Welfreighter
Model of a Welfreighter mark III, about 1944. National Maritime Museum, London.
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Welfreighter |
| Operators: |
SOE  United Kingdom
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| Completed: | 100+ |
| General characteristics Welfreighter | |
| Type: | midget submarine |
| Length: | 37 ft (11 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: |
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| Range: | 1,000 mi (1,600 km) |
| Test depth: | 130 ft (40 m) |
| Crew: | 2 |
The Welfreighter was a Second World War British midget submarine developed by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) for the purpose of landing and supplying agents behind enemy lines. It only saw action once and was not particularly successful.
After the success of the X class midget submarines, an attempt was made by SOE's technical division, Inter Services Research Bureau (ISRB) under the command of Lt. Colonel John Dolphin to design a submersible craft for covert missions. These would include the landing and supplying agents behind enemy lines, intelligence gathering work off hostile coastlines, and delivering explosive depth charges to enemy shipping routes. This design became the Welfreighter. It was intended that the Welfreighter could travel surfaced by night towards an enemy-held coastline, submerging as and when necessary to avoid detection. The special agents would then be disembarked and go ashore along with their equipment, stored in the special containers. The Welfreighter would then sail out to sea and submerge itself to wait until the next night. At a pre-arranged time, or upon receiving a sound signal from the landing party (made by a mechanical device) it would surface again and pick up the agents, before heading out to sea either to rendezvous with a larger surface vessel or return to base under its own power.
The initial concept was a true miniature submarine which could from a distance be mistaken for a conventional motor boat and which could hold two agents along with its crew of two men, and which could also carry up to one ton of supplies in sealed containers. The designed range was to be up to 600 miles (970 km) on the surface, with a range of 200 miles (320 km) at speeds of up to 8 knots (15 km/h). While submerged it was to be capable of diving to a depth of 130 feet (40 m) and travelling up to 40 miles (64 km) underwater.
Design work began towards the end of 1942 with the building of a 1/4 scale model which was used for tests in an experimental tank at Vickers' plant at St. Albans. By February 1943 the tests had produced several alterations to the original design including modifications to the hull form to make it stable under tow at speeds of 10 knots (19 km/h) - 15 knots (28 km/h).
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