T Class

This class were built as a replacement for the 'P' class and were very often referred to as the 'Replacement 'P'.  They were some 400 tons smaller than the 'O', 'P' and 'R' classes but were superior in just about every other aspect except surface speed as their displacement meant they could be fitted with less powerful diesel engines.

It was intended to fit the first group with different types of engines so an evaluation could be done on the differing types, the commencement of WWII halted this and the remaining boats were either fitted with Vickers or Admiralty design diesel units.

The first batch were of an all riveted design and their torpedo tubes were arranged to fire forward, this was modified in all later boats which had an external stern tube fitted. The two external midships tubes were moved further aft and also turned to fire astern.   Another disadvantage of this first batch were the forward external tubes.  These were encased in a bulbous casing which caused a bow-wave which proved to be an obstruction when using the periscope.  These modifications were carried through to the Second group.

The class proved to be most successful and were employed in all theatres of WWII, they suffered their greatest losses in the Mediterranean which was not suited to large submarines.  After the end of WWII some of the 'T' class were streamlined:

15 Built

Submarine	Builder	Built
Tigris Torbay	HM Dockyard, Chatham.	1940
Tetrarch Thistle Triad Triton Triumph Truant	Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness.	1937 - 1939
Taku Talisman Thetis/Thunderbolt Trident	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.	1938 - 1940
Tarpon Tribune Tuna	Scotts, Greenock.	1938 - 1940

Technical Information

Displacement (tons):	1,090 sf except Triton 1,095 1,573 sm except Triton 1,585
Length (ft):	275.5 oa except Triton 277.25
Breadth (ft)	26.5
Draught/Height (ft):	15.75
Machinery:	6 cylinder Admiralty Diesel 2,500 bhp except Taku, Trident, Talisman and Thetis - Sulzer. Tarpon, Tribune and Tuna - M.A.N. Thistle, Triad, Triton, Triumph and Truant - Vickers. Laurence Scott electric motors 1,450 bhp
Speed (kts):	15.25 sf 8.75 sm
Oil Supply (tons):	132 - Except Torbay and Trident after modification - 178.
Armament:	1 x 4 inch/40 QF MkXII. 3 x .303 Lewis or Vickers MG (Except Thunderbolt and later Triumph. 10 x 21 inch tubes, 8 fwd and 2 amidships 16 reloads. 8 x 21 inch tubes (6 fwd and 2 amidships 14 reloads - on modified boats.
Range:	8,000 miles at 10 kts sf Torbay and Trident 11,000 at 10 kts sf when modified.
Complement:	56 peacetime (5 Officers and 51 others). 62 war (6 Officers and 56 others).
sm = submerged, oa = overall, hp = horsepower, na = not available.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	38.T 38.N N.38	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	18th November 1937.	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.
Commissioned:	3rd January 1940.	Not known at present.
Commander:	1940 1941 1943 - 1944	Lt. Cdr. V. J. H. Van der Byl. Lt. Cdr. E.F.C. Nicolay. Lt. A.J.W. Pitt.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940 - 2nd Flotilla. 1941. 1941. 1942. 1943. 1944.	HMS Forth, Rosyth. Home Station. Mediterranean. Mediterranean. Mediterranean. Home Station.
	Sank the tanker Gedania in the Bay of Biscay, November 1940. Sank or wrecked three vessels off Skudensnes, February 1943, a total of 14,000 tons. Heavily damaged by a mine in April 1944 and was retired from service.
Fate:	Sold November 1946, and scrapped, Llanelly.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	78.T 78.N N.78	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	27th September 1938.	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.
Commissioned:	29th June 1940.	Lt. Cdr. P. S. Francis.
Commander:	1940.	Lt. Cdr. P. S. Francis.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime. 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940. 1941. 1941. 1942.	Home Station. Home Station. Mediterranean Station. Mediterranean Station.
Fate:	Lost by unknown cause (probably mined) in the Sicilian Channel 17th September 1942.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	17.T 17.N N.17	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	5th October 1937.	Scott's, Greencok.
Commissioned:	8th March 1940.	Lt. Cdr. H.J. Caldwell.
Commander:	1940.	Lt. Cdr. H.J. Caldwell.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940.	Home Station.
	Was part of the submarine force which was in the Kattegat and off the coast of Norway during the German invasion of Norway.
Fate:	Lost. Depth charged by the German 'Q' ship Schiff 40 in the North Sea on the 10th April 1940.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	77.T 77.N N.77	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	24th August 1938	Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow
Commissioned:	15th February 1940	Not known at present.
Commander:	1940 1941 1941	Lt. Cdr. R.G. Mills. Lt. Cdr. R.G. Mills. Lt. Cdr. G.H. Greenway.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940 1940. 1941.	Home Station. Mediterranean. Mediterranean.
	Tetrarch was configured as a minelayer based on a design which was implemented in Vickers build of 2 Russian submarines. Involved in the Norwegian campaign of 1940. Sank the tanker Persiano (2,475 tons) on 12th April 1941
Fate:	Lost 27th October 1941, cause unknown, possibly mined.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	24.T 24.N N.24	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	7th December 1937	Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow
Commissioned:	4th July 1939	Not known at present.
Commander:	1939 1940	Lt. Cdr. W. Haselfoot. Lt. Cdr. W. Haselfoot.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1939. 1940.	Home Station. Home Station.
	Involved in the Norwegian campaign of 1940.
Fate:	Torpedoed by U4 whilst on the surface 10th April 1940 - no survivors.

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H.M. Submarine Thetis

Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:
Laid Down:	21st December 1936	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.
Commissioned:	4th July 1939	Lt. Cdr. G. Bolus.
Commander:	1939	Lt. Cdr. G. Bolus.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1939.
Fate:	Foundered during trials in Liverpool Bay 1st June 1939. Salved November 1939 and renamed Thunderbolt April 1940.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	63.T 63.N N63
Laid Down:	11th May 1938	H.M. Dockyard, Chatham
Commissioned:	20th June 1940
Commander:	1939 1940 1941 1942	Lt. Cdr. H.F. Bone. Lt. Cdr. H.F. Bone. Lt. Cdr. H.F. Bone Lt. Cdr. G. Colvin.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940. 1941. 1941. 1942. 1943.	Home Station. Home Station. Arctic. Mediterranean. Mediterranean.
	The first boat to patrol the Bay of Biscay in July 1940. These patrols were referred to as the 'Iron Ring'. Sank the Michele Bianchi off the Gironde on 5th July 1941. Sank the Italian submarine Porfido on 6th December 1942.
Fate:	Lost 27th February 1943, possibly depth-charged by UJ 2210 in the Gulf of Naples.

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H.M. Submarine Torbay

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H.M. Submarine Tribune

Type:	Triton Class	First Group.
Pennant No.:	52.T 52.N N.52	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	12th January 1937.	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead.
Commissioned:	29th August 1939.	Lt. Cdr. A. G. L. Seale.
Commander:	1940. 1940. 1942. 1943.	Lt. Cdr. A. G. L. Seale. Lt. Cdr. G. M. Sladen. Commander G. M. Sladen. Lt. Newstead.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime. 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1939. 1940. 1941. 1942. 1943. 1945.	Home Waters. Home Waters. Home Waters/Arctic. Home Waters. Mediterranean/Indian Ocean. Second Submarine Flotilla, Indian Ocean.
	Damaged the cruiser Prinz Eugen 23rd February 1942 off Norway. Trident is believed to be the most successful boat of the class. She was credited with destroying some 50,000 GRT of enemy shipping. This included the German submarine chaser UJ 1213. She also managed to serve as a front line boat throughout the duration of the war. She sailed on her first war patrol on 20th October 1939 and returned from her last patrol to Trincomalee on 3rd September 1945 being the last boat of the East Indies Fleet to return from patrol. She completed 34 patrols in practically every theatre of the war. Her first success was the sinking of the Stedigen (ex Posidonia), 8036 GRT, on 8th April 1940 off Norway. On the same day she missed the cruiser Lutsow with a salvo of 10 torpedoes. In early May of the same year she sank the Clare Hugo Stinnes, 5,295 GRT. From August 1941 until November of the same year she operated from Polyarnoe in company with H. M. Submarine Tigris, the first boats to do so. Whilst in this area she sank 5 ships of some 22,000 GRT as well as the submarine chaser UJ1213.
Fate:	Scrapped 17th February 1946.

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Type:	Triton Class
Pennant No.:	15.T 15.N N.15	Renumbered 1939. Renumbered 1940.
Laid Down:	20th August 1936.	Vickers-Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness.
Commissioned:	9th November 1938.	Lt. Cdr. H. P. De C. Steele.
Commander:	1938-40. 1940. 1940.	Lt. Cdr. H. P. De C. Steele. Lt. Cdr. E. F. Pizey. Lt. G. C. I. Watkins.
Complement:	56 Peacetime. 62 Wartime.	5 Officers and 51 Ratings Peacetime. 6 Officers and 56 Ratings Wartime.
Service Career:	1940. 1940.	Home Waters. Mediterranean.
	Triton was involved in one of the gravest submarine tragedies in the Royal Navy, and also obtained the most important success of any boat of the class. Less than one week into the war, in the second torpedo attack of the war by a British submarine (9th September), she fired two torpedoes at Oxley, one hit and sank the British submarine. Late on the 10th September, off Obrestad, the two British submarines encountered each other. Oxley replied to Triton's challenge with a non-working signal lamp, the former was mistaken for a U-boat and sunk. There were only two survivors, Oxley's commanding officer and one rating. Seven months later, 10th April 1940, during the invasion of Norway she launched six torpedoes at a German convoy from 2,500 yards. Three torpedoes found their mark, sinking the Friedenau (5,219GRT), Wigbert (3,648GRT) and V1507 (ex-Rau VI, 154GRT). Some 900 German army personnel were drowned, this was the worst disaster suffered by the Germans during the operation.
Fate:	Believed lost by mining on or about 6th December 1940.

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