HMS Sceptre (P215) was a 1940-programme S-class

British S class submarine (1931)

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...

 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...

 of 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...

. She was launched

Ship naming and launching

The ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...

 on January 9, 1943, in Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

, although her keel had been laid down in July 1940.

Career

In World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Sceptre joined the 3rd Submarine Flotilla in April 1943 and was based at Holy Loch

Holy Loch

The Holy Loch is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Robertson's Yard at Sandbank, a village on the loch, was a major wooden boat building company in the late 19th and early 20th centuries....

. She then detached to Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

 to be used for the Submarine Commanding Officer's Qualifying Course, the Perisher. Whilst exercising to the west of the Orkney Islands

Orkney Islands

Orkney also known as the Orkney Islands , is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated north of the coast of Caithness...

, she was depth charged in error by the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 and her hull was slightly buckled, which required docking for repairs.

After an uneventful first patrol, she was fitted with special towing gear and proceeded to Loch Cairnbawn

Loch Cairnbawn

Loch Cairnbawn or Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin is a sea inlet off Eddrachillis Bay on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands north of Ullapool. It was the site of the World War Two midget submarine training base, Port HHZ....

. Here she joined up with two T-class

British T class submarine

The Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during the Second World War, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...

 and three S-class

British S class submarine (1931)

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...

 submarines, together with the depot ships Titania and Bonadventure, the latter being the depot ship for the X-craft midget submarines

X class submarine

The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44.Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to their intended area of operations by a full-size 'mother' submarine - - with a passage crew on board, the operational crew...

. Sceptre left Loch Cairnbawn on September 12, 1943, with X-10 in tow. The aim was to attack the German battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

 Tirpitz

German battleship Tirpitz

Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...

 at Kaa Fjord. This attack was intended to remove the threat of the German battleship to convoys on their way to Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. Six X-craft were used to attack shipping in the fjords, with the attack on Tirpitz putting her out of action for nearly a year.

In April 1944, Sceptre left for another "special operation" with X-24 in tow. X-24 penetrated Bergen harbour and sank the merchant ship Barenfels as well as damaging large sections of the floating dock in the harbour.

Sceptre earned the title of "Bring them back alive" as she was the only towing submarine which lost none of the X-craft in her care. Commanded by Lieutenant I. S. McIntosh, MBE, DSC, throughout her short but active service career, Sceptre sank six ships — four merchant vessels of 14,393 gross register tons and two escorts of 1,444 displacement tons. This total and tonnage was unequalled by any other submarine in home waters during the period.

At the end of the war, Sceptre was disarmed, streamlined and given more powerful batteries to serve as a high speed target submarine. She was allocated to the Seventh Submarine Flotilla and used for training, based at Lochalsh. She continued to run as a training unit based in Portland

Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, off Dorset, on the south coast of England. It is one of the largest man-made harbours in the world. Grid reference: .-History:...

 until February 1947. She was damaged by a battery explosion on 8 August 1949. She was finally sold to the British Iron and Steel Corporation

British Steel

British Steel was a major British steel producer. It originated as a nationalised industry, the British Steel Corporation , formed in 1967. This was converted to a public limited company, British Steel PLC, and privatised in 1988. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index...

for scrap in September 1949.