Opossum HMS (crest)

[john sefton]

HMS OPOSSUM A destroyer of the Modified Black Swan class it displaced 1490 tons and measured 299.5ft x 38ft. The main armament consisted of 6-4 inch guns. Built by W.M. Denny and Bros., Dumbarton in 1944 it was broken up in Plymouth in 1960. Current holder of the name is a submarine of the Oberon class built by Cammell Laird in 1963 which measures 295 x 26ft It displaces 1610 tons and is armed with 8 torpedo tubes, and three different types of torpedoes.
Gibraltar Philatelic – Log Book May 1982.
Gibraltar SG475

The first two Royal Navy ships to bear the name 'OPOSSUM' were Brig-sloop 10's of the Cherokee class; the first, built in Muddle Gillingham in 1808 was armed with 8-18 pounder and 2-6 pounder carronades. The second was classed as a cruiser and carried 16-32 pounder and 2-6 pounder carronades. The third had quite a varied career having been built in 1856, as a Wood screw driven gunboat of the Albacore class, in Northam and subsequently used as a hospital hulk between 1876 and 1891 when it became a mooring vessel for a time. In 1891 it was renamed Siren and a year later sold in Hong Kong.
The fourth bearer of the name was a destroyer of 320 tons built in 1895 and
armed with 1-12 pounder gun, 5-6 pounder and 2 Torpedo Tubes. It was sold in 1920.
Next was a sloop of 1350 tons built in 1944, it measured 283 x 381/2 ft and was armed with 6-4 inch guns. In 1960, its useful life over, it was sent to Deinmeweeck and Reddin, in Plymouth, to be broken up.
The sixth and present bearer of the name is a submarine of the Oberon Class. It is a patrol submarine with a length of295ft and a beam of 26ft. It displaces 1610 tons on the surface and has a crew of seven officers
and sixty-two ratings. When submerged it is powered by batteries, which are periodically recharged by diesel generators. It has a top underwater speed of over 15 knots and can remain submerged for more than six weeks at a time due to its snort system.
Her main wartime role is to seek and destroy enemy surface ships and submarines. To accomplish this she is armed with three types of torpedoes which can be fired through any of the six torpedo tubes in the bow or two in the stern.
Gibraltar Philatelic

[aukepalmhof]

26 April 1960 broken up in Plymouth, Great Britain.