HMS Artful (P456)

HMS Artful (P456), was an Amphion-class submarine of the Royal Navy, built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Greenock and launched 22 May 1944.

In 1953 she took part in the Fleet Review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. In 1955 she was the first of her class to be rebuilt and streamlined. In 1966 she completed a refit and recommissioned for service with the Home Fleet. In 1967 she undertook a Home Fleet Squadron tour to the West Indies and later that year attended Portsmouth Navy Days.

Design
Like all Amphion-class submarines, Artful had a displacement of 1360 t when at the surface and 1590 t 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 a power of 2150 hp each. It also contained four electric motors each producing 625 hp that drove two shafts. It could carry a maximum of 219 t of diesel, although it usually carried between 159 and 165 t.

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. Artful was fitted with ten 21 in 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.