HMS Forth (A187) Colour Photographs

HMS Forth (A187) was a Royal Navy Maidstone-class Submarine Depot Ship which was commissioned in May 1939. She displaced 8,900 tons, was 497 feet (151 meters) in length and had a crew of 1,167. Here she is seen at Holy Loch, Scotland during June of 1943 with three submarines tied up alongside.

A close up of the three submarines moored alongside Forth in the previous photo. From left to right they are the T-class HMS Thrasher (N37), the S-class HMS Surf (P239), and interestingly the Type VIIc HMS Graph (P715). Graph was the former U-570, captured in August 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy. She completed three war patrols for the British.

Graph has departed in this photo, while Thrasher and Surf remain. Thrasher was a very successful submarine, and two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross. After sinking a supply ship off Crete in February 1942, Thrasher was attacked by an aircraft and hit by two bombs. Neither exploded, but they were found lodged in between the inner and outer hulls. LT Peter Roberts and PO Thomas Gould volunteered to crawl between the hull plates and remove the bombs, Roberts dragging Gould out as Gould clutched the last of the bombs to his chest.

Crewmen aboard Surf removing rust and re-priming hull plates. Corrosion control is a familiar job for all sailors. Surf was active in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and the Far East.

Two torpedoes seen on the deck of Forth. Modelers note the rather weathered appearances and differences in finish. Alongside is HMS Truant (N68), of the T-class. Her greatest success was hitting the German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe off Norway, which lost power and was scuttled.

A torpedo is hoisted by one of Forth’s cranes while a rating tends a line to steady it. This view provides details of the superstructure amidships as well as the application of the camouflage.

Deck plates have been moved in preparation for loading torpedoes aboard P311. P311 was a T-class and was to have been named Tutankhamen but was lost before her name could be bestowed. She was on a mission to attack Italian Cruisers in port at La Maddalena with three Chariot manned torpedoes when she is believed to have struck a mine and sunk with all hands on 02JAN43. (IWM)

A torpedo is lowered aboard P311 with the S-class submarine HMS Sibyl (P217) moored outboard. Sibyl sank several Axis ships in the Mediterranean, and several Japanese ships in the Far East.

An atmospheric shot of two Royal Navy Seamen aboard HMS Forth with the Scottish coast in the background. (IWM)

A view from Forth at Holy Lock in 1942 with submarines HMS Seadog (P216) and Thunderbolt (N25). Seadog sank the German merchant ship Oldenburg and several small Japanese vessels during the war. Thunderbolt was originally commissioned as HMS Thetis, but sank on sea trials with the loss of 99 lives. She was raised and recommissioned as Thunderbolt, but was sunk by the Italian corvette Cicogna in 1943. (IWM)

A photo of three submarines moored alongside Forth. Nearest is HMS Sybil (P217), a very successful submarine which claimed German, Italian, Vichy French, and Japanese ships during her career. In the middle is P614, one of four submarines built by Vickers for Turkey but requisitioned into the Royal Navy when the war broke out. The third submarine is unidentified. (IWM)

A view inside the torpedo shop. Torpedoes are mechanically complex weapons and require considerable maintenance and servicing to ensure proper operation.

Torpedoes on the deck, the nearest two have been fitted with their warheads. On the bulkhead the two finned objects are paravanes, a type of float used in the sweeping of moored mines. Of interest is that the color separation of the ship’s camouflage is carried over onto the paravane to the right.