Name HMS Rorqual Draught 18 ft (5.5 m) Length 88 m Builder Vickers-Armstrongs | Beam 26 ft 7 in (8.10 m) Launched 5 December 1956 Draft 5.5 m | |
Fate Arrived for scrapping on 5 May 1977 Class and type Porpoise-class submarine Displacement 2,080 tons surfaced
2,450 tons submerged | ||
HMS Rorqual (S02) was a Porpoise-class submarine launched in 1956. She was built by the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The boat was named for both the rorqual, a family of whale, and the earlier Second World War-era submarine of the same name.
In 1958, Rorqual experienced a fire. In 1963, she was caught in a trawler's net. An explosion in 1966 killed one junior rate and injured the chief of the watch, who died ashore at Inhambane, Rorqual was off the coast of Mozambique en route to Singapore. In 1969, Rorqual rammed a moored minesweeper, USS Endurance (MSO-435) while docking at River Point pier in Subic Bay, Philippines. The collision punched a large hole in Endurance's hull but did not damage Rorqual. At the time of the incident, Rorqual was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Gavin Menzies who retired the following year and later published the controversial book 1421: The Year China Discovered America.
Rorqual won the SOCA Efficiency trophy in 1973.
Rorqual arrived at the Laira breaker's yard near Plymouth on 5 May 1977. She was broken up by Davies & Cann.