HMS Taku (N38)

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HMS Taku (N38)
Royal Navy
HMS Taku in Malta in 1943
General data
Ship type : Submarine
Ship class : Triton class ( T class )
Navy : Royal Navy
Builder : Cammell Laird ( Birkenhead )
Keel laying : November 18, 1937
Launch : May 20, 1939
Commissioning: January 3, 1940
Whereabouts: Sold as scrap in November 1946.
Technical data
(see Triton class )

HMS Taku (N38) was a submarine of the British Royal Navy in World War II . During their missions in the Mediterranean and the North Sea, the boat was sunk a total of twelve large and small vessels.

history

Construction and commissioning

The keel of the Taku was laid at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead on November 18, 1937, and was launched on May 20, 1939. It was commissioned on January 3, 1940.

War year 1940

The HMS Taku was subsequently used with moderate success in 1940 in the North Sea and the Bay of Biscay . In one of the first missions, the British destroyer HMS Ashanti was mistaken for a German warship on April 17, 1940 and mistakenly attacked with four torpedoes , which missed the target. The following month, on May 8, a German convoy was attacked with ten torpedoes east of Denmark. The German torpedo boat Möwe (900 ts) was damaged and was not ready for use again until spring 1943. As a result of the torpedo attack German escort vessels occupied the Taku for ten hours with depth charges . On November 2, 1940, the German tanker Gedania (8923 GRT) was attacked southwest of Belle-Île . Although the target was hit, it was unscathed because the torpedo did not detonate.

Use in the Mediterranean

After the submarine was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1941 , it sank several German and Italian transport ships off the Italian, Greek and Libyan coasts by the end of 1942. On May 6, the Taku was able to sink the Italian freighter Cagliari (2322 GRT) with torpedoes in the Tyrrhenian Sea about 20 nautical miles north-north-west of Stromboli . On June 11, the German ammunition transporter Tilly LM Russ (1600 GRT) was torpedoed and sunk off Benghazi . The following day, Taku was able to torpedo and sink the Italian transport ship Silvio Scaroni (1367 GRT) in the Great Syrte , 70 nautical miles west-north-west of Benghazi .

In July 1941, Taku arrived with the sinking of the Italian passenger and cargo ship Caldea (2703 GRT) on July 13 (10 nautical miles from Benghazi) and the Italian auxiliary minesweeper Vincenso P. (270 GRT) on July 15 (25 nautical miles southeast of Auegia (Libya)) two more successes.

The Taku was only sunk again in October 1942. On October 24, 1942, a small Greek sailing ship with the deck gun was sunk south of Kos . On October 25, 1942, the Italian tanker Arca (2238 BRT) was attacked with a torpedo off Chios , but missed. The tanker was torpedoed again on the following day southwest of Chios and this time it was sunk. The last sinking of this month was on October 27 with the sinking of the Greek sailor Lora (121 GRT) off Limnos by means of on-board artillery.

Two further combat successes can be recorded in December 1942:

  • On December 14th, the Italian tanker Delfin (5322 GRT) was sunk with torpedoes five nautical miles north of the Greek island of Macrosini .
  • On December 22nd, the Greek sailing ship Niki (150 GRT) with the deck gun was sunk northwest of the Potidea Canal .

War year 1944

1944 was Taku reinstated off the Norwegian coast and sank February-March, two major German freighter, another German transport suffered severe damage: On February 7, 20 miles was north of Stavanger , the Rheinhausen (6298 BRT), on February 13, eight nautical miles south of Skudeneshavn in the Boknafjord, the Hans Bornhofen (2130 GRT) shot at with torpedoes and sunk. On February 12, 1944, the German freighter Harm Fritzen (4818 GRT) was torpedoed off Stavanger . The transport ship was only badly damaged and ran aground, but was later recovered.

In April 1944, the submarine ran into a sea ​​mine and was damaged.

The HMS Taku was sold for scrapping in November 1946 and later demolished in Llanelli ( Wales ).

Commanders

  • According to Cdr. Walter Selby Hall (June 19, 1939 - February 24, 1940)
  • According to Cdr. Voltelin James Howard Van der Byl (February 24, 1940 - October 8, 1940)
  • Lt. Hugh Bentley Turner (October 8, 1940 - October 17, 1940)
  • Lt. John Frederick Beaufoy Brown (October 8, 1940 - April 22, 1941)
  • According to Cdr. Edward Christian Frederic Nicolay (April 22, 1941 - August 1941)
  • According to Cdr. Peter Joseph Howell Bartlett (October 1941 - October 15, 1941)
  • According to Cdr. Jack Gethin Hopkins (December 8, 1941 - October 11, 1942)
  • Lt. Arthur John Wright Pitt (October 11, 1942 - May 6, 1944)
  • Lt. Percy Samual Parmenter (May 6, 1944 - October 28, 1944)
  • Lt. George Edward Hunt (October 28, 1944 - March / April 1945)
  • Lt. John Peter Angell (March / April 1945 - April / May 1945)
  • Lt. William Henry Kett (April / May 1945 -)

Combat successes

date position Target of attack GRT description
May 8, 1940 east of Denmark ( 56 ° 45 ′  N , 6 ° 12 ′  E ) German convoy - Attack with ten torpedoes, the German torpedo boat Möwe (900 ts) is damaged.
May 6, 1941 in the Tyrrhenian Sea ( 39 ° 11 ′  N , 15 ° 5 ′  E ) Italian freighter Cagliari 2322 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
June 11, 1941 Before Benghazi German ammunition transporter Tilly LM Russ 1600 GRT Sinking by torpedo
June 12, 1941 in the Great Syrte ( 32 ° 27 ′  N , 18 ° 42 ′  E ) Italian transport ship Silvio Scaroni 1367 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
July 13, 1941 10 nautical miles from Benghazi Italian passenger and cargo ship Caldea 2703 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
July 15, 1941 25 nautical miles southeast of Auegia (Libya) Italian auxiliary minesweeper Vincenso P. 270 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
October 24, 1942 South of Kos ( 36 ° 23 ′  N , 27 ° 0 ′  E ) small Greek sailing ship - Sinking with the deck gun
October 25, 1942 Before Chios Italian tanker Arca - Torpedo misses target
October 26, 1942 Southwest of Chios ( 38 ° 4 ′  N , 25 ° 27 ′  E ) Italian tanker Arca 2238 GRT Attack with a torpedo, target sunk
October 27, 1942 Before Limnos Greek sailor Lora 121 GRT Sinking with artillery on board
December 14, 1942 Five miles north of the Greek island Macrosini ( 37 ° 52 '  N , 24 ° 6'  O ) Italian tanker Delfin 5322 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
December 22, 1942 Northwest of the Potidea Canal ( 40 ° 13 ′  N , 23 ° 19 ′  E ) Greek sailing ship Niki 150 GRT Sinking with the deck gun
February 7, 1944 20 nautical miles north of Stavanger German freighter Rheinhausen 6298 GRT Sinking with torpedoes
February 12, 1944 Before Stavanger German freighter Harm Fritzen 4818 GRT Torpedo, target badly damaged
February 13, 1944 In the Boknafjord ( 59 ° 8 ′  N , 5 ° 24 ′  E ) German transporter Hans Bornhofen 2130 GRT Sinking with torpedoes

See also

  • HMS Taku (other British ships of the same name)

Web links

Commons : HMS Taku  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II . 5th edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9 .
  • Robert Hutchinson: FIGHT UNDER WATER - Submarines from 1776 to the present day . 1st edition. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hutchinson and Bagnasco do not provide any information on the launching of the T-class submarines. The information on launch runs comes from uboat.net .
  2. ↑ The uboat.net states that the Taku was commissioned on January 3, 1940. Hutchinson states October 3, 1940.
  3. ↑ Walter Selby Hall on uboat.net (engl.)
  4. ↑ James Howard Van der Byl in uboat.net (engl.)
  5. ↑ Hugh Bentley Turner on uboat.net (engl.)
  6. ↑ John Frederick Beaufoy Brown in uboat.net (engl.)
  7. ↑ Edward Christian Frederic Nicolay in uboat.net (engl.)
  8. ↑ Peter Joseph Howell Bartlett in uboat.net (engl.)
  9. ↑ Jack Gethin Hopkins on uboat.net (engl.)
  10. ↑ Arthur John Wright Pitt in uboat.net (engl.)
  11. ↑ Percy Samual Parmenter on uboat.net (engl.)
  12. ↑ George Edward Hunt in uboat.net (engl.)
  13. ↑ John Peter Angell in uboat.net (engl.)
  14. ↑ William Henry Kett in uboat.net (engl.)

Remarks

  1. ↑ HMS is the abbreviation for His / Her Majesty's Ship and the name prefix of British ships. HMS means His / Her Majesty's Ship .