HMS Tetrarch (N77)

For other ships of the same name, see HMS Tetrarch.
HMS Tetrarch
Career (UK)
Name: HMS Tetrarch
Builder: Vickers Armstrong, Barrow
Laid down: 24 August 1938
Launched: 14 November 1939
Commissioned: 15 February 1940
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 torpedo tubes

4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes
6 reload torpedoes

4 inch (100 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 sunk 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 launched 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]

References

  1. HMS Tetrarch, Uboat.net
  2. Submarine losses 1904 to present day, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport