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THE
COLLECTION - STAR OBJECTS
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X Craft
net cutters
During the
Second World War the only way to sink ships berthed in harbour,
which were shallow or well defended, was to use a smaller version
of a submarine. The British X-craft was a perfect submarine in miniature
with detachable explosive charges on its sides.
The enemy
soon realised the potential of these crafts and their ability to
go where larger submarines could not. Nets spanning the harbours
were often employed to keep torpedoes and submarines out. But these
net cutters, powered by hydraulic pressure (a combination of water
and compressed air from pipes attached to the boat), activated a
blade, enabling divers to create an entrance.
Some examples
of British midget submarine successes are:
-
The crippling of the
German Battleship in Bergen harbour by HMS X6 and X7 on 22 September
1943. Both commanding Officers, Donald Cameron and Godfrey Place,
were awarded the Victoria Cross for this action.
-
The crippling
of Japanese cruiser Takao, on 31 July 1945 by HMS XE3 in Singapore
Harbour.
The commanding officer, Lieutenant IE Fraser, and the
diver, Leading Seaman JJ Magennis, were both awarded the Victoria
Cross
for this
action.
-
X24 twice
entered Bergen Harbour and attacked the Naval Dockyard
at Laksvaag, which was under German control. On the second attack,
under
command of Lieutenant HP Westmacott, DSO, DSC, the floating
dock used
by the Germans for repairing U-boats based on this port,
was
destroyed.
-
It was X23 and X20 that marked the
approaches for the D Day landings by signalling
seaward from the surface to guide all incoming assault crafts.
HMS
X24 is on display at the Submarine Museum.
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