HMS Anchorite (P422)

HMS Anchorite (P422/S22), was an Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Vickers Armstrong and launched 22 January 1946.

Design
Anchorite had a displacement of 1360 LT when at the surface and 1590 LT while submerged. It had a total length of 293 ft, a beam of 22 ft, and a draught of 18 ft. The submarine was powered by two Admiralty ML eight-cylinder diesel engines generating 2150 hp each. Four electric motors each producing 625 hp drove two shafts. It could carry a maximum of 219 LT of diesel, although it usually carried between 159 and 165 LT.

The submarine had a maximum surface speed of 18.5 kn and a submerged speed of 8 kn. When submerged, it could operate at 3 kn for 90 nmi or at 8 kn for 16 nmi. When surfaced, it was able to travel 15200 nmi at 10 kn or 10500 nmi at 11 kn. Anchorite was fitted with ten 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, one QF 4 inch naval gun Mk XXIII, one Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, and a .303 British Vickers machine gun. Its torpedo tubes were fitted to the bow and stern, and it could carry twenty torpedoes. Its complement was sixty-one crew members.

Anchorite was laid down at Vickers-Armstrongs' Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 19 July 1945, was launched on 22 January 1946 and completed on 18 November 1947.

Service
During build and before launch the names of Anchorite and HMS Amphion were switched. In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Anchorite ran aground in Rothesay Bay, Firth of Forth, on 12 October 1956. On 3 October 1960, Anchorite, which was a member of the 4th Submarine Squadron based at Sydney, hit an uncharted rock in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, New Zealand at a depth of 110 ft. No-one was injured in the incident. The submarine's commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander W. L. Owen, was cleared of any blame for the incident to the resulting court martial. The rock is now known as Anchorite Rock on the nautical charts of the area at depth, 16 m, -36.43333°N, 175.13333°W.