In the spring of 1951, as if to remind submariners of the hazardous nature of their profession, disaster again struck the Royal Navy Submarine Service. Leaving Portsmouth on a training cruise on 16th April, HMS Affray dived at 9 pm in the extreme western part of the English Channel. She vanished with all her crew plus 23 submarine officers under training and some Royal Marine Commandos - a total of 75 men. The importance of effecting a quick rescue was hampered by the fact that the Commander's brief was very wide-ranging.
Alas, Affray remained undiscovered until late June, when an underwater television camera searching north of Guernsey found her in 278 feet of water. Pictures revealed her snort mast was snapped off, but no explanation was ever given as to why she had sunk, why nobody escaped or why she was never salvaged. HMS Affray has the unfortunate honour of being the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost.
Between 1955 and 1960, A boats were modernized on the same lines as the T Class, with a complete rebuilding of the forward and after hull sections, lengthening and streamlining. The two external torpedo tubes forward and aft were also removed, leaving a total of six.
From 1967 on, these fine submarines were progressively scrapped. In 1972, HMS Aeneas was hired by Vickers for successful trials of SLAM (Submarine-Launched Anti-aircraft Missile) - a four-barrel cluster of guided missiles on a launcher mounted in the fin, having high lethality against low-flying aircraft.
As the Barrow-built HMS Andrew awaited disposal in 1977, the end of an era was signalled - she was the oldest submarine in service, the last to carry a deck gun and the last submarine designed during the Second World War to be still at sea.
Just prior the war, in addition to vessels built for the Admiralty, Vickers began the construction of four Reis Class submarines for the Turkish Navy. On the outbreak of war, the four 687-ton boats (three of which were already building) were requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and on completion were temporarily commissioned as P.611, P.612, P.614 and P.615. Similar to the.. Class, but with a weaker armament, the first two were eventually despatched to Turkey in 1942 with instructions to 'attack the enemy only in self defence en route'. They were renamed Oruc Reis and Murat Reis on recommissioning in Turkey. The remaining pair became useful additions to the Fleet, and served initially as training submarines in Freetown then later in home waters in the Atlantic - where P.615 was torpedoed by a U-Boat in 1943. After the war, P.614 was eventually delivered to Turkey renamed Burak Reis, and the three delivered boats all remained in service with the Turkish Navy until 1957.
As the world moved into a new era of peace, Barrow's contribution to the national war effort makes a fascinating catalogue. To quote them from 'A Century of Shipbuilding' by Tom Clark - 'A cursory check has made it four aircraft carriers, three cruisers, ten destroyers, ten cargo ships, eleven landing craft and ninety-nine submarines!' An amazing total of 137 vessels, built in under six years. The majority of the submarines were handed over in the four years of 1941 to 1944, and the peak rate of production was reached in 1942 when an average of over two boats per month was achieved.
