HMS Opportune (S20): A Collision With Her Own Sister Ship in Portsmouth Harbour

Built at Greenock

HMS Opportune was built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company at Greenock, launched on 14 February 1964 and commissioned on 29 December that year, an Oberon-class submarine measuring 241 feet between perpendiculars and displacing 2,410 tons submerged, armed with eight 21-inch torpedo tubes.

A Collision in Heavy Weather

On 15 February 1967, Opportune collided with her own sister submarine HMS Orpheus in Portsmouth harbour during night operations in heavy weather, a properly serious mishap between two boats of the same class that resulted in a court martial for Orpheus's commanding officer, who was convicted of hazarding his vessel and given a reprimand.

Opportune suffered a second serious incident in 1971 when she struck a merchant vessel, sustaining damage to her fin and both periscopes, a costly reminder of just how crowded and hazardous busy shipping lanes could be for a submarine operating near the surface.

A Silver Jubilee and a Quiet Retirement

Opportune took her place in the 1977 Silver Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead, before paying off on 2 June 1993. She subsequently spent several years at Pounds scrapyard in Portsmouth before finally being broken up, though her former crew went on to establish an annual reunion tradition, a warm testament to the bonds forged among submariners who had served aboard her.