HMS Perseus (N36)

Last updated

Hms perseus submarine.jpg
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Perseus
Namesake Perseus
Builder Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow in Furness
Laid down2 July 1928
Launched22 May 1929
Commissioned15 April 1930
Identification Pennant number: N36
FateSunk by mine 6 December 1941
General characteristics
Class and type Parthian-class submarine
Displacement
  • 1,475 long tons (1,499 t) surfaced
  • 2,040 long tons (2,073 t) submerged
Length260 ft (79 m)
Beam28 ft (8.5 m)
Draught13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric
  • 2 Admiralty diesel engines, 4,400  hp (3,300 kW)
  • 2 Electric motors, 1,530 hp (1,140 kW)
  • 2 shafts
Speed
  • 17.5 knots (20.1 mph; 32.4 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 kn (10 mph; 17 km/h) submerged
Range8,500 nmi (15,700 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement59
Armament

HMS Perseus was a British Parthian-class submarine built in 1929 and lost in 1941 during the Second World War. This class were the first to be fitted with Mark VIII torpedoes.

At the start of the war she was operating under the command of Commander Peter Bartlett on the China Station as part of the 4th Submarine Flotilla, together with the other members of her class. This continued until August 1940 when they were reassigned to the Mediterranean, where part of their duties were the ferrying of supplies between Alexandria and the besieged island of Malta. Perseus underwent a refit at Malta from October until April 1941.

HMS Perseus Memorial, just outside Poros, Kefalonia. HMS Perseus Memorial.JPG
HMS Perseus Memorial, just outside Poros, Kefalonia.

Attached to the 1st Submarine Flotilla based in Alexandria, and under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Edward Christian Frederick Nicolay DSO RN (see Nicolay (family)), she sank the 3,867-ton Italian tanker Maya5 nautical miles (9 km) south of Tenedos on 5 September 1941, and on 2 October, the 2,086-ton merchant ship Castellon west of Benghazi. It was as a result of these actions that Commander Nicolay was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

Perseus sailed from Malta for Alexandria on 26 November 1941 with instructions to patrol waters to the east of Greece during her passage. She apparently torpedoed a ship on 3 December, but at 10 pm on 6 December she struck an Italian mine off Cephalonia, 7 miles (11 km) north of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea.

Of the 61 on board, the only survivor was 31-year-old leading stoker John Capes, one of two non-crew members who were hitching a lift to Alexandria. He and three others escaped from the submarine using the Twill Trunk escape hatch in the engine room and wearing Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus. [1] However, only he survived the journey to the surface and the five-mile (8 km) swim to the island of Cephalonia, where he was hidden by islanders for 18 months before being smuggled in a caïque to Smyrna in Turkey. [2] He was subsequently awarded a British Empire Medal.

The wreck, at 52 metres (171 ft) below the surface, was discovered and surveyed in 1997 by a dive team led by Kostas Thoctarides.

The Perseus lies on the seabed with a starboard list. The only significant damage to the vessel is a crack on the port side near the bow, caused by the collision with the mine. The rest of the hull is in good condition. Her gun, her steering wheel, and everything else is in place. Her compasses, which are still working, show her last course. The escape hatch of the stern compartment is open.

Divers found the anchor of an Italian mine close to Perseus; which would appear to have been the cause of her sinking. British authorities had assumed that this was the case, but it had never been confirmed.

On 19 and 20 May 2000, memorial ceremonies were held in Cephalonia in honour of the Perseus' crew. They were attended by relatives of the deceased (including John Capes' daughter), members of the Submarine Old Comrade's Association, locals who hid Capes, and a member of the caique crew who transported Capes to Smyrna (amongst others). [3] [4]

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Jaguar</i> (F34) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Jaguar was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. Commissioned in September 1939, she was present at the Dunkirk evacuation the following year, during which Jaguar was damaged by dive bombers. She later served in the Mediterranean and was involved in several actions there. She was torpedoed off the coast of Egypt on 26 March 1942 and sunk.

HMS <i>Havock</i> (H43) H-class destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Havock was an H-class destroyer built for the British Royal Navy in the mid-1930s. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship enforced the arms blockade imposed by Britain and France on both sides as part of the Mediterranean Fleet. During the first few months of the Second World War, Havock searched for German commerce raiders in the Atlantic Ocean and participated in the First Battle of Narvik during the Norwegian Campaign of April–June 1940 before she was transferred back to the Mediterranean Fleet in May where she escorted a number of convoys to Malta. The ship took part in the Battle of Cape Spada in July 1940, the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941 and the evacuation of Greece in April 1941. She was damaged during the Battle of Crete the following month, but participated in the Syria–Lebanon Campaign in June.

HMS <i>Greyhound</i> (H05) British G-class destroyer

HMS Greyhound was a G-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the 1930s. Greyhound participated in the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, the Dunkirk evacuation in May and the Battle of Dakar in September before being transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in November. The ship generally escorted the larger ships of the Mediterranean Fleet as they protected convoys against attacks from the Italian Fleet. She sank two Italian submarines while escorting convoys herself in early 1941. Greyhound was sunk by German Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers north-west of Crete on 22 May 1941 as she escorted the battleships of the Mediterranean Fleet attempting to intercept the German sea-borne invasion forces destined for Crete.

HMS <i>Diamond</i> (H22) D-class destroyer

HMS Diamond was a D-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s. The ship spent the bulk of her career on the China Station. She was briefly assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1939 before she was transferred to West Africa for convoy escort duties. Diamond returned to the Mediterranean Fleet in early 1940 where she generally escorted convoys to and from Malta. The ship participated in the Battle of Cape Spartivento in November. Diamond was sunk by German aircraft on 27 April 1941 whilst evacuating Allied troops from Greece.

Greek destroyer <i>Adrias</i> (L67) Greek naval vessel (1942–1945)

Adrias was a Type III Hunt-class destroyer that was originally built for the Royal Navy as HMS Border but never commissioned. Before her completion, she was loaned to the Royal Hellenic Navy on 20 July 1942 and commissioned as Adrias on 5 August 1942 in order to relieve heavy losses of ships sustained by the Royal Hellenic Navy during the German invasion of 1941 and throughout the war. Adrias took her name from the ancient Greek town of Adria in Italy, at the mouth of the Po river, after which the Adriatic Sea is named.

HMS <i>Sickle</i> British S-class submarine

HMS Sickle was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. Sickle then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece.

HMS <i>Rorqual</i> (N74) British mine-laying submarine

HMS Rorqual (N74) was a British mine-laying submarine, one of the six ships of the Grampus class of the Royal Navy. She was built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched 27 July 1936. She served in the Second World War in the Mediterranean and in the far east. She was the only Grampus-class submarine to survive the war, and she is considered the most successful minelaying submarine of World War II, sinking 57,704 GRT of enemy shipping, 35,951 of which through her mines.

HMS <i>Trooper</i> (N91) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Trooper (N91) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scotts, Greenock, and launched in March 1942. On October 6, 2024, it was reported that HMS Trooper was discovered at a depth of 253 metres (830 ft) in the Icarian Sea in Greece.

HMS <i>Urge</i> British submarine

HMS Urge was a British U-class submarine, of the second group of that class, built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 30 October 1939, and was commissioned on 12 December 1940. From 1941 to 1942 she formed part of the 10th Submarine Flotilla based in Malta and spent most of her career operating in the Mediterranean, where she damaged and sank enemy warships and merchant vessels and undertook both SBS and SIS special operations. She was commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Edward Philip Tomkinson, DSO, RN. She was lost with all hands and a number of naval passengers on 27 April 1942 after striking a German mine off Malta.

HMS <i>Olympus</i> (N35) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMSOlympus was an Odin-class submarine, a class originally designed for the Royal Australian Navy to cope with long distance patrolling in Pacific waters. Olympus was built to the same design for the Royal Navy. She served from 1931 to 1939 on the China Station and 1939-1940 out of Colombo. In 1940 she went to the Mediterranean. She was sunk by a mine off Malta in May 1942 killing 89 crew. 9 survivors: Herbert Rawlings,

HMS <i>Regent</i> (N41) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Regent was a Rainbow-class submarine designed and built by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering in Barrow-in-Furness for the Royal Navy, and was launched on 11 June 1930. She was lost with all hands after striking a mine on 18 April 1943.

HMS <i>Exmoor</i> (L08) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

The second HMS Exmoor (L08), ex-HMS Burton, was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy in commission from 1941 to 1945. She was a member of the second subgroup of the class, and saw service during much of World War II. She later served in the Royal Danish Navy as HDMS Valdemar Sejr.

HMS <i>Hurworth</i> (L28) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Hurworth was a Second World War Type II Hunt-class escort destroyer of the British Royal Navy. She spent most of her career in the Mediterranean. She was lost to a mine in the Aegean Sea in 1943.

HMS <i>Otus</i> (N92) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Otus was an O-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs of Barrow-in-Furness on 31 May 1927, launched on 31 August 1928 and commissioned on 5 July 1929.

HMS <i>Osiris</i> (N67) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Osiris was an O-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers-Armstrongs of Barrow-in-Furness on 12 May 1927, launched on 19 May 1928 and commissioned on 25 Jan 1929.

HMS <i>Southwold</i> (L10) British warship

HMS Southwold was a Type II British Hunt-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during World War II. She served in the Mediterranean for a few months until she was sunk off Malta in March 1942.

Italian torpedo boat <i>Lupo</i>

The Italian torpedo boat Lupo was a Spica-class torpedo boat built for the Regia Marina in the late 1930s. During the Second World War, Lupo was involved in several naval actions, including that of the eponymous "Lupo convoy", for which she was awarded the Silver Medal of Military Valour. Lupo was sunk in action on 2 December 1942.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">10th Submarine Flotilla</span> Military unit

The 10th Submarine Flotilla was a Royal Navy submarine formation during World War I and during World War II

The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of recreational dive sites</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles about rereational dive sites

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

References

  1. "Submarine Casualties Booklet". U.S. Naval Submarine School. 1966. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2009.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. Clayton, Tim (2 December 2011). "Submarine escape: A WWII survival tale from Kefalonia". BBC . Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  3. Giatropoulou, Rena; Thoktarides, Kostas. Submarine Perseus. Escape from death (in Greek). Prefecture of Kefalonia and Ithaca: Finatec Ltd. pp. 93–97. ISBN   960-8159-07-5.
  4. Smith, Helena (31 August 2000). "Corelli's island split by Briton's great escape". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2020.

37°54′0″N20°54′0″E / 37.90000°N 20.90000°E / 37.90000; 20.90000