Triumph to TruncheonPage last Updated:
3 Jan 2008
| Name | Class | Pennant | Crew | Built | Builder
| Disposal Date | Method |
Triumph | T1 | 18T, N18 | 56 |
2-May-39 | Vickers Armstrong | 20-Jan-42 | War Loss |
Lt Cdr JW McCoy RN - Triumph 1939 and picture.
26 Dec 39, hit a German mine in the North Sea in position 56º44'N, 05º00'E. Her bow was badly damaged, but the
torpedoes did not detonate. Some eighteen feet of bow was blown off and her pressure hull was also damaged. The boat managed to limp
back home under the protection of fighter aircraft and destroyers. Triumph was under repair at Chatham Dockyard until 27 Sept 1940.
1st Flotilla, Alexandria. Lt Cdr WSW Woods RN.
5 Mar 41, torpedoed and sank the Italian merchants Marzamemi (958 GRT) and Colomba Lofaro (897 GRT) near Capo dell'Armi,
Calabria, Italy position 37º54'N, 15º46'E.
3 May 41, sank the Italian auxilary patrol vessel V 136 / Tugnin F. (425 GRT) with gunfire about 10 nautical miles west of
Marsa el Brega, Libya.
30 May 41, torpedoed and damaged the Italian armed merchant cruiser Ramb III (3667 GRT) at Benghazi, Libya.
5 Jun 41, sank the Italian auxiliary patrol vessels Valoroso (340 GRT), V 190 / Frieda (246 GRT) and
V 137 / Trio Frassinetti (244 GRT) with gunfire in the Gulf of Sirte off Beurat, Libya in position 31º39'N, 15º39'E.
27 Jun 41, torpedoed and sank the Italian submarine Salpa (611 tons) near Mersa Matruh, Egypt in position 32º05'N, 28º47'E.
6 Jul 41, sank, during a long gun battle, the Italian merchant Ninfea (607 GRT) and the Italian tug Dante de Lutti (266 GRT)
off Ras Tajunes, Libya. The Triumph was also damaged and forced to abandon her war patrol, retreating to Malta for repairs.
26 Aug 41, attacked, but missed, the Italian heavy cruiser Bolzano north of Messina, Sicily, Italy.
18 Sep 41, torpedoed and damaged the Italian tanker Ardor (8960 GRT) off Capo Colonna. The damaged Italian ship was towed to Crotone.
23 Sep 41, torpedoed and sank the German merchant Luvsee (2373 GRT) north-east of Sibenek.
24 Sep 41, damaged the Italian tanker Poseidone and the Italian merchant Sidamo (2384 GRT) off Ortona, Abruzzi, Italy.
23 Oct 41, sank the Greek sailing vessels Panagiotis and Aghia Paraskeva with gunfire in the Gulf of Petali, Greece.
25 Oct 41, torpedoed and sank the Italian merchant Monrosa (6703 GRT) in the Gulf of Athens, about 3 nm NW of Patroklou island,
Greece in position 37º41'N, 23º53'E.
24 Nov 41, torpedoed and sank the Italian tug Hercules (632 GRT) in Iraklion harbour, Crete. Also damaged the German
merchant Norburg (2392 GRT).
26 Dec 41, (Lt. J.S. Huddart) sailed from Alexandria on to land party near Athens
before patrol in the Aegean Sea. Reported making the landing on 30th, but failed to rendezvous back on 9th January.
Probably lost on Italian mines off Milo island, SE of Greece with all hands. | >
Trooper | T2 | N91 | 61 | 29-Aug-42 | Scotts, Greenock |
17-Oct-43 | War Loss | | During
building, suffered some stern damage during an air raid in May 1941. Fitted to operate 3 human torpedoes
(Chariots). (Details and picture).
Lt JS Wraith DSO DSC RN had been her CO from build, with Lt L.A.S. Grant,
DSC RN as the First Lieutenant. with Lt. Clarabut as the
relief CO, on 29-July-1943, sunk the Italian submarine Pietro Micca at entrance to Adriatic -
Strait of Otranto.
He first hit an elderly Italian battleship with four torpedoes; when she failed to sink, he realised that she was a target ship
and that he was inside the enemy's training areas. After firing torpedoes which missed a 2,000-ton merchant ship, he surfaced
and set her on fire with his guns; but he missed the satisfaction of seeing her sink because enemy aircraft forced him into
a rapid dive.
Clarabut was awarded a DSO, the news of which reached him at the same time as that of the birth of his son.
When Trooper's captain, Johnny Wraith, returned to fitness, Clarabut was given a choice of coming home in her or flying.
He lost the toss of a coin and flew home.
With Lt Wraith back as CO, Trooper sailed from Beirut 26-Sep-43 for patrol in the Dodecanese islands of the Aegean Sea,
including the Leros area. Failed to return on 17th October and presumed lost on German mines around
Leros. Germans claim that Trooper was sunk by Q-ship GA.45 off Kos island on 14-Oct-43, but this
is dismissed by the Navy Historical Branch, with Torbay
being the target involved.
|
Truant | T1 | 68T, N68 | 56 | 05-May-39 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 09-Dec-46 | Loss (not war) |
Lt Cdr CH Hutchinson.
23-Mar-40, at 2330, sunk 2,139-ton ship Edmund Hugo Sterres.
Torpedoed and sank German cruiser Karlsruhe
9/10 Apr 40, off Kristiansand,
Norway. (See details).
24 Apr
40, Truant, taking
a landing party to Norway, at 0345 torpedoed -
probably by German U-boat. Torpedo did not explode, but batteries were
damaged and had to return to harbour.
23-May-40 sank Preussen, 8,230-tons.
8 Nov 40, in Med, torpedoed large Italian MV 10,000 tons, fired 10
torpedoes, 2 hits. (Truant had ten forward-firing torpedo tubes, including the midships external tubes).
Sank Sebastiano Bianchi, 1.546-tons off Calabrian coast 13-Dec-40.
4 Feb 41, attacked Italian Oiler, 3 torpedoes - unexplained large
explosions, 15 seconds after firing, damaged Asdic and put the w/t office
out of action, 6 battery cells cracked, jumping wire loop aerial damaged -
returned to base without any wireless, having been out of its allocated
zone. Met by Upholder, and failed to respond to challenge. Lt
Cdr Wanklyn VC, in the Upholder, recognised the Truant just
before firing at it. 21 Apr 41, at 0200-0345 acted as beacon for the fleet
in order to bombard Tripoli at 1404 same day. Unsuccessfully (2 Torpedoes)
attacked MV, fired on by shore batteries. Attacked and destroyed an
ammunition barge by gunfire, 16 rounds.
(Lt.Cdr. Haggard) 6 May 41: torpedoed and sank Italian MV passenger/cargo
ship Bengasi (1716 BRT) some 3 miles south-east off Cavoli, Sardinia,
Italy.
8 May
41 chased for 4hrs At 1445hrs French MV 1,800 tons carrying suspicious
cargo, escorting it to Gibraltar. 11 May 41, at 0220, intercepted by a
French destroyer and 4 S/Ms. Relieved of the French MV. 27 May 41 at 0845
sighted a suspicious tanker and lost it in very low visibility. Arrived at
Gibraltar. Refitted in USA May 41.
On return passage (to Gibraltar) Truant (Lt.Cdr. H.A.V. Haggard) came across and stopped
the Norwegian motor vessel Tropic Sea, heading for Bordeaux. It was discovered that the ship
was under the command of a German prize crew and that it was carrying the captured survivors of the
crew of the British SS Haxby which had been captured by the German auxiliary cruiser Orion
in 31 30N 51 30W on 24.4.40. There were 17 killed and 24
p-o-w, later rescued from SS Tropic Sea. The ship belonged to Ropner & Co Ltd, launched in 1929,
of 5207 grt. The Tropic Sea was scuttled and the British crew, including the Haxby's
Captain and his wife, (possibly the first woman to sail in a British submarine on a war patrol) were
taken to Gibraltar. The German prize crew eventually reached Spain and were quickly
repatriated.
Reached Gibraltar 29 Sep 41. 10 Oct 41 (in Adriatic) at 0900 sank
Italian MV 4,000 tons (2 torpedoes). A/S vessel counter attacked. Fired 1
torpedo and hit armed merchant cruiser 8,000 tons, 4 depth charges dropped
and 4 bombs were dropped.
24 Oct 41, 0730, missed Italian MV (1 torpedo), went to gun action, 30
shells, left well ablaze, presumed total loss 4,000 tons. 26 Oct 41,
½ mile off Italian coast and on to Adriatic landed 2 men at 2334; their
orders were to destroy an express train and they returned 0240. Explosion at
0229.
27 Oct 41 went in to attack an Italian MV but a ship was sighted and the
attack was aborted.
28 Oct 41, 0800, went to gun action but on surfacing a large ship came
out of mist, dived to attack but large ship turned out to be lighthouse. In
the afternoon heard 2 Italian S/Ms in vicinity, morse heard through the hull,
Italian S/Ms were ranging one another by underwater Transmissions.
31 Oct 41, 1515, attacked 1 destroyer and 3 tankers. 4 torpedoes, in 9
fathoms of water, sank tanker 1800 tons. Dived into mud bank at 40 feet,
took 1¾hrs to get out of mud and the destroyer passed over several times.
10 Nov 41 returned to Alex.
11 Dec 41: Suda Bay, at 1431, sank Italian tanker of 10,000 tons,
escorted by destroyers and combat aircraft, fired 4 torpedoes, 2 heavy
explosions, depth charges heard until 0515, with 53 explosions. Truant did
not surface until 2000, and at 2015 attacked and sank a destroyer - the Alcione
- in the escort.
Later went to the Eastern Fleet from 3-Jan-42, heading for Singapore, which fell before it reached there.
Operated for a time, with Trusty, from
Ceylon and then Surabaya with Dutch and American submarines, but was forced back to Ceylon in March 1942.
Sank 77,000 tons of shipping, in all theatres of war.
Made its way back to UK, in stages, via South Africa and Freetown, arriving
at Dunoon 29 Nov 42. First British s/m fitted with snort, 1945. Sank at Cherbourg on way to scrap in 1946.
 |
Note the snort mast and forward-facing midships external torpedo tubes |
|
Truculent | T3 | P315, P92 | 61 |
12-Sep-42 | Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 12-Jan-50 | Sunk (not war) |
 Lt.
RL Alexander DSC RN (later Rear Admiral Alexander) On 4 Jun 43, on her fourth patrol off Norway, Truculent
sank the German
Type VIIC s/m U308 north of the Faeroe Islands in position 64.28N,
03.09W. Truculent was on the surface in the daytime, having moved quickly
north to intercept some U-boats reported to be heading for the Arctic Convoy
routes. Sharp eyes by the look-outs and reactions of the Officer of
the Watch enabled Truculent to dive quickly without being spotted and
to get into an attack position, allowing the CO to fire 5 torpedoes, two of
which hit.
After two more patrols, this time to the south, Truculent
was one of the towing submarines for the midget raid on Tirpitz, Kåfjord, Norway, September
1943, towing X-6.
26 June 44. Lt Cdr Maydon. Malacca Strait, carrying a Dutch officer for
landing on Sumatra. In the afternoon a Japanese convoy came into sight. A
freighter followed by a troop transport and two tankers, protected by two
corvettes. Truculent attacked with torpedoes and sank the transport.
It was, unfortunately, the Harugiku Maru which carried hundreds of
prisoners of war held by the Japanese. The freighter was also sunk and later
one of the corvettes. Depth charges were dropped by a Japanese bomber and Truculent
had to break off the action because of damage she sustained. This also meant
the end of her initial operation and she returned to her base. The Harugiku
Maru was carrying 730 prisoners - many of them Royal Navy - and 177 were
lost. Details.
1947 - Operation Blackcurrant - Supplying power for the town of Brighton.
Submarines were employed doing this cold and draughty onerous task during
the coal shortages and consequent power cuts when the submarine service was
called upon to take over from various power stations.
12 Jan 1950, Lt. Charles P. Bowers; collision in Thames Estuary, in the dark
at 1900 (sometimes reported as 2104) hours, with MV Dvina,
a small Swedish tanker of 600 tons.
Truculent was returning to Sheerness from refit in Chatham. 57 crew swept away in current, after a
premature escape attempt. 15 survivors - 10 by a boat from Dvina, 5 by Dutch ship Almdijk.
Salvaged 14 March 1950 - using ex-German lifting vessels Energie and Ausdauer. Beached at
Cheney Spit. Wreck moved inshore following day, where 10 bodies were recovered. Re-floated 23rd and towed into
Sheerness Dockyard. An inquiry attributed 75% of the blame to Truculent and 25% to Dvina.
The loss led to the introduction of the 'Truculent Light', an extra steaming light at the after end of the fin, on British submarines.
Interesting supplementary details here
and here.
|
Trump | T3 | P333/S33 c/s MTCR | 61 | 25-Mar-44 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 01-Aug-71 | Scrap |  Commissioned
8 July 44, Cdr E.F. Balston DSO RN. First patrol Oct 44, North Sea. Sailed
for the Far East 12 Jan 45, joining 4th SM Flotilla, HMS Adamant,
Perth in Western Australia. Completed 4 war patrols off Malaya before VJ
day, the last of which contained the final torpedo attack of the war. (Lt.
A. Catlow DSC RN) accompanied by Tiptoe, attacked an escorted convoy
of two large ships, Northbound from Singapore, in water so shallow that both
submarines were forced to bump along the bottom to avoid detection and Trump
had to trim her bows up to give her torpedoes a chance of running. Both
ships were sunk. The two wrecks were sighted by Adamant, sailing
northbound after the war, clearly visible in the shallow water. Trump's
target was the last ship to be sunk by any British warship in World War 2.
Reconstructed 1956, served with the 4th SM Squadron at Sydney, Australia
from 1961 till 1969. Scrapped at Newport on 1 Aug 71.
|
Truncheon | T3 | P353 c/s GGZC | 61 |
22-Feb-44 | HMDY Devonport | 09-Jan-68 | Sold |
No active war service. Converted in 1952, additional 20 feet in length, and used the US 'JT' sonar fitted
to the forward hatch. Handed over to Israeli Navy in 1968 at Gosport to replace the Dakar
(ex-Totem) which had been lost at sea. Re-named Dolphin. 31-Jan-68 Arrived Israel. 1977 deleted/scrapped.
Pictured
1947. |
|
Trusty to Turpin
