Tigris to TotemPage last Updated:
6 Dec 2011
| Name | Class | Pennant | Crew | Built | Builder
| Disposal Date | Method |
Tigris | T1 | 63T | 56 | 20-Jun-40 | HMDY Chatham |
27-Feb-43 | War Loss |
 Cdr
Bone -
1 Sep 40, sank the French fishing vessel Sancte Michael (168 GRT) with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay near Brest, France.
2 Sep 40, attacked but missed the German Type IIc U-boat U-58 in the Bay of Biscay about 30 nm SW of Lorient, France
in position 47º29'N, 04º04'W.
5 Oct 40, attacked a submarine with torpedoes in the Bay of Biscay. This might have been the Italian submarine Otario.
16 Oct 40, sank the French fishing vessel Cimcour (250 GRT) with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay in position 45º44'N, 03º45'W.
2 Nov 40, attacked, but missed, the Italian submarine Veniero in the Bay of Biscay off the Gironde estuary.
12 Nov 40, sank the French fishing vessel Charles Edmond (301 GRT) with gunfire about 70 nm W of the Gironde estuary in
position 45º41'N, 02º57'W.
12 Feb 41, torpedoed and sank the French fishing vessel Rene Camaleyre (243 GRT) in the Bay of Biscay about 5 nm east of
Biarritz, France in position 43º30'N, 01º42'W.
19 Feb 41, torpedoed and sank the French merchant Jacobsen (523 GRT) off Bayonne and the French merchant Guilvinec
(3273 GRT) about 90 nm SW of the Gironde estuary in position 44º48'N, 03º01'W.
2 Apr 41, torpedoed and sank the German tanker Thorn (5486 GRT) about 25 nm west of the Loire estuary.
5 Jul 41, torpedoed and sank the Italian submarine Michele Bianchi in the Bay of Biscay west of Bordeaux, France
approx 45º00'N, 04º00'W. (more
details).
17 Aug 41, torpedoed and sank the Norwegian passenger/cargo ship Haakon Jarl (1492 BRT) near Sværholt, Norway in
position 71º03'N, 26º43'E.
13 Sep 41, torpedoed and sank the German merchant Richard With (905 BRT) off the Rolvsoy Fjord about 11 nm NE of Hammerfest, Norway
in position 70º50'N, 23º57'E.
15 Sep 41, attacked but missed the German merchant Bessheim (1774 GRT) in Lopphavet, Norway.
17 Sep 41, attacked but missed an unknown ship in a German convoy in Lopphavet, about 10 nm W of Loppa Island, Norway, 70º21'N, 21º10'E.
26 Sep 41, torpedoed and heavily damaged the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ 1201 (527 GRT) off the Rolvsoy Fjord.
The bow of this German ship sinks but the stern is towed to port and the ship is rebuilt, entering service again in April 1944.
14 Oct 41, attacked a convoy off the Laksfjord in position 71º03'N, 27º10'E. Fired three torpedoes but missed the Norwegian merchants
Mimona (1147 GRT), Tugela (5559 GRT) and Havbris (1316 GRT).
6 Dec 42, (Lt.Cdr. G.R. Colvin, RN) torpedoed and sunk the Italian submarine Porfido about 90 nm NNE of Bone (Annaba),
Algeria, 38º10'N, 08º35'E.
21 Jan 43, torpedoed and sank the Italian merchant Citta di Genova (5413 GRT) in the Strait of Otranto about 25 nm W of
Saseno Island, 40º32'N, 18º45'E.
February/March 1943, left Malta on 18-Feb-43 to patrol SW of Naples.
May have been sighted off Capri on 24-Feb. Failed to return to Algiers on the 10th. Italian aircraft reported
probable mine explosion off the Gulf of Tunis on the 10th that could have been Tigris returning from patrol.
Germans claim she was sunk by submarine chaser UJ.2210 on the 27th February; lost with all hands.
Each year there is an annual Remembrance Service for the submarine and the crew lost at St Nicolas Church,
Newbury, Berks, England on on the Sunday nearest the 27 February. The submarine was adopted by Newbury during World War II.
|
Tiptoe | T3 | P332 c/s MVSG | 61 | 25-Feb-44 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 01-Apr-71 | Scrap |
Named by Churchill! Lt.Cdr. PRH Harrison, DSO, DSC, RN,
15 April 1944 - 24 April 1945, then Lt. R.L. Jay, RN.
15 May 45, sank a Japanese coaster with gunfire of Sumbawa Island, Dutch East Indies.
17 May 45, sank a Japanese coaster with gunfire of Sumbawa Island, Dutch East Indies.
1 Jun 45, torpedoed and sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Tobi Maru (982 GRT) in the Java Sea off Matasiri Island,
04º40'S, 115º32'E.
31 Jul 45, damaged a Japanese coaster with gunfire off the Sunda Strait.
3 Aug 45, torpedoed and sank the Japanese salvage vessel Tencho Maru (2608 GRT) off the Sunda Strait, 05º07'S, 106º05'E.
The same ship had been attacked, but missed, the previous day by HMS Trump (Lt. A.A. Catlow, RN).
9 Aug 45, Talent and Trump together sank an unidentified Japanese oiler with gunfire in the northern part of the Sunda Strait.
Movie star in 1950, playing the Trojan in "Morning
Departure" - the CO was, as ever, John Mills.
Escape trials '62 - series of trials off Malta into
escape from a submarine at extreme depths - seven men ascended from Tiptoe at 260 feet.
10 Jan 64: ran
aground in the Clyde, coincidentally right in front of the house of the area's senior naval officer.
13 July 65: Damaged
in Collision with HMS Yarmouth - at periscope depth 10 miles SE of Portland Bill.
Repaired at Cammell Laird.
Last T class in sea service. Her anchor is at Blyth, commemorating that
town's links with submarines. Scrapped (finally) by Pounds, Portsmouth 1979. Pictured below in 1956.
Another Picture.
|
Tireless | T3 | P327, later S77 c/s GGVS | 61 | 19-Mar-43 |
HMDY Portsmouth | 01-Nov-68 | Scrap | | Completed April
1945, no war action.
Work up at Holy Loch, before leaving to join the British Pacific Fleet in
early September 1945. After a long passage through the Mediterranean Sea and
Indian Ocean, arrived in Hong Kong on 19 Nov 45. During 1946, she took part
in numerous exercises in the Far East and made visits to Australia and
Japan, before leaving to return to the UK on 21 Oct 46 for a refit in
Chatham Dockyard. On completion, placed in ‘immediate reserve’ - from
which she was withdrawn in May 1948 to join the 2nd Flotilla. During this
period she visited Norway before returning to Portland in July.
Refitted again, including streamlining, at Birkenhead during the summer of
1949, then to Rothesay to join the 3rd Flotilla, for 8 years, visiting many
of the major European ports as well as carrying out many NATO exercises and
the 1953 Coronation Review at Spithead.
Refitted for the third time and went back to the 2nd Flotilla in September
1958, where she stayed for 3 years before transferring to the 1st Flotilla
in May 1961. In August 1963 paid off for disposal and sold to a Newport
breakers yard in October 1968.
Obituary of one of her Commanding Officers, Lt Cdr E Stanley.
Picture.
|
Token | T3 | P328, later S28 c/s GGVM | 61 | 19-Mar-43 |
HMDY Portsmouth | 1970 | Scrap |
 Not completed until after war (Dec '45). 1955-56 modernised and streamlined. In 1967,
towed Danish merchant ship Upnor clear of Dubh Artack reef off west coast of Scotland. After 12 hours,
Token handed over to tug Labrador. Last dive at Portland 8-Sep-67. Sold to Portsmouth shipbreakers 1970. Seen
right mid 1950s, below left 1962, right 1965. 
|
Torbay | T1 | N79/79T | 56 | 09-Apr-40 |
HMDY Chatham | 01-Dec-45 | Scrap | German
bomb hit the head of the dock during fitting out in Nov 1940. Fortunately
she suffered no damage and Lieutenant Commander A.C.C Miers commissioned HMS
Torbay 18 Nov 40 as a tender to HMS Dolphin in the 5th Flotilla. Completed
on 15th January 1941, she proceeded to the Clyde and joined the 2nd
Submarine Flotilla on 21 Jan 41. After completing work up she was employed
on anti U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay from 22 Mar until 13 Apr 1941.
In late March she formed part of the submarine screen deployed to intercept
the battle cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau - being forced
to sail at such short notice that half her crew were still on leave and
numbers had to be made up from depot ships. 10 May 41 deployed to the
Mediterranean to join the 10th Flotilla, then operating out of Alexandria.
Exploits of first commission recorded in the book Submarine Torbay by Paul Chapman (1st Lt).
5 July 1941 sank Italian s/m Jantina
off Mykonos, in Aegean Sea. For many years, it was thought that the Italian s/m Argonauta had been sunk
by the Torbay, but Italian records show that it was sunk by surface units. Comments welcome.
20 Aug 41 - evacuated 125 soldiers (including 62 New Zealanders) from Crete to Alexandria.
See details.
Torbay returned to the UK to refit in May 1942. then returned to
the Clyde and from there she sailed to cover the passage of convoy JW 51A in
Dec 1942. On return from patrol she was once again dispatched to the
Mediterranean, joining the 8th Flotilla at Algiers in February 1943. Now
under the command of Lt RJ Clutterbuck RN, Torbay carried out nine
patrols in the following year, accounting for 8 ships totalling 21,500 grt
and 5 coasters, as well as a heavily defended 15,000-ton floating dock in
the Skiathos Channel. In carrying out her duty that year Torbay was
damaged on three occasions; by shore battery during a bombardment, by depth
charge and by an air raid on Algiers in April 1943 that forced her to return
to Gibraltar under tow for repairs.
On 10 July 1943, part of an armada of 276 vessels of all types that took
part in “Operation Husky”- the landings on Sicily, for which she
received battle honours.
From Mar to Aug 1944, refit at Chatham, then 3rd Flotilla for work up. She
then made three patrols off Nancy and the North Sea, before leaving home
waters in mid Dec 44.
At the beginning of 1945, under the command of Lt Cdr Norman DSO RN, she
sailed to join the 2nd Flotilla, a part of the East India Fleet. Employed
exclusively for Special Operations, landing agents and stores on
Sumatra and the coast of Thailand. Five such missions were undertaken from
Trincomalee up to the end of the war, and included the sinking of four
Japanese surface vessels with gunfire.
Returned to the UK in October 1945. She, along with HMS Trident was
the only surviving T Class submarine out of the original first batch of fifteen built.
She was one of an earlier group of 'short range' submarines
of her class and had seen considerable strenuous service throughout the
entire war; therefore approval was given for her to be disposed of as early
as 28 Nov 45. Such was the demand for steel that she was handed to the
British Iron & Steel Corporation and broken up within weeks in early
1946.
 |
Totem | T3 | P352, S52 c/s GGYM | 61 | 28-Sep-43 |
HMDY Devonport | 01-Jan-68 | Loss (not war) | Lt.Cdr. Michael Beauchamp St.
John, DSC, RN.
January 45, went straight to Pacific Fleet. Rebuilt 52-53 with streamlining and conversion, with additional 12 feet.
The vessel was cut in half and a new section with an additional battery was
added, along with a 10-man diving chamber and a modified fin. Sold Israel 1964, refitted 1965-66,
renamed Dakar. Lost on passage, 26-Jan-68, all hands lost. (Without its Totem pole, a souvenir
presented by a Canadian Indian tribe - the pole is now in the RN Submarine Museum). Rediscovered 1999
between Crete and Cyprus.
Some interesting pictures at an Israeli website. However, I have been sent a
translation by Alain Blitz, in Israel...
"Yacov Ra'anan, the skipper, got his orders from navy HQ in Haifa. His was to
make his way through the Mediterranean in full operational schnorkelling. In
this way the schnorkel only is above the sea level...In accordance with
normal procedure, the sub would send a message every 6 hours. Every 24 hours
the exact location of the sub would be communicated to HQ. The planning was
to enter Haifa harbour on February 2nd, but Ra'anan expected to arrive
earlier on January 29th and asked HQ authorisation. HQ accepted, but then
Ra'anan asked another day earlier, which was refused as an official ceremony
with VIP's was already planned on January 29th. On January 24th nearby Crete
Dakar sent a message at 06:10 with her exact location, then during the next
18 hours another 3 messages. On January 25th at 00:02 she sent her last
message, next full location was expected at 06.00".
See also another
report.
Totem and two other T Class boats in Malta, date unknown.
Totem in 1953, showing her streamlining.
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Tradewind to Triton