Thread: Lost With All Hands - Twice.

HMS Thetis and HMS Thunderbolt

The Royal Navy’s worst ever submarine disaster occurred on June 1st 1939, when brand new vessel HMS Thetis sank while undergoing final sea trials in Liverpool Bay. A tragic series of errors contributed to the disaster, not least of which was a layer of bitumen paint covering critical holes on the interior hatches of the torpedo tubes. While surfaced, the presence of this paint led the crew to believe the tubes were not flooded, and the hatches were opened. Now, both exterior and interior hatches of the No.5 torpedo tube were open. The sub’s forward compartments quickly filled with hundreds of tons of water, and in the hours of drama that followed only four men managed to escape. Ninety nine sailors and civilians perished, drowned or gassed by the build up of carbon dioxide inside the half flooded vessel. Later, a salvage diver also died after suffering a severe “bend”, bringing the total death toll to a hundred. Eventually, on the 3rd September 1939 - the same day war on Germany was declared - the Thetis was towed to Moelfre Bay in North Wales and beached. The remaining and horrifically swollen dead bodies were removed and buried with full naval honours.
The following photographs show the drama in various stages:

1. Pride of the Navy: brand new ‘T Class’ boat HMS Thetis is launched.



2. Small Boats circle the exposed stern of the Thetis:



3. A diver prepares to descend to the now sunken vessel:
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4. Relatives and friend wait for news, Cammel Laird's company secretary speaking:



5. Finally beached at Moelfre Bay, Anglesey:



Photo Source HERE, text by me.

Here, a diagram shows how Thetis was eventually raised from the bottom by the M.V. Zelo:



And finally, the memorial to the dead at Holyhead, North Wales:




But the story does not end there. The Thetis was stripped clean and refitted and relaunched as the HMS Thunderbolt in 1940, and saw service against Axis forces in the Atlantic and Meditteranean.

In December 1940 she was on patrol in the Bay of Biscayand on the 15December she encountered and sank the Italian submarine Tarantini.
In the autumn of 1942 Thunderbolt was converted with her sister ships Trooper and P311 to carry two "Chariots" (a type of manned torpedo) and their crews for operations against Axis shipping in harbour, and was transferred with them to the Mediterranean in December 1942.
Their first mission, Operation Principal, was undertaken in December 1942, the three boats taking their charges to targets around the Mediterranean. Thunderbolt's objective was shipping in Cagliari, but the operation was not a success, and P311 was lost at La Maddalena, her intended target.
A second operation against Palermo harbour in January 1943 was more successful. On the 2-3 January the manned torpedoes entered the harbour and mined the ships there, sinking the cruiser Ulpio Traiano and the freighter SS Viminale.
A further mission to Tripoli harbour took place on 18 January. This was to prevent the Axis using blockships to neutralize Tripoli harbour, which was about to be occupied by the British Eighth Army.
Thunderbolt was sunk on 14 March1943 off Cap St Vito by the Italian corvette Cicogna, which had detected her and attacked with depth charges. All hands were lost and the sub settled to the bottom in 1350 metres of water.

1. HMS Thunderbolt returns from a patrol:



2. The crew with their "Jolly Roger" flag.



Thetis and Thunderbolt became one of the very few ships in history to be twice lost with all hands.

Photo source as above, text from Wikipedia.

Thanks mate, some unbelievable occurrences here that would make great reading from a fictional book never mind on a true one..