HMS/M Regent

A British 'R' Class submarine, like Regent. This is HMS/M Rainbow.

Regent, commanded by Lt.Cdr. H.C.Browne, was ordered to proceed into the harbour of Kotor, on the Yugoslav coast, shortly after the German invasion of the Balkans, where arrangements had been made for her to embark Sir Ronald Campbell, the British Minister to Yugoslavia, and his staff.

The Regent entered the Gulf of Kotor on the surface with a large ensign at the masthead. Trimmed well down and with her crew at diving stations, she proceeded up past the village of Ercegnovi to the seaplane base at Denovici. Here, after a two hour delay, a Yugoslav naval officer and a civilian pilot arrived in a boat with the information that Yugoslavia had been overrun by German armies, that the whole area was now in the hands of the Italians, and that Sir Ronald Campbell was at Ercegnovi. The Yugoslav naval officer was embarked to point out the way through the defensive minefields, while the pilot went ashore to telephone to the British Minister and ask him to proceed to Zelenika, where there was a jetty from which embarkation could be made.

With the Yugoslav Lt.Cdr. on board, the Regent proceeded down the gulf to Zelenika. She lay off the jetty and, after a long and acrimonious discussion with Italian officers shouted across the intervening water, it was agreed that an officer from the Regent should go ashore and interview the Italian admiral and attempt to get into touch with Mr. Campbell, while an Italian officer of equivalent rank should remain on board the submarine as a hostage. As a result, an Italian army captain was brought off to the Regent while Lt. D. Lambert, the first lieutenant, went ashore to make what arrangements he could for the release of Mr. Campbell.

All that afternoon the Regent lay off the jetty, in water too shallow in which to dive and with Italian aircraft flying round the submarine. Just after half past three, two of the aircraft straightened out and began to dive towards the Regent. A moment later a heavy explosion right alongside showed that the submarine was the target for a dive bombing attack. Seven large bombs were dropped and Browne decided that he had only one possible course of action left.  The safety of his boat was his main responsibility and he would have to abandon his mission, leave Lt. Lambert ashore, and try to reach the open sea. (During the dive-bombing raid, Lt Edward Stanley, on the casing, was hit by shrapnel, which lodged under his ribs, where it remained throughout his life. Stanley, who later went on to command H50, P37, Tireless, Trusty and Taciturn, was awarded the DSC.

Browne manoeuvred the Regent out into deeper water, becoming the target for fragmentation bombs which burst at the level of the bridge, wounding all three men on it. Then, reaching deeper water, he dived the submarine and took her down the gulf submerged with the aircraft following him and firing at the periscope. She reached the safety of the Adriatic, with the Italian hostage still on board, after an exciting trip. It transpired later that the attack had been made by German aircraft, much to the annoyance of the Italian admiral in charge of the port, who had already given his word that the Regent would not be attacked while the negotiations ashore were still in progress.

HMS Regent sank off the coast of Bisceglie (Barletta) after a collision with a mine on 18 April, 1943. The wreck, showing the dramatic effects of the explosion, lies on a sandy bottom at a depth of -28m.