Everything about Hms Sidon P259 totally explained
HMS Sidon was launched in September 1944, one of the third group of
S-class submarines built by
Cammell Laird & Co Limited,
Birkenhead.
Accident
On the morning of
June 16,
1955,
Sidon was moored alongside the depot ship
HMS Maidstone in
Portland Harbour. Two experimental
torpedoes, code-named "Fancy", had been loaded aboard for testing. Fifty-six officers and crewmen were aboard.
At 0825, an explosion in one of the Fancy torpedoes (but not the warhead) burst the number-three torpedo tube it was loaded into and ruptured the forward-most two watertight bulkheads. Fire, toxic gases, and smoke accompanied the blast. Twelve men in the forward compartments died quickly and seven others were seriously injured.
The submarine started to settle by the bows with a list to starboard, and her commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Verry, ordered the ship evacuated from the engine room and aft escape hatches. Thanks to a rescue party from
Maidstone, everyone not immediately killed escaped, except Maidstone's medical officer, Surgeon Lieutenant C.E Rhodes. He had gone aboard with the rescue party, assisted several survivors, and suffocated because he was using a
DSEA set that he hadn't been trained to use. He was awarded the
Albert Medal for putting his life in danger to save others. At about 0850
Sidon sank to the bottom of the harbour.
One week later the wreck was raised and towed into a causeway on Chesil Beach. The bodies of the 13 casualties were removed and buried with full honours in the
Portland Naval Cemetery on top of the cliffs overlooking the harbour. A
Court of Inquiry cleared anyone aboard
Sidon for the loss of the boat. The direct cause of the accident was determined to have been malfunctioning of the "Fancy" torpedo, and that torpedo program was terminated.
A torpedo being readied for the morning test shot had begun a "hot-run" - its engine had started while it was still inside the submarine and was over-speeding, creating very high pressures in its fuel system. The "Fancy" torpedo used
high test peroxide (HTP) as an oxidizer. When an oxidizer line burst, HTP sprayed onto the copper fittings inside the torpedo, decomposing into oxygen and steam. The torpedo's warhead didn't detonate, but its hull burst violently, rupturing the torpedo tube and causing the flooding that destroyed the boat.
Sidon was refloated, and sunk as an
ASDIC target on
June 14,
1957.
On the 50th Anniversay of the
Sidon accident, 16th June 2005, the Dorset Branch of the Submariners Association erected a Memorial Stone to those who died. This is situated adjacent to the War Memorial at Portland, opposite the Portland Heights Motel. A number of survivors and relatives of those who died in the accident attended the ceremony
On
18 January,
2003, Deepquest Sub Sea announced that they intend to raise HMS
Sidon.
Further Information
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