List of submarine actions

A German World War I-era submarine

Actions

American Civil War

• 1864 February 17 — human-powered submarine H. L. Hunley sinks sloop USS Housatonic with spar mine, off Charleston.(details)

First Balkan War

• 1912 December 9 – Greek submarine Delfin became the first submarine to launch a torpedo at an enemy ship, though the ship did not sink due to a weapons malfunction.

World War I

HMS Majestic torpedoed by U-21

• 1914 September 5 — HMS Pathfinder is sunk at the start of World War I by U-21, becoming the first ship to ever be sunk by a torpedo fired by submarine.
• 1914 September 22 — German submarine U-9 sinks three unescorted British armoured cruisers HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy in approximately one hour.
• 1914 October 18 — German submarine U-27 sinks HMS E3 in the first ever successful attack on one submarine by another.
• 1914 October 20 — German submarine U-17 sinks SS Glitra in the first submarine sinking of a merchant ship during the world wars.^[1]
• 1915 May 7 — German submarine U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania killing 1,198 and leaving 761 survivors. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, contributed to the American entry into World War I.
• 1915 May 25/27 — In the morning of May 27 German submarine U-21 sinks the British pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Majestic off the Gallipoli peninsula. Two days after the same U-boat sunk the pre-dreadnought HMS Triumph near Gaba Nepe.
• 1916 March 22 — German submarine SM U-68 is sunk by the Q-ship - a merchant ship carrying hidden weapons - HMS Farnborough in the first successful use of depth charges.^[2] (Farnborough sank the SM U-83 in 1917)
• 1917 September 22 — German submarine SM UB-32 is the first submarine sunk by aircraft (a Royal Navy flying boat).^[3]

World War II

• 1939, September 4 - German U-Boat U-30 sinks the british ship SS Athenia.
• 1939, September 14 - German U-Boat U-39 strikes the British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal with two torpedoes, no impacts.
• 1939, September 17 - German U-Boat U-29 sinks the british aircraft carrier HMS Courageous.
• 1939 October 14 — German U-boat U-47 sinks HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow base. The First Lord of Admiralty Winston Churchill officially announced the loss of Royal Oak to the House of Commons, first conceding that the raid had been "a remarkable exploit of professional skill and daring".
• 1940 October 17–19 — The most effective wolfpack of the world wars including U-boat aces Kretschmer, Prien and Schepke sinks 32 ships from Convoy SC 7 and Convoy HX 79 in two days.
• 1940 November 23 — German submarine U-100 sinks 7 Allied Merchant ships from Convoy SC-11 in only 3 hours.
• 1941 November 13 — U-81 strikes HMS Ark Royal with a single torpedo. She sinks the following day due to crippling damage
• 1941 November 28 - Dutch submarine O-21 torpedoes the German submarine U-95 in a surface to surface engagement near Málaga, Spain.^[4]
• 1942 September 15 — Japanese submarine I-19 sinks aircraft carrier USS Wasp and destroyer USS O'Brien and damages battleship USS North Carolina with a single salvo.
• 1942 November 5 - Finnish submarine Vetehinen rammed the Soviet submarine Щ 305 in the Sea of Åland and sank it.
• 1943 March 16–19 — The largest North Atlantic U-boat wolfpack attack of the world wars sinks 22 ships from Convoys HX 229/SC 122.

HMS Venturer (P68)

• 1943 April 29 – May 6 — Convoy ONS 5 is the last major North Atlantic wolfpack attack by surfaced U-boats as escorts demonstrate effective use of radar to sink 6 U-boats in low-visibility conditions.
• 1943 May 14 — U-640 or U-657 is the first submarine sunk by a homing torpedo.
• 1944 November 29 — USS Archer-Fish sinks Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano, the largest vessel of that time.
• 1945 January 30 — Soviet submarine S-13 sinks the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff, with older and cautious estimates of 6,000 but more recent estimates of more than 9,000 casualties.
• 1945 February 6- Royal Navy submarine Venturer becomes the only submarine to sink another submarine while they were both submerged when she sinks U-864 off Norway.
• 1945 April 16 — Soviet submarine L-3 sinks the German ship Goya, with 6,000–7,000 casualties.

Post-World War II

• 1971 Dec 9 — PNS Hangor was a Pakistani Daphné class submarine, which during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War sank the Indian frigate INS Khukri. This was the first ship sunk by a submarine since World War II. Hangor also damaged another warship, INS Kirpan. This was the heaviest casualty that a Pakistan vessel inflicted on the Indian Navy in the war.^[5] After the attack on Khukri, the Indian Navy ceased its attacks on Karachi and moved the focus of its operations to East Pakistan ports like Chittagong and Cox's Bazaar.
• 1982 May 2 — British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror sinks Argentine cruiser General Belgrano off the Falkland Islands. It was the first sinking by a nuclear-powered submarine in war and also the first time that a nuclear-powered submarine fired weapons in an act of war. The sinking was controversial because if it was justificable under the International Law.^[6]
• 1991 April 2 – American nuclear submarines USS Louisville and USS Pittsburgh fire Tomahawk Cruise Missiles in support of Operation Desert Storm demonstrating for the first time the effectiveness of submarine-launched conventional warhead missiles against land-based targets
• 2010 March 26 – A North Korean Yono class submarine sinks the South Korean corvette ROKS Cheonan off Baengnyeong Island.(details)

See also

• List of single ship actions

References

1. Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945. Sterling Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 1-85409-520-X.
2. Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945. Sterling Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 1-85409-520-X.
3. Tarrant, V.E. (1989). The U-Boat Offensive 1914–1945. Sterling Publishing. p. 60. ISBN 1-85409-520-X.
4. http://www.dutchsubmarines.com/specials/special_battle_by_moonlight.htm
5. Casualties in 1971 war
6. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO THE SINKING OF THE BELGRANO