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HMS Tetrarch
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Tetrarch
Builder	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow
Laid down	24 August 1938
Launched	14 November 1939
Commissioned	15 February 1940
Identification	Pennant number N77
Fate	Sunk 2 November 1941
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	British T class submarine
Displacement	1,090 tons surfaced 1,575 tons submerged
Length	275 ft (84 m)
Beam	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught	16.3 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
Range	4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
Test depth	300 ft (91 m) max
Complement	59
Armament	6 internal forward-facing 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes 6 reload torpedoes 1 x 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun

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.

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.

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.

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.

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".

References

• Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
• Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
• Caruana, Joseph (2012). "Emergency Victualling of Malta During WWII". Warship International. LXIX (4): 357–364. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) . Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Kemp, Paul J. (1990). The T-class Submarine: The Classic British Design. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-826-7.
• McCartney, Innes (2006). British Submarines 1939–1945. New Vanguard. Vol. 129. Oxford, UK: Osprey. ISBN 1-84603-007-2.

External links

• Interview with Ronald Mills, who commanded HMS Tetrarch from 1940 to 1941

v t e T-class submarines
Royal Navy	1st Group Taku Talisman Tarpon Tetrarch Thetis Thistle Thunderbolt Tigris Torbay Triad Tribune Trident Triton Triumph Truant Tuna 2nd Group Tempest Thorn Thrasher Traveller Trooper Trusty Turbulent 3rd Group P311 Tabard Taciturn Tactician Talent (P322) Talent (P337) Tally-Ho Tantalus Tantivy Tapir Tarn Taurus Telemachus Templar Teredo Terrapin Thermopylae Thorough Thule Tiptoe Tireless Token Totem Tradewind Trenchant Trespasser Truculent Trump Truncheon Tudor Turpin Cancelled Thor Tiara Theban Threat Talent (P343)
Israeli Navy	Dakar (ex-Totem) Dolphin (ex-Truncheon) Leviathan (ex-Turpin)
Royal Netherlands Navy Zwaardvisch class	Dolfijn (ex-Taurus) Tijgerhaai (ex-Tarn) Zeehond (ex-Tapir) Zwaardvisch (ex-Talent)
Preceded by: Grampus class Followed by: U class
List of submarines of the Royal Navy List of submarine classes of the Royal Navy

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in October 1941
Shipwrecks	2 Oct: I-61 4 Oct: U-111 6 Oct: Thistlegorm 7 Oct: Blokshiv No. 1 8 Oct: SS Rosalie Moller 17 Oct: HMS Gladiolus, Lingfield 18 Oct: HMS Broadwater 19 Oct: Tower Field, U-204 21 Oct: Johannes C Russ 22 Oct: RFA Darkdale 24 Oct: Carsbreck 25 Oct: HMS Latona 26 Oct: English Trader, Herta Engeline Fritzen 27 Oct: HMS Cossack 28 Oct: V 309 Martin Donandt 31 Oct: USS Reuben James Unknown date: HMS Tetrarch, Kalev
Other incidents	14 Oct: HMS Liverpool 21 Oct: HMS Gnat, I-7, I-66 23 Oct: HMS Cossack
1940 1941 1942 September 1941 November 1941

• British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy
• Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
• 1939 ships
• World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
• Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
• World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
• Maritime incidents in October 1941
• Submarines lost with all hands
• Ships sunk by mines