HMS Sirdar (P226): Capsized in Dry Dock by the Great North Sea Flood

Greenock-Built

HMS Sirdar was built by Scotts of Greenock and launched on 26 March 1943, an S-class submarine of the third group, displacing 865 tons on the surface and armed with seven 21-inch torpedo tubes, a 3-inch deck gun and a 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun, crewed by 48 officers and ratings.

Hunting Japanese Shipping

Sirdar operated primarily in the Pacific Far East during the Second World War, sinking multiple Japanese vessels in the demanding, often gruelling conditions of that theatre, work that required British S-class boats to operate at the very edge of their range and endurance.

Searching for HMS Affray

In 1951, Sirdar took part in the search for HMS Affray, the submarine that vanished with all hands in the English Channel that April in one of the Royal Navy's most haunting postwar peacetime tragedies, a difficult and emotionally demanding search that ultimately located the wreck but could offer no survivors.

Capsized by the Great Flood

Sirdar suffered a dramatic mishap in 1953, capsizing in dry dock at Sheerness during the catastrophic North Sea flood that struck the east coast of England and the Netherlands that January, one of the worst natural disasters in modern British history. Remarkably, she was refloated and returned to service rather than being written off, a testament to sound original construction and a determined repair effort.

The End of Her Service

HMS Sirdar arrived at the yards of McLellan on 31 May 1965 for breaking up, bringing to a close the career of a submarine that had survived Japanese waters, a harrowing search operation and a genuine natural disaster.