SUBMARINERS ASSOCIATION:  EAST KENT BRANCH

Founded
2nd April 1952

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HMS/m OBERON

Pennant Number: 21P
Oberon was the prototype of the new 1920’s ‘O’ class. Although ordered as Submarine O-1, this class became the first to be identified by name as opposed to number.
Oberon was a much larger boat than the earlier ‘L’ class. She was fitted with external fuel saddle tanks which gave her a far greater range than the earlier boats. This was an integral part of the design as this class of boat was built for service in the Far East.
With a strengthened pressure hull the diving depth was 300 feet, twice that of the previous ‘L’ and ‘R’ class.
Oberon was laid down at Chatham on the 1 November 1921. Launched 16 June 1923 and completed on the 23 September 1925. She was commissioned on the 24 August 1927.
In the years preceding WW2, Oberon saw service with the 5th and 1st Flotillas, working out of Portsmouth and Malta. Following a collision with HMS Thanet in 1935, she was refitted and placed in reserve. Having been re-commissioned in August 1939, her war years, with the exception of a few local patrols, were spent as a training boat.
Oberon was sold for scrap on the 24 August 1945.

Members Past and Present who served on Oberon:-
Jeff (Dolly) Gray; John Parcel;