HMS Truculent (P315)
Encyclopedia
HMS Truculent was a British
submarine
of the third group of the T class
. She was built as P315 by Vickers Armstrong
, Barrow
, and launched on 12 September 1942.
wartime service in the Pacific Far East
, except for a period in early 1943, operating in home waters. Here she sank the German
submarine U-308, on her first war patrol, with all hands. She also took part in Operation Source
, towing the X-class
midget submarine X-6 to Norway
to attack the heavy Kriegsmarine
warships , and Lützow
.
On transfer to the Pacific, she sank the Japan
ese army cargo ship Yasushima Maru, the small Japanese vessel Mantai, the Japanese merchant cargo ship, turned hell ship, Harugiku Maru and five Japanese sailing vessels. She also laid mines, one of which damaged the Japanese minelayer
Hatsutaka.
She survived the war and returned to the United Kingdom
to continue in service with the Navy.
, having completed trials after a refit at Chatham
. In addition to her normal complement, she was carrying an additional 18 dockyard workers. She was travelling through the Thames Estuary
at night. At 19:00, a ship showing three lights appeared ahead in the channel. It was decided that the ship must be stationary, and because Truculent could not pass to the starboard side without running aground, the order was given to turn to port. At once, the situation became clear; the Swedish
oil tanker
Divina — on passage from Purfleet and bound for Ipswich — came out of the darkness. The extra light indicated that she was carrying explosive material. The two vessels collided and remained locked together for a few seconds before the submarine sank.
Fifty-seven of her crew were swept away in the current after a premature escape attempt, 15 survivors were picked up by a boat from the Divina and five by the Dutch ship Almdijk. Most of the crew survived the initial collision and managed to escape, but then perished in the freezing cold mid-winter conditions on the mud islands that litter the Thames Estuary. Sixty-four people died as a result of the collision. Truculent was salvaged on 14 March 1950 and beached at Cheney Spit. The wreck was moved inshore the following day where 10 bodies were recovered. She was refloated on 23 March 1950 and towed into Sheerness Dockyard. An inquiry attributed 75% of the blame to Truculent and 25% to Divina.
Truculent was then sold to be broken up for scrap on 8 May 1950.
Her loss led Peter de Neumann
of the Port of London Authority
to develop plans for a port control system, and the later introduction of the 'Truculent light', an extra steaming all round white light on the bow, on British submarines, to ensure they remained highly visible to other ships.
" was released. The film tells the story of a British submarine that sinks on a training cruise from the perspective of a small group of survivors. Filming finished shortly before HMS Truculent sank, and the film was almost withdrawn. The decision was made to release the film as planned, and to add the following message that appears in the opening credits of the film.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
of the third group of the T class
British T class submarine
The Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during the Second World War, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...
. She was built as P315 by Vickers Armstrong
Vickers Armstrong
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...
, Barrow
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, and launched on 12 September 1942.
Service
Truculent spent much of her World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
wartime service in the Pacific Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, except for a period in early 1943, operating in home waters. Here she sank the German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
submarine U-308, on her first war patrol, with all hands. She also took part in Operation Source
Operation Source
Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines....
, towing the X-class
X class submarine
The X class was a World War II midget submarine class built for the Royal Navy during 1943–44.Known individually as X-Craft, the vessels were designed to be towed to their intended area of operations by a full-size 'mother' submarine - - with a passage crew on board, the operational crew...
midget submarine X-6 to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
to attack the heavy Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
warships , and Lützow
German pocket battleship Deutschland
Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. Ordered by the Weimar government for the Reichsmarine, she was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel in February 1929 and completed by April 1933...
.
On transfer to the Pacific, she sank the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese army cargo ship Yasushima Maru, the small Japanese vessel Mantai, the Japanese merchant cargo ship, turned hell ship, Harugiku Maru and five Japanese sailing vessels. She also laid mines, one of which damaged the Japanese minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
Hatsutaka.
She survived the war and returned to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to continue in service with the Navy.
Sinking
On 12 January 1950, Truculent was returning to SheernessSheerness
Sheerness is a town located beside the mouth of the River Medway on the northwest corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 12,000 it is the largest town on the island....
, having completed trials after a refit at Chatham
Chatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
. In addition to her normal complement, she was carrying an additional 18 dockyard workers. She was travelling through the Thames Estuary
Thames Estuary
The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...
at night. At 19:00, a ship showing three lights appeared ahead in the channel. It was decided that the ship must be stationary, and because Truculent could not pass to the starboard side without running aground, the order was given to turn to port. At once, the situation became clear; the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
Divina — on passage from Purfleet and bound for Ipswich — came out of the darkness. The extra light indicated that she was carrying explosive material. The two vessels collided and remained locked together for a few seconds before the submarine sank.
Fifty-seven of her crew were swept away in the current after a premature escape attempt, 15 survivors were picked up by a boat from the Divina and five by the Dutch ship Almdijk. Most of the crew survived the initial collision and managed to escape, but then perished in the freezing cold mid-winter conditions on the mud islands that litter the Thames Estuary. Sixty-four people died as a result of the collision. Truculent was salvaged on 14 March 1950 and beached at Cheney Spit. The wreck was moved inshore the following day where 10 bodies were recovered. She was refloated on 23 March 1950 and towed into Sheerness Dockyard. An inquiry attributed 75% of the blame to Truculent and 25% to Divina.
Truculent was then sold to be broken up for scrap on 8 May 1950.
Her loss led Peter de Neumann
Peter de Neumann
Commander Bernard Peter de Neumann GM RN was a British sailor, convicted pirate, and dockmaster....
of the Port of London Authority
Port of London Authority
The Port of London Authority is a self-funding public trust established in 1908 by the Port of London Act to govern the Port of London. Its responsibility extends over the Tideway of the River Thames and the authority is responsible for the public right of navigation and for conservancy of the...
to develop plans for a port control system, and the later introduction of the 'Truculent light', an extra steaming all round white light on the bow, on British submarines, to ensure they remained highly visible to other ships.
In Film
On 21 February 1950, the film "Morning DepartureMorning Departure
Morning Departure is a 1950 British naval film directed by Roy Ward Baker, produced by Jay Lewis, and starring John Mills, Nigel Patrick, Peter Hammond, George Cole, Bernard Lee and Richard Attenborough...
" was released. The film tells the story of a British submarine that sinks on a training cruise from the perspective of a small group of survivors. Filming finished shortly before HMS Truculent sank, and the film was almost withdrawn. The decision was made to release the film as planned, and to add the following message that appears in the opening credits of the film.
This film was completed before the tragic loss of HMS Truculent, and
earnest consideration has been given as to the desirability of presenting
it so soon after this grievous disaster.
The Producers have decided to offer the film in the spirit in which it was made,
as a tribute to the officers and men of H.M. Submarines, and to the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
of which they are a part.