Thetis (N25)
| Built By: | Cammell Laird (Mersey) |
| Build Group: | T Group 1 |
| Fate: | Foundered whilst on trials in Liverpool bay on 1st June 1939. Salvaged and became Thunderbolt. As a result of her demise the Thetis bolt was invented and fitted to all rear tube doors. |
Thetis after being raised in November 1939
Perhaps the most famous of the early T Class submarines was the ill-fated Thetis. Sailing, prior to handover, in Liverpool Bay on the morning of 1st June, 1939, Thetis had on board her 53-man crew and 50 passengers (Shipyard and Admiralty men concerned with the trials).
For her trial dive, Thetis was reluctant to submerge, and so her six bow tubes were checked. When Numbers 1 to 4 were correctly found empty, Numbers 5 and 6 were tested to confirm that each contained seawater. The test cock of No 6 tube squirted water but, strangely, the test cock of No 5 did not, and so was apparently empty. As there was only one way to be sure, the door was opened - and the sea roared in. Jammed by one of its clips, the watertight door couldn't be closed and, as two compartments flooded, Thetis nose-dived to the seabed 160 feet below,
With her stern protruding from the waves. Thetis remained undiscovered for a whole day and, although four men managed to escape, she became a tomb for the 99 men on board - despite the efforts of rescuers.
When Thetis was raised in November 1939, an investigation into the cause of this tragic accident revealed an incorrectly-wired bow cap indicator - showing the bow cap to be shut when it was open - and that the vital test cock was blocked with paint. To avoid any suggestion of a jinx on the boat, the Admiralty refitted and commissioned her, in November 1940, as Thunderbolt and, as an epitaph to her 'previous life', she entered service with a diagonal rusty line on her hull that could not be hidden.
Events
| 21-12-1936 : | Laid Down |
| 29-06-1938 : | Launched |
| 01-06-1939 : | Sailing, prior to handover, in Liverpool Bay on the morning of 1st June, 1939, Thetis had on board her 53-man crew and 50 passengers (Shipyard and Admiralty men concerned with the trials). Thetis nose-dived to the seabed 160 feet below, With her stern protruding from the waves. Thetis remained undiscovered for a whole day and, although four men managed to escape, she became a tomb for the 99 men on board. |
| 01-11-1940 : | Completed |
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