HMS Tabard (P342)

HMS Tabard, prior to modifications in 1950
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Tabard
Builder:	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down:	6 September 1944
Launched:	21 November 1945
Commissioned:	25 June 1946
Identification:	Pennant number: P342
Fate:	Sold January 1974, scrapped March 1974
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	T-class submarine (Group III)
Displacement:	1,327 tons surfaced 1,571 tons submerged
Length:	273 ft (83 m)
Beam:	25 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
Range:	4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced
Test depth:	350 ft (110 m) max
Complement:	63
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.

Tabard had been originally ordered from Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, but the orders were switched to Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock. Ordered as P. 342, she was named Tabard in May 1943 after the Tabard, the official dress of a herald, and she is the only boat of the Royal Navy to bear the name. She was laid down on 6 September 1944, and launched on 21 November 1945 before being completed on 25 June 1946. It was one of fourteen boats ordered under the 1942 Programme, and was one of the five which were completed. Unlike some of the earlier boats of its class, it was not equipped with a 4 inch gun with a full shield, rather than a standard open gun mounting. Further aft, she had an Oerlikon 20 mm cannon mounting which was modified for boats by having holes cut in the pedestal for drainage. Being from the third group, she has an all–welded hull, which increased her diving depth to 350 feet (110 m).