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Name: HMS Alliance

Certificate number: 100

Status:

Core Collection

Function:

Fighting Vessel

Sub Functional Area:

Submarine

Type:

A Class

Location:

Gosport, Hampshire, England

Current use:

Museum: dry berth

  • Length Overall:

    85.85 metres (281.47 feet)

  • Displacement Tonnage:

    1,120.00

  • Draught:

    1.58 metres (5.18 feet)

  • Maximum Breadth:

    6.78 metres (22.23 feet)
HMS Alliance - ALLIANCE on display

Web address

http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/

Builder

History

HMS ALLIANCE was designed for service in the Far East, but the war ended before she could be put into action. To cover the vast Pacific she needed long range and high surface speed together with improved living conditions for her crew. She also required a large weapon load to avoid having to return prematurely from a distant patrol area.

The A-Class was larger than its predecessors and ALLIANCE had a range of 10,000 miles at an economical surface speed. When built, she had six bow torpedo tubes and four stern tubes. However, when she was streamlined and modernised during an extensive refit between 1958 and 1960, the external tubes were removed, leaving four tubes forward and two aft with a total of ten reload torpedoes. Her displacement, when modernised, was 1,385 tons on the surface and 1,620 tons submerged; her normal complement was five officers and 63 ratings.

Streamlining not only gave her a better top submerged speed (ten knots as against eight) but, more importantly, made her much quieter and a higher capacity battery gave her more endurance submerged. Machinery noise had to be reduced to use the sensitive new sonar underwater detection equipment; but noise was also dangerous because of the risk of detection by increasingly effective antisubmarine sonar.

By 1944 the Germans had perfected the schnorchel or "snort" system to draw air down into a submerged submarine for the diesel generators that charged the batteries. After the war Britain was quick to adopt this idea, which allowed submarines to stay underwater for long periods (for as long, in fact, as stores and provisions lasted which was about two months so far as ALLIANCE was concerned).

ALLIANCE's maximum surface speed was about 18 knots and, when streamlined, she could also snort at eight knots with only the snort head and one periscope exposed above the surface. Patrolling fully submerged at 21/2 knots, the boat could remain dived for up to 36 hours before the batteries needed recharging and the air became too foul. A modern snort-fitted diesel-electric submarine has a considerably higher performance (and the very fast nuclear submarines, of course, very seldom need to use their secondary snort system) but the speed and endurance of Alliance was quite adequate for her time.

She was taken out of service and relegated to harbour training in 1973 by which time the Oberon and Porpoise Class boats formed the bulk of the submarine fleet and nuclear submarines were successively being commissioned to form the most effective fighting arm the Royal Navy has ever possessed.

ALLIANCE was transferred on permanent loan to the Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport, Hampshire in February 1978. She now stands, together with the Museum, as a memorial to the 4,334 British submariners who gave their lives in both world wars and to the 739 officers and men lost in peacetime submarine disasters. The submarine has been restored to her active service condition and looks as she did when last at sea.

These brief histories are compiled from details supplied by vessel owners and enthusiasts and from various reference works. National Historic Ships would be grateful for any corrections of facts or additional information for inclusion. Please contact ron.ellis@nationalhistoricships.org.uk

Subsequent developments

None notified, please let us know if you have any additional information.

Previous names

Bibliography