| 1904 | A 1 | Whist on exercise off the Isle of Wight HMS A1 was tasked with 'attacking' HMS Juno. The mock attack began in the early afternoon; HMS Juno had been sighted heading towards Portsmouth Harbour. First to attack were the Holland Boats, after which came A1's turn. As A1 closed in for the kill she was struck on the starboard side, near the conning tower, by the steam ship Berwick Castle, on route from Southampton to Hamburg. Unaware of the submarines in the area the master of the Berwick Castle reported that he believed he had been struck by a practice torpedo and continued his journey. It was not until A1 failed to return to harbour that the full scale of the disaster was known |
| 1916 | Swordfish / S1 (ICA 30) | Launched |
| 1916 | G 2 (I A4) | Completed |
| 1917 | H 28 | Laid Down |
| 1917 | H 30 | Laid Down |
| 1940 | O 24 (Dutch) | Launched |
| 1941 | Thorn (N 11) | Launched |
| 1942 | Upholder (N 99) | HMS Upholder torpedoes and sinks the Italian submarine Trichecoeast off Brindisi in the southern Adriatic. |
| 1943 | Surf (P 239) | Completed |
| 1945 | Thrasher (N 37) | HMS Thrasher sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire of the west coast of Burma. |
| 2016 | Artful (S 121) | HMS Artful become a Commissioned Warship of the Royal Navy at a ceremony at HM Naval Base Clyde. Guest of honour at the ceremony was the submarine's sponsor Lady Zambellas, who had named Artful in September 2013, before her launch in May 2014, in Barrow in Furness. |
Hugh Donald volunteered for Submarines on 6th Feb 1917 and was 'requisitioned' on 15th May 1917 - joining HMS Dolphin 'for Submarine Training' on 29th Apr 1917. This was followed by a draft to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Vulcan originally 'for the Spare Crew' but then 'for Submarine E35' on 29th May 1917.
The combined forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918 remains one of Britain's most glorious military undertakings; not quite as epic a failure as the charge of the Light Brigade, or as well publicised as the Dam Busters raid, but with many of the same basic ingredients.
A force drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port, in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan.
Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting elan, the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring.
The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, first-hand accounts of its survivors, including that of Lieutenant Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day, and the author's great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book's centrepiece, but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in their hundreds for what they knew effectively to be a suicide mission.
Zeebrugge gives a very real sense of the existence of the ordinary British men and women of 100 years ago, made extraordinary by their role in what Winston Churchill called the 'most intrepid and heroic single armed adventure of the Great War.'
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Hugh Donald volunteered for Submarines on 6th Feb 1917 and was 'requisitioned' on 15th May 1917 - joining HMS Dolphin 'for Submarine Training' on 29th Apr 1917. This was followed by a draft to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Vulcan originally 'for the Spare Crew' but then 'for Submarine E35' on 29th May 1917.
The combined forces invasion of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 23 April 1918 remains one of Britain's most glorious military undertakings; not quite as epic a failure as the charge of the Light Brigade, or as well publicised as the Dam Busters raid, but with many of the same basic ingredients.
A force drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines set out on ships and submarines to try to block the key strategic port, in a bold attempt to stem the catastrophic losses being inflicted on British shipping by German submarines. It meant attacking a heavily fortified German naval base. The tide, calm weather and the right wind direction for a smoke screen were crucial to the plan.
Judged purely on results, it can only be considered a partial strategic success. Casualties were high and the base only partially blocked. Nonetheless, it came to represent the embodiment of the bulldog spirit, the peculiarly British fighting elan, the belief that anything was possible with enough dash and daring.
The essential story of the Zeebrugge mission has been told before, but never through the direct, first-hand accounts of its survivors, including that of Lieutenant Richard Sandford, VC, the acknowledged hero of the day, and the author's great uncle. The fire and bloodshed of the occasion is the book's centrepiece, but there is also room for the family and private lives of the men who volunteered in their hundreds for what they knew effectively to be a suicide mission.
Zeebrugge gives a very real sense of the existence of the ordinary British men and women of 100 years ago, made extraordinary by their role in what Winston Churchill called the 'most intrepid and heroic single armed adventure of the Great War.'
20 pages added or updated in the last 2 month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
If you find this site useful, please consider supporting my work with a small Donation.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.