HMS Opossum (S19) was an Oberon-class

Oberon class submarine

The Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 in service with the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 from 1964 to 1993.

Service

Opossum was the eleventh

Eleventh

In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh....

 Oberon-class

Oberon class submarine

The Oberon class was a 27-boat class of British-built diesel-electric submarines based on the successful British Porpoise-class submarine....

 boat commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 by the Royal Navy

Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...

. She was built by Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

 shipbuilder at Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

 and launched on 23 May 1963. She was commissioned on 5 June 1964.

Opossum was originally armed with Mk 8 torpedoes and later with Mark 24 Tigerfish

Mark 24 Tigerfish

The Mk 24 Tigerfish torpedo was a heavyweight acoustic homing torpedo used by the Royal Navy for several years. The early Mod0 and Mod1 variants were unreliable and unsuccessful, and were issued to the RN even though they failed Fleet Weapon Acceptance...

 torpedoes. The class was also capable of firing the Harpoon anti-ship missile.

In 1990, Opossum took part in the bicentennial celebrations at Pitcairn Island, marking the occasion with a 2-day visit in September.

Opossum served during the Gulf War

Gulf War

The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...

 and inserted SBS

Special Boat Service

The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...

 special forces

Special forces

Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...

 teams into Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

 and occupied Kuwait

Kuwait

The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...

. In May 1991 she returned to HMS Dolphin

HMS Dolphin shore-establishment

The seventeenth Royal Navy 'ship' to be named HMS Dolphin was the RN shore establishment sited at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport. Dolphin was the home of the Royal Navy Submarine Service from 1904 to 1999, and location of the Royal Navy Submarine School....

 in traditional Far East camouflage colours (black

Black

Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...

 and duck egg blue). She was seen to be flying the Jolly Roger, the RN submariner's symbol of a successful war patrol.

On paying off in 1993, the nameplate from HMS Opossum was given to St Edmundsbury council in commemoration of the submarine's association with the town of Bury St. Edmunds

Bury St. Edmunds

Bury St Edmunds is a market town in the county of Suffolk, England, and formerly the county town of West Suffolk. It is the main town in the borough of St Edmundsbury and known for the ruined abbey near the town centre...

.

HMS Opossum Association

The HMS Opossum Association is the veterans association for those who served on HMS Opossum. The association's members include submariners from the S19, and earlier veterans who served on the sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

/frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

HMS Opossum (1943–1960).

External links

• HMS Opossum Association