HMS Tetrarch (N77)

Last updated

HMS Tetrarch.jpg
HMS Tetrarch
History
Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svgUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Tetrarch
Builder Vickers Armstrong, Barrow
Laid down24 August 1938
Launched14 November 1939
Commissioned15 February 1940
Identification Pennant number N77
FateSunk 2 November 1941
Badge
TETRARCH badge-1-.jpg
General characteristics
Class and type British T class submarine
Displacement
  • 1,090 tons surfaced
  • 1,575 tons submerged
Length275 ft (84 m)
Beam26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught16.3 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion
  • Two shafts
  • Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each
  • Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
Speed
  • 15.25 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced
  • 9 knots (20 km/h) submerged
Range4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
Test depth300 ft (91 m) max
Complement59
Armament

HMS Tetrarch (N77) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched in November 1939.

Contents

Career

In common with many of her class, Tetrarch saw extensive service in the key naval theatres, Home waters, serving in the North Sea and off the French and Scandinavian coasts, and the Mediterranean.

Home waters

Tetrarch's first success came in May 1940 when she torpedoed and sank the German submarine chaser UJ B / Treff V in the Skagerrak. She also sank the Danish fishing vessel Terieven and the German tanker Samland, and captured the Danish fishing vessel Emmanuel, which was taken to Leith as a prize.

Mediterranean

Tetrarch was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean in late 1940. She sank the Italian merchants Snia Amba, Giovinezza and Citta di Bastia, the Italian tanker Persiano, the Italian sailing vessels V 72/Fratelli Garre, V 113/Francesco Garre and Nicita, and the Greek sailing vessel Panagiotis Kramottos. She also damaged the German merchant Yalova and claimed to have damaged a sailing vessel in the Aegean. Tetrarch also carried out an unsuccessful attack on the Greek tanker Olympos. [1]

Sinking

Tetrach sailed from Malta on 26 October 1941 for a refit in Britain, via Gibraltar. She failed to arrive in Gibraltar on 2 November and was declared overdue. Her route passed through a known minefield. On Monday 27 she communicated with P34, which was in the same area. This was the last contact with the submarine. She is presumed lost to Italian mines off Capo Granditola, Sicily, Italy in late October 1941. [2]

Norman Walton, who later became the sole survivor of the sinking of HMS Neptune had visited the ship prior to its sailing to celebrate the birthday of a member of the Tetrarch, and upon realising it had sailed, he leapt off the ship and swam back to shore. His name had been added to the ships roll as it left port, and after the ship vanished his parents were mistakenly notified he was missing in action. [3]

Notes

  1. HMS Tetrarch, Uboat.net
  2. Submarine losses 1904 to present day Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine , RN Submarine Museum, Gosport
  3. "Norman Walton".

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Antelope</i> (H36) A-class destroyer

HMS Antelope was a British A-class destroyer, which was completed for the Royal Navy in 1930. Antelope served throughout the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of three enemy submarines and in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa.

HMS <i>Penelope</i> (97) 1935 Arethusa-class cruiser

HMS Penelope was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was built by Harland & Wolff ; her keel was laid down on 30 May 1934. She was launched on 15 October 1935, and commissioned 13 November 1936. She was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat U-410 near Naples with great loss of life on 18 February 1944. On wartime service with Force K, she was holed so many times by bomb fragments that she acquired the nickname "HMS Pepperpot".

HMS <i>Legion</i> (G74) Royal Navy ship

HMS Legion was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She entered service during the Second World War, and had a short but eventful career, serving in Home waters and the Mediterranean. She was sunk in an air attack on Malta in 1942. The ship had been adopted by the British civil community of the Municipal Borough of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in November 1941.

HMS <i>Safari</i> Royal Navy S-class submarine which served in World War II

HMS Safari was a third batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Commissioned in 1942, she was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean Sea. During the course of the war, Safari sank twenty-five ships, most of which were Italian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Substance</span> Naval operation of WWII

Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort Convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy, escorted by Force H, was attacked by Italian submarines, aircraft and MAS boats.

<i>Marconi</i>-class submarine Italian submarine class

The Marconi class was a class of six submarines built for the Royal Italian Navy. The submarines were all launched between 1939 and 1940, and all but one, Luigi Torelli, were lost in the Atlantic during the Second World War.

HMS <i>Active</i> (H14) A-class destroyer

HMS Active, the tenth Active, launched in 1929, was an A-class destroyer. She served in the Second World War, taking part in the sinking of four submarines. She was broken up in 1947.

HMS <i>Taku</i> (N38) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Taku was a British T class submarine built by Cammell Laird, Birkenhead. She was laid down on 18 November 1937 and was commissioned on 3 October 1940.

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>Sahib</i> S-class submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Sahib was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was launched on 19 January 1942 and commissioned on 13 May 1942. She was the only British naval vessel to bear the name Sahib.

HMS <i>Sportsman</i> S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy

HMS Sportsman was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she spent most of the war serving in the Mediterranean Sea. After an initial patrol off Norway, she sank the heavy transport Général Bonaparte in the Mediterranean in 1943 and missed a French oil tanker. She was heavily damaged after a mistaken attack by an Allied bomber, and was sent east after repairs to participate in operations in the Black Sea. After the operation was cancelled, Sportsman patrolled the Aegean Sea, sending several Greek and German ships to the bottom. She sank the German transport SS Petrella in early 1944 despite it being clearly marked as a prisoner-of-war ship, killing 2,670 out of 3,173 Italians aboard. Sportsman sank several more ships, and suffered minor damage when she was detected and sighted while attempting to attack a convoy.

HMS Clyde was a submarine of the River class. She was built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched on 15 March 1934. Building was completed on 12 April 1935. Initially planned to be part of a class 20 strong, Clyde would be the third and final of the boats to be completed and launched.

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>Talisman</i> (N78) Submarine of the Royal Navy

The second HMS Talisman (N78), and the first to enter service under the name, was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead and launched on 29 January 1940.

HMS <i>Torbay</i> (N79) Submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Torbay (N79) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 9 April 1940.

HMS Union 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 9 December 1939 and was commissioned on 22 February 1941.

HMS <i>Unrivalled</i> British submarine

HMS Unrivalled (P45) was a U-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. The boat has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to ever bear the name Unrivalled. Completed in 1942, the boat spent most of the war in the Mediterranean. She sank a number of small merchant ships and naval auxiliaries, but major success eluded her during the war. Too small and slow for the post-war environment, Unrivalled was scrapped in 1946.

HMS <i>Laforey</i> (G99) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Laforey was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned in and served during the Second World War, and was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat in 1944. She had been adopted by the civil community of Northampton in November 1941.

HMS <i>Lively</i> (G40) Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Lively was an L-class destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War, and was sunk in the Mediterranean in an air attack on 11 May 1942.

HMS <i>Wishart</i> Destroyer of the Royal Navy

HMS Wishart (D67) was a Modified W-class destroyer of the British Royal Navy that saw service in World War II. She spent most of her wartime career based at Gibraltar, engaged in convoy defence, but also served in various naval and military operations in the Mediterranean Sea.

References