sidon (P259)
HMS Sidon
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Sidon |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird Shipyard - Birkenhead |
| Laid down: | 7 July 1943 |
| Launched: | 4 September 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 23 November 1944 |
| Fate: |
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| Badge: | =
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| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | S-class submarine |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 217 ft (66 m) |
| Beam: | 23 ft 6 in (7.16 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Speed: |
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| Complement: | 48 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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HMS Sidon was a submarine of the Royal Navy, launched in September 1944, one of the third group of S class built by Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead. It was named after the naval bombardment of Sidon in 1840. An explosion caused by a faulty torpedo sank her in Portland Harbour with the loss of 13 lives.
In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
On the morning of 16 June 1955, Sidon was moored alongside the depot ship HMS Maidstone in Portland Harbour. Two 21-inch (533 mm) Mark 12 high test peroxide-powered torpedoes, code-named "Fancy", had been loaded aboard for testing. Fifty-six officers and crewmen were aboard.
At 08:25, an explosion in one of the "Fancy" torpedoes (but not the warhead) burst the number-three torpedo tube into which it had been loaded and ruptured the forward-most two watertight bulkheads. Fire, toxic gases, and smoke accompanied the blast. Twelve men in the forward compartments died instantly and seven others were seriously injured.
The submarine started to settle by the bows with a list to starboard, and her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Verry, ordered the submarine evacuated from the engine room and aft escape hatches. Thanks to a rescue party from Maidstone, everyone not immediately killed escaped, except Maidstone's medical officer, Temporary Surgeon Lieutenant Charles Eric Rhodes. He had gone aboard with the rescue party, assisted several survivors, and suffocated because he was using a DSEA set that he had not been trained to use. At about 08:50 Sidon sank to the bottom of the harbour. On 1 November 1955 Rhodes was posthumously awarded the Albert Medal for putting his life in danger to save others.
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Wikipedia