HMS Terrapin was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 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 third group of the 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...

. She was built as P323 by Vickers Armstrong

Vickers Armstrong

Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...

, Barrow

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

 and Bellis and Morcom Ltd, and launched on 31 August 1943. So far she has been the only ship 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...

 to bear the name Terrapin, after the animal of that name

Terrapin

A terrapin is a turtle living in fresh or brackish water.Terrapin may also refer to:* Terrapin , a transport vehicle used for amphibious assault by the Allies during the Second World War...

.

Service

Apart from a brief period in home waters off the Scandinavian coast, Terrapin served in the Far East for much of her wartime career. She had a comparatively active career, since she was only commissioned on 22 January 1944. In March 1944 she attacked a German convoy off Egersund, Norway, torpedoing and damaging the German katapult ship Schwabenland, and the German tanker Wörth, (the former Dutch Omala). The Schwabenland was grounded to prevent her from sinking and the Wörth was towed to port.

Terrapin was then assigned to the Pacific Far East in mid 1944. She opened her career by bombarding Japanese installations at Gunung Sitoli (Nias Island), western Sumatra. She also sank a Japanese coaster with gunfire and damaged another. She went on to sink the Japanese auxiliary netlayer Kumano Maru, the Japanese minesweeper W 5, and ten Japanese sailing vessels, damaging another.

Terrapin often operated with her sister, HMS Trenchant

HMS Trenchant (P331)

HMS Trenchant was a British T class submarine of the Second World War.On completion she was given over to the crew of HMS Thrasher whose submarine was due for a refit.-Service:...

, and together they sank the Japanese tanker Yaei Maru No.6, the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Reisui Maru, the Japanese submarine chaser Ch 8, a fishing vessel and seven coasters. Terrapin herself sank another small craft with gunfire.

She was damaged on 19 May 1945 by depth charges from Japanese escort vessels while attacking an escorted tanker. She escaped and returned to Fremantle, Australia. She was declared a constructive total loss on return to harbour, and was scrapped in June 1946.