HMS Thrasher (N37)

HMS Thrasher (N37)

General data
Ship type :	Submarine
Ship class :	Tempest class ( T class )
Navy :	Royal Navy
Builder :	Cammell Laird ( Birkenhead )
Keel laying :	November 14, 1939
Launch :	November 28, 1940
Commissioning:	May 14, 1941
Whereabouts:	Scrapped in 1947
Technical data (see Tempest class )

HMS Thrasher (N37) was a submarine of the Royal Navy in World War II .

history

The keel laying of the Thrashers took place on November 14, 1939 at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead on the British west coast. After a little over a year of construction, the submarine was launched on November 28, 1940, and commissioned with the Royal Navy on May 14, 1941.

After the first test drives off the British coast, the boat was relocated to the Mediterranean in July 1941. On the approach to enemy territory, the Thrasher damaged a French fishing cutter with gunfire so badly that it had to be abandoned. In the following months of operation in the Mediterranean, the submarine sank 16 other ships, most of them in the eastern Mediterranean. On 26 July 1942, was Trasher before Port Said mistakenly by a British Swordfish - torpedo bombers attacked and damaged. The submarine had to go to Alexandria for repairs for more than a month. At the end of 1942 the boat returned to Great Britain, where it began training for use during Operation Source off the Scottish coast .

On September 11, 1943, the Thrasher left the Loch Cairnbawn submarine base as part of Operation Source with the X5 submarine in tow and headed for Norway. On September 20, X5 was released from the tow about 100 kilometers west of the target, the German battleship Tirpitz in the northern Norwegian Altafjord , and continued on its own. After the small submarines did not return to the waiting tug submarines on September 28, the Thrasher drove back to Scotland with the other boats.

After further training missions off Scotland, the boat was relocated to the Pacific at the end of 1944 and from then on operated in Southeast Asia, especially in the Gulf of Thailand and off Burma . By the end of July 1945, the submarine sank 23 mostly smaller Japanese boats. When the war ended in August, the boat was ordered back to England, where it was soon taken out of service. The Thrasher was scrapped at Briton Ferry in Wales in March 1947 .

Commanders

Lt. Patrick James Cowell (January 21, 1941 to October 12, 1941)
Lt. Hugh Stirling Mackenzie (October 12, 1941 - March 3, 1943)
According to Cdr. Arthur Richard Hezlet (March 3, 1943 to October 15, 1943)
Lt. Hugo Rowland Barnwell Newton (October 15, 1943 to April 21, 1944)
Lt. Michael Frederic Roberts Ainslie (April 21, 1944 - October 1945)

Battle successes (selection)

date
July 17, 1941	The French fishing vessel Virgio Fidelis (129 GRT) is attacked with artillery and badly damaged off San Sebastian in the Bay of Biscay . The Virgo Fidelis then stranded and was abandoned as a total loss.
August 20, 1941	The Greek sailing ship San Stefano with artillery is sunk off Cape Malea (Greece) .
October 28, 1941	The Italian sailing ship Esperia (384 GRT) with the deck gun is sunk north-east of Benghazi .
November 25, 1941	20 nautical miles east of Brindisi (Italy) at 40 ° 37 ' N , 18 ° 27' O Italian freighter Attilio Deffenu torpediert (3510 BRT) and sunk. 40.616666666667 18.45
January 10, 1942	35 nautical miles north-east of Cape Dukato (Greece) at 38 ° 59 ' N , 19 ° 59' O Italian freighter Fedora torpediert (5016 BRT) and sunk. 38.983333333333 19.983333333333
April 9, 1942	20 nautical miles west-south-west of Benghazi is at 31 ° 49 ' N , 19 ° 42' O Italian freighter Gala (1029 BRT) torpedoes and sunk. 31.816666666667 19.7
April 13, 1942	Southwest of Benghazi at 31 ° 26 ' N , 18 ° 56' E , the German military transporter Atlas (2297 GRT) is torpedoed and sunk. The Italian tug Pilo 210 (30 GRT) is sunk with artillery on board in the same sea area . 31.433333333333 18.933333333333
May 19, 1942	Five nautical miles northwest of Monopoli (Italy) the Italian freighter Penelope (1160 GRT) is torpedoed and sunk at 41 ° 1 ′ N , 17 ° 16 ′ E.41.016666666667 17.266666666667
June 23, 1942	In the Great Syrte , the Italian transporter Sant Antonio (1480 GRT) is torpedoed and sunk at 31 ° 53 ' N , 16 ° 35' E.31.883333333333 16.583333333333
June 29, 1942	North of Tobruk (Libya) at 33 ° 30 ' N , 23 ° 30' E, the Italian sloop Diana (1568 GRT) is torpedoed and sunk. 33.5 23.5
September 4, 1942	40 nautical miles north of Tobruk is at 32 ° 44 ' N , 24 ° 11' O Italian freighter Padenna (1589 BRT) torpedoes and sunk. 32.733333333333 24.183333333333
October 12, 1942	15 nautical miles east of Cape Drepano ( Chalkidiki ) at '39 ° 56 N , 24 ° 17' O sunk a Greek sailing boat with the deck gun. 39.933333333333 24.283333333333
October 13, 1942	10 nautical miles south west of Cape Pinnes ( Athos ) at 40 ° 1 ' N , 24 ° 10' O sunk a sailing vessel with a deck gun. 40.016666666667 24.166666666667
October 19, 1942	Before Stampalia (Greece) at 36 ° 43 ' N , 26 ° 41' O Italian tractor Roma (130 BRT) sunk with the deck gun. 36.716666666667 26.683333333333
October 20, 1942	Between the Greek islands Rhodes and Simi is at 36 ° 26 ' N , 27 ° 54' O Italian freighter Lero (1980 BRT) torpedoes and sunk. 36.433333333333 27.9
January 22, 1945	Four Japanese sailing ships with the deck gun are sunk off the west coast of Siam .
January 27, 1945	Three Japanese sailing ships with artillery are sunk off the west coast of Siam.
January 28, 1945	Three Japanese sailing ships with artillery are sunk off the west coast of Siam.
March 16, 1945	A Japanese sailing ship with the deck gun is sunk off Burma.
March 18, 1945	A Japanese sailing ship with the deck gun is sunk off the west coast of Burma.
March 19, 1945	Three Japanese sailing ships are sunk with the deck gun off the west coast of Siam.
June 22, 1945	Three Japanese sailing ships are sunk with the deck gun off the west coast of Siam.
July 25, 1945	A Japanese sailing ship with the deck gun is sunk north of Malakka Street .
July 27, 1945	In the northern part of Malakka Strait, four Japanese coasters and a sailing ship with the deck gun are sunk.

Web links

Commons : HMS Thrasher - collection of images, videos and audio files

HMS Thrasher on uboat.net ( engl. )
British submarines during World War II (Engl.)

literature

Erminio Bagnasco: Submarines in World War II , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 5th edition 1996, ISBN 3-613-01252-9
Robert Hutchinson: KAMPF UNDER WASSER - Submarines from 1776 to today , Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart, 1st edition 2006, ISBN 3-613-02585-X

Individual evidence

↑ 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 .
↑ Patrick James Cowell on uboat.net (engl.)
↑ Hugh Stirling Mackenzie in uboat.net (Engl.)
↑ Arthur Richard Hezlet in uboat.net (engl.)
↑ Hugo Rowland Barnwell Newton in uboat.net (Engl.)
↑ Michael Frederic Roberts Ainslie in uboat.net (engl.)

Remarks

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

[Stapellauf_der_T-Klasse-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 .

[Patrick_James_Cowell-3] Patrick James Cowell on uboat.net (engl.)

[Hugh_Stirling_Mackenzie-4] Hugh Stirling Mackenzie in uboat.net (Engl.)

[Arthur_Richard_Hezlet-5] Arthur Richard Hezlet in uboat.net (engl.)

[Hugo_Rowland_Barnwell_Newton-6] Hugo Rowland Barnwell Newton in uboat.net (Engl.)

[Michael_Frederic_Roberts_Ainslie-7] Michael Frederic Roberts Ainslie in uboat.net (engl.)

[HMS_Turbulent-2] HMS is the abbreviation for His / Her Majesty's Ship and the name prefix of British ships. HMS means His / Her Majesty's Ship . Thrasher is a species of bird.