HMS Andrew (P423): The First Submarine to Cross the Atlantic Fully Submerged

Built by Vickers Armstrong

HMS Andrew was built by Vickers Armstrong, launched on 6 April 1946, an Amphion-class submarine displacing 1,360 tons on the surface, armed with ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, a 4-inch deck gun and a 20mm Oerlikon cannon, and capable of 18.5 knots on the surface.

Training With the Royal Canadian Navy

Andrew deployed to Canada for training with the Royal Canadian Navy in September 1950, returning in February 1953 to exercise alongside Canadian vessels including the cruiser Quebec, part of the same broad pattern of Commonwealth submarine cooperation that saw several of her Amphion-class sisters based in Nova Scotia during the 1950s.

A Genuine First: Submerged Across the Atlantic

Andrew's most significant achievement came in June 1953, when she became the first submarine in history to cross the Atlantic Ocean submerged for the entire voyage, departing Bermuda and arriving in the English Channel on 15 June, overcoming engine trouble and a periscope fault that her crew had to fix while still submerged, a landmark achievement that demonstrated just how far submarine endurance and technology had progressed since the Second World War.

A Second Career on Film

In 1959, Andrew took on an unusual supporting role, portraying a fictional United States nuclear submarine in the film On the Beach, a small but memorable diversion from her regular naval duties. She was fitted with a 4-inch deck gun in 1964 for service during the Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation, and fired that gun for the last time in December 1974.

The End of the Line

HMS Andrew was sold off on 5 May 1977 and broken up for scrap at Plymouth, closing the career of a submarine that had truly earned her place in the history books with that pioneering fully submerged Atlantic crossing.