HMS Venturer (P68) was a World War 2 British submarine and the lead boat^[1] of the V-Class (officially called the "'U'-Class Long hull 1941-42 program"). Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Naval_Ensign_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... The Vickers corporation, founded as the Vickers company in 1828, was a British manufacturer, primarily of military equipment. ... Barrow-in-Furness is a town in Cumbria, England. ... is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... is the 124th day of the year (125th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or a point alongside the ship at the mid-point of its length. ... Several ships of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Venturer. ... German soldiers at the Battle of Stalingrad World War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the worlds nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. ... The lead ship is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. ... The British V class submarine (officially U-Class Short hull 1940-41 program[1]) was a class of 34 submarines built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The V-class submarines were very similar to the preceding U-class (long-hull) boats, but had thicker, welded pressure plate...

She sank U-771 on 11 November 1944 7 nautical miles east of Andenes, Norway, off the Lofoten Islands. Her most famous mission, however, was her eleventh patrol out of the British submarine-base at Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, under the command of 25-year-old Jimmy Launders, which included the only time in the history of naval warfare that one submarine sank another while both were submerged. November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... Andenes is a small town in the the municipality Andøy in the county of Nordland, Norway, and had 5,549 inhabitants as of January 1, 2002. ... Henningsvær, a fishing village in Lofoten during fishing season (April, 2001). ... Lerwick Lerwick is the only burgh and main port of the Shetland Islands in Scotland, found more than 100 miles (160 km) off the north coast of mainland Great Britain. ... James Jimmy S. Launders (1919 - 1988) was an officer in the British Royal Navy during and after World War II. He retired from the service in 1962 but continued to serve in an unofficial capacity on training programs until his death in 1988. ...

Sent to the Fedje area, Venturer was then ordered (on the basis of Enigma decrypts) to seek, intercept and destroy U864 which was in this area carrying a cargo of 65 tonnes of mercury and Messerschmitt jet engine parts to Japan,^[2][3] County Hordaland District Nordhordland Municipality NO-1265 Administrative centre Fedje Mayor (2003) Erling Walderhaug(H) Official language form Nynorsk Area  - Total  - Land  - Percentage Ranked 431 9 km² 9 km² 0. ... Unterseeboot 864 (U-864) was a German Type IXD U-boat sunk on February 9, 1945 by the British submarine HMS Venturer, killing all 73 onboard. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery Standard atomic weight 200. ... Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ...

On February 6, 1945 U864 passed the Fedja area without being detected, but on the 9th Venturer heard U-864's engine noise (Launders had decided not to use ASDIC since it would betray his position) and spotted the U-boat's periscope as her captain looked for his escort. In an unusually long engagement for a submarine and in a situation for which neither crew had been trained, Launders waited 45 minutes after first contact before going to action stations, waiting for U864 to surface and thus present an easier target. Upon realizing they were being followed by the British submarine and that their escort had still not arrived, U-864 zig-zagged underwater in attempted evasive manoeuvres, with each submarine occasionally risking raising her periscope. February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar). ... The F70 type frigates (here, Motte-Picquet) are fitted with VDS (Variable Depth Sonar) type DUBV43 or DUBV43C tugged sonars Sonar (sound navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation under water to navigate or to detect other watercraft. ...

Venturer had only 4 torpedoes as opposed to U-864's 22, and so after 3 hours Launders decided to make a prediction of his opponent's zig-zag, and release a spread of his torpedoes into its predicted course. This manual computation of a firing solution against a three-dimensionally manoeveuring target was the first occasion on which techniques were used which became the basis of modern torpedo computer targeting computer systems.

The first torpedo was released at 12.12 and then at 17 second intervals after that (taking 4 minutes to reach their target), and Launders then dived suddenly to evade any retaliation from his opponent. U864 heard the torpedoes coming and also dived deeper and turned away to avoid them, managing to avoid the first three but unknowingly steering into the path of the fourth. Exploding, U864 split in two, was sunk with all hands and came to rest more than 150 m (500 ft) below the surface on the seafloor. Launders was granted a bar to his DSO for this action. DSO medal The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other Commonwealth countries, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat. ...

During its career it also sank five merchant ships.^[4]

Footnotes

1. ^ U & V Class Single Hull Coastal Submarines. Submariners Association - Barrow in Furness Branch. Retrieved on 2006-12-23.
2. ^ "Toxic timebomb surfaces 60 years after U-boat lost duel to the death", Times online, 19 December 2006. 
3. ^ "Norway tackles toxic war grave", BBC News website, 20 December 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-22. 
4. ^ HMS Venturer. Uboat.net. Retrieved on 2002-12-22.