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Perseus (N36)
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | P |
| Fate: | On 6th December the boat was mined off Cephallonia. The sole survivor was L/S John Capes whose extraordinary escape has become a legend within the Submarine Service |
Ex 36P Served in China and in 1940 she went to the Mediterranean.
Adoption
By Dr Peter Schofield
 The memorial near the porch of The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Stafford |
Not a Warship Week plaque although it notes she was adopted by Stafford.
Roll of Honour
| Name | Rank | Number | Hons | Age |
| Burford, William Joseph | Able Seaman | P/SSX 28802 | 22 | |
| Bury, Alfred | Leading Stoker | C/KX 85297 | 27 | |
| Carpenter, Henry John | Able Seaman | C/KX 91062 | 22 | |
| Caselton, Herbert Robert | Able Seaman | D/JX 200382 | 24 | |
| Chetham, Percy Charles Hugh | Leading Seaman | P/J 92112 | 38 | |
| Codrington, Thomas Michael Geoffrey | Lieutenant (RNR) | DSC | 24 | |
| Craig, Thomas Fraser | Able Seaman | D/SSX 17358 | 25 | |
| Craig, Thomas Henry | Able Seaman | D/JX 136197 | 26 | |
| Craw, Andrew Mackie | Able Seaman | D/SSX 29779 | 20 | |
| Deacon, Harry Jeffrey | Petty Officer | C/J 113765 | 32 | |
| Dickerson, Ronald Frederick Francis | Ordinary Telegraphist | D/JX 159406 | 18 | |
| Dickson, John McDonald | Stoker 1st Class | D/KX 89139 | 25 | |
| Dobson, Gordon | Leading Seaman | C/JX 127847 | 30 | |
| Duell, George Albert | Petty Officer Cook | P/MX 50439 | 27 | |
| England, GeorgeArthur | Able Seaman | D/JX 183994 | 22 | |
| Francis, Claude | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | P/MX 60192 | 24 | |
| Gilbert, William Albert Edward | Leading Seaman | P/JX 136821 | 25 | |
| CWGC has Gilbert, William A E. | ||||
| Griffin, Jack Stanley | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | P/MX 69988 | 26 | |
| Gunter, Robert Frederick | Stoker 1st Class | P/KX 112291 | 24 | |
| Hammond, Norman Frank | Able Seaman | P/SSX 28564 | 21 | |
| Hartley, Albert Ernest | Steward | D/LX 23842 | 28 | |
| Henderson, Crawford | Able Seaman | D/JX 143656 | 22 | |
| Hodson, Raymond Edward | Stoker 1st Class | D/KX 105140 | 20 | |
| Holden, James William | Telegraphist | C/JX 151775 | 21 | |
| Hull, William | Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | P/MX 53813 | 26 | |
| Johnson, Alexander | Warrant Engineer | DSM | 40 | |
| Jones, Cyril | Able Seaman | P/SSX 22128 | 21 | |
| Kearey, Frederick Albert | Leading Stoker | C/KX 89086 | 23 | |
| King, Roland Francis | Leading Stoker | D/KX 77851 | 33 | |
| Lattimore, Stanley George | Stoker Petty Officer | P/KX 75890 | 27 | |
| Law, Alexander Storrie | Stoker 2nd Class | C/KX 116859 | 27 | |
| Lehane, Francis | Leading Stoker | C/KX 85218 | 27 | |
| Lillford, Charles | Leading Stoker | D/KX 88705 | 25 | |
| Lloyd, Abbot Moore | Able Seaman | C/JX 159457 | 21 | |
| Luckham, Horace John | Ordinary Seaman | D/JX 208475 | 20 | |
| Mapstone, Alistair Arthur Beresford | Able Seaman | P/JX 148951 | 28 | |
| McDonald, Daniel | Able Seaman | P/JX 131771 | MID | 20 |
| Mead, Charles Ernest | Able Seaman | P/SSX 28326 | 20 | |
| Meek, Reginald Charles Fisher | Petty Officer | P/JX 129408 | 30 | |
| Neale, Peter Thomas | Leading Signalman | C/JX 143914 | 22 | |
| Nicolay, Edward Christian Frederick | Lieutenant Commander | DSO | 34 | |
| O'Riordan, Denis | Leading Stoker | P/KX 88597 | 24 | |
| Oldridge, Frederick William John | Stoker 1st Class | D/KX 90881 | 22 | |
| Oxley, Eric George | Petty Officer | C/J 110824 | 32 | |
| Peacock, Charles Cranston | Leading Stoker | D/KX 86396 | 27 | |
| Plant, Douglas Frank | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | P/SMX 22 | 23 | |
| Preddy, Thomas Norman | Stoker Petty Officer | D/KX 80586 | 30 | |
| Ex.Jx127141 | ||||
| Rees, Thomas John | Stoker 1st Class | D/KX 85461 | 26 | |
| Render, Jack | Telegraphist | C/SSX 29326 | 21 | |
| Richardson, Cyril George | Leading Seaman | C/J 114005 | 31 | |
| Robertson, Andrew Spence | Sub Lieutenant | 23 | ||
| Robertson, Frank Sangster | Able Seaman (RNR) | LT/X 10053 | 34 | |
| Stanley, Sidney James | Stoker 2nd Class | C/SKX 165 | 22 | |
| Symons, Leonard Henry | Leading Seaman | D/JX 140715 | 23 | |
| Tait, Joseph | Lieutenant (RNR) | MID | 28 | |
| Wardrop, Henry Vallance | Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist | D/J 72812 | DSM | 40 |
| Whalley, John | Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | D/MX 48772 | 32 | |
| Whyte, Andrew Moffat | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | D/MX 60091 | 32 | |
| Wotherspoon, John William Jackson | Engine Room Artificer 1st Class | P/MX 45661 | 30 | |
Events
| 02-07-1928 : | Laid Down |
| 22-05-1929 : | Launched |
| 15-04-1930 : | Completed |
| 06-12-1941 : | HMS Perseus sunk 7 miles north of Zante (Zakinthos) Island, west coast of Greece in Ionian Sea - by Italian mines. Originally attributed to contact with Royal Italian Naval forces, probably a submarine was based on Mediterranean Fleet intelligence estimates. However, these estimates came into question in 1943 when the then 33 year old John Capes showed up at Alexandria via the British consulate in Turkey, claiming to be a survivor of His Majesties Submarine Perseus. He stated that the ship had been mined on the night of 6/7 December 1941, and that it sank in 170 feet of water with the stern section holding air. He had been in the Petty Officer Stokers mess with several others at the moment of the mining sharing a bottle of rum. He and three others made it into the stern section alive, sealed it off, and after coming to rest on the sea floor in pitch darkness, donned their DESA escape gear and commenced flooding the after spaces in preparation to making a free ascent escape. All four left the submarine, with Capes being last. Before departing, he polished off the remaining rum, and then left through the after escape hatch. He came to the surface alone and then was faced with swimming 7-9 miles to Cephalonia. He did so, met up with Greek partisans, and then spent 20 months with them before successfully reaching Turkey. The other three survivors of the mining did not make it to the surface alive, most probably due to a failure to exhale completely throughout the ascent, which was made, as it turned out, from 20 feet deeper than it was thought possible. To say that Capes story was thought to been overly remarkable by many is an understatement. Many did not believe it, nor did they believe Capes was in fact himself, though those making those conclusions had to admit that, the crew list being classified, it was unlikely an imposter could have come up with the facts he had. None the less, his statements concerning the location of the sinking did not jive with Admiralty estimates, and many considered him a fraud to the day he died. However, in 1996, Greek divers located HMS Perseus on the ocean floor, exactly where Capes said it would be. It was in 170 feet of water, and the rear escape hatch was open. Upon looking into the open hatch, the divers clearly saw on the floor below the rum bottle emptied by Capes just before his departure. All of this was photographed. Though Capes had been dead for some 15 years when the sub was discovered, it can truly be said that he had the last laugh on those that doubted his story. It is probably the single most remarkable survival story to come out of WW II. |
Comments
1 comment
| Hello, I would like to provided you with some information that you may find helpful, regarding the location of the wreck: Please consider thwt the wreck of Royal Navy submarine "HMS Perseus" lies closer to Kefalonia Island (around 4 Km off the coast) compared to Zakynthos (11 Km), therefore technically it should be referred to as a wreck off Kefalonia Island. Tilemachos Beriatos Tue, 13 Oct 2020 |
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