Built as a submarine under yard No 621 by Vickers Armstrong Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness, UK for the Royal Australian Navy.
27 June 1924 ordered.
24 August 1925 laid down.
29 June 1926 launched under the name HMAS OXLEY (OA 1) one of the O class.
Displacement 1.354 surfaced, 1.872 submerged, dim. 83.82 x 8.5 x 4.05m. (draught), length bpp. 81.3m.
Powered by two 6-cyl. Admiralty diesels 2.950 shp, two electric motors 1.350 shp., twin screws, speed surfaced 15.5 knots, submerged 9 knots.
Range 8.500 miles by 10 knots surfaced.
Armament 1quick-firing MkIV– 4 inch deck gun, later replaced by an MkXII gun, two MG and 8 – 21 inch torpedo tubes (6 bow and 2 stern, carried 16 torpedoes)
Crew 54.
15 April 1927 commissioned.
February 1928 together with her sister the HMAS OTWAY she left Portsmouth for the voyage to Australia.
During the passage through the Bay of Biscay the two submarines encountered heavy weather and both suffered damage to their engine room columns.
Repairs were carried out at Malta which took from February to November 1928.
14 February 1929 both arrived at Sydney, Australia, but due to the economic problems of the depression era were laid up.
10 April 1931 transferred to the British Royal Navy. (Most probably she then received the pennant no 55P)
The O boats were built primarily for service in the Far East, and she served there till the outbreak of World War II when she were dispatched to North European waters.
The HMS OXLEY joined the British Home Fleet in the Second Submarine Flotilla.
When in 1939 war was declared by Great Britain on Germany, five submarines of the Second Flotilla got orders to patrol on the Obrestad Line off Norway; at 3 September all British submarines were in their combat patrol sectors.
10 September 1939 OXLEY on patrol off Norway under command of Lt. Cdr. Harold Godfrey Bowerman she was torpedoed in error by HMS TRITON under command of Lt. Cdr. H.P. De C. Steel in an position about 28 miles south-south-west of Stavanger 58.30N 05 30E. Only two survivors were rescued by the HMS TRITON under which Comdr. Bowerman.
At 19.55 the TRITON had surfaced, and after fixed a position off the Obrestad Light, set a slow zigzag patrol, and began charging her batteries.
OXLEY was 4 mile inside TRITON’s patrol area, due to a navigational error. Both submarines had before regular contacted each other but when HMS TRITON that day sighted an unidentified submarine, TRITON flashed two times a recognition signal, but not a reply was received, thereafter he fired a green signal grenade which also produced no response.
He therefore had to assume the submarine was hostile and fired two torpedoes, that sunk the OXLEY.
The puzzling lack of response from OXLEY was explained by Lt. Cdr Bowerman, who survived the sinking with one sailor of the bridge watch: he stated he was called to the bridge following the sighting of TRITON’s signal grenade, but when he tried to answer, his grenade malfunctioned.
The Officer of the Watch (OOW), Lt. F.K. Manley, claimed to have answered TRITON’s challenge, but Bowerman was not sure this had been done properly. Before he could put things right, however, OXLEY was struck by TRITON’s torpedo and he was catapulted into the sea.
A Board of Enquire found that OXLEY was some way out of position and that TRITON had acted correctly and was not culpable.
HMS OXLEY was the first Royal Navy loss of the Second World War.
During the war it was given that the OXLEY was lost due to an accidental explosion. After the war due to a collision with the TRITON, at least in 1950 the true facts were given how the OXLEY was lost.
Liberia 2001 $20 sg?, scott?
Source: Info received from Mr. Erhard Jung http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3393.html http://submariners.co.uk/Boats/DB/index ... oat&ID=294 http://www.submarinesonstamps.co.il/openhist.php?ID=161 and some other web-sites.
Australian & New Zealand Warships 1914-1945 by Ross Gillen.