HMS Starfish (19S)

Starfish on the surface
History
United Kingdom
Name	Starfish
Ordered	16 March 1931
Builder	Chatham Dockyard
Laid down	29 September 1931
Launched	14 March 1933
Commissioned	27 October 1933
Fate	Sunk, 9 January 1940
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class submarine
Displacement	730 long tons (740 t) surfaced 927 long tons (942 t) submerged
Length	202 ft 6 in (61.7 m)
Beam	24 ft (7.3 m)
Draught	11 ft 11 in (3.6 m)
Installed power	1,550 bhp (1,160 kW) (diesel) 1,300 hp (970 kW) (electric)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	13.75 knots (25.47 km/h; 15.82 mph) surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) submerged
Range	3,700 nmi (6,900 km; 4,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) surface; 64 nmi (119 km; 74 mi) at 2 knots (3.7 km/h; 2.3 mph) submerged
Test depth	300 feet (91.4 m)
Complement	38
Armament	6 × bow 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun

HMS Starfish was a first-batch S-class submarine (often called the Swordfish class) built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s. Completed in 1933, she participated in the Second World War.

During the war, Starfish, part of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla, conducted five uneventful war patrols in the North Sea. On 9 January 1940, during her sixth patrol, she attacked a German minesweeper off Heligoland Bight, but after the attack failed and her diving planes jammed, Starfish was repeatedly attacked with depth charges. Badly damaged, she was forced to surface, and sank after all her crew were rescued by German ships.