HMS SALMON (N65)

'HMS ''Salmon''' was a Royal Navy S-class submarine which was launched April 30, 1934 and fought in World War II. ''Salmon'' is one of 12 boats named in the song Twelve Little S-Boats.
On December 4, 1939 while on patol in the North Sea ''Salmon'' topedoed and sank U-36.^[1]
On December 12, 1939 ''Salmon'' sighted the German liner SS Bremen. While challenging ''Bremen'', an escorting Dornier Do 18 seaplane forced ''Salmon'' to dive. After diving the ''Salmon's'' commander, Lieutenant Commander E.O. Bickford, decided not to torpedo the liner because he believed she was not a legal target.[1] Bickford's decision not to fire on ''Bremen'' likely delayed the start of unrestricted submarine warfare in World War 2.^[2]
On December 13, 1939 ''Salmon'' sighted a fleet of German warships. She fired a spread of torpedoes which damaged two German cruisers (one was the ''Leipzig'', the other her younger sistership the ''Nürnberg''). ''Salmon'' evaded the fleet's destroyers, which hunted her for 2 hours.^[2][2]
She was lost, probably sunk by a mine, on July 9, 1940.

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References

References

1. Shadow Voyage: The Extraordinary Wartime Escape of the Legendary SS Bremen, , Peter A., Huchthausen, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., , ISBN 0-471-45758-2
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