HMS Oxley was an Odin-class submarine originally built for the Royal Australian Navy and later transferred to the Royal Navy. Constructed by Vickers-Armstrong Limited at Barrow-in-Furness, England, she was laid down in March 1925 under the designation OA1, launched on 29 June 1926, and commissioned into the RAN on 1 April 1927. The vessel measured 275 feet (84 meters) in length overall, with a beam of 29 feet 7 inches (9.02 meters) and a mean draught of 13 feet 3 inches (4.04 meters). Her displacement was 1,350 tons on the surface and 1,870 tons submerged. Her propulsion system comprised diesel engines for surface running and electric motors for submerged operations, with two propeller shafts. The submarine could reach a maximum speed of 15.5 knots on the surface and 9 knots underwater. She was armed with eight 21-inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes—six facing forward and two aft—alongside a 4-inch (100 mm) deck gun and two machine guns. HMS Oxley had a crew complement of 54 personnel. She had an active service history that included a notable voyage in 1928-1929, when she and her sister ship Otway undertook the longest unescorted voyage by a British submarine, traveling from the UK to Australia after repairs in Malta. She was transferred to the Royal Navy in 1931 due to financial constraints and naval treaty limitations. During World War II, Oxley was assigned to patrol off Norway with the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. Her service was cut short when she was sunk on 10 September 1939, less than a week after the war began, in a friendly fire incident involving HMS Triton near Norway. The incident resulted in 53 fatalities, with only two survivors. The loss was initially attributed to an accidental explosion but later clarified to have been a collision with Triton. Oxley's sinking marked the first British submarine loss in WWII, and her crew is commemorated on the Dundee International Submarine Memorial.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.