Events
On This Day - August 15
| 1914 | Panama Canal | Panama Canal opens |
| 1916 | E 4 (I 84) | Whilst carrying out anti submarine exercises in the North Sea, HMS E41 acting as a target, had begun a surface passage of 12 knots when HMS E4s periscope appeared 50 yards off her starboard bow, on a collision course. E41 stopped her engines but not before E4 collided forward of the bridge. E41 began to take in water through the forward battery compartment and began to sink by the bow. In less than two minutes the conning tower was under the water. HMS Firdrake, who had been monitoring the exercise, took less than two minutes to reach the scene of the collision to pick up survivors. There were no survivors from E4. Both submarines were eventually located and salvaged for return to service, although E41 never served again. |
| 1916 | E 41 | Whilst carrying out anti-submarine exercises in the North Sea, HMS E41 acting as a target, had begun a surface passage of 12 knots when HMS E4s periscope appeared 50 yards off her starboard bow, on a collision course. E41 stopped her engines but not before E4 collided forward of the bridge. E41 began to take in water through the forward battery compartment and began to sink by the bow. In less than two minutes the conning tower was under the water. HMS Firdrake, who had been monitoring the exercise, took less than two minutes to reach the scene of the collision to pick up survivors. There were no survivors from E4. Both submarines were eventually located, salvaged for return to service, although E41 never served again. NOTE: William Brown’s survival was remarkable - he found himself trapped alone inside E41 when the submarine sank. By his own efforts and his extensive knowledge of the submarine systems he managed in darkness to isolate the compartment, flood and equalise the space and make a free ascent escape reaching the surface successfully about half an hour after the collision. |
| 1938 | Cachalot (N 84) | Completed |
| 1941 | Thrasher (N 37) | HMS Thrasher fires four torpedoes against the German transport Ankara off Cape Sunion, Greece. All torpedoes miss. |
| 1942 | Taku (N 38) | HMS Taku attacks the German merchant Menes with 4 torpedoes about 90 nautical miles north-east of Benghazi, Libya. All 4 torpedoes missed their target. |
| 1942 | Porpoise (N 14) | HMS Porpoise torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Lerici about 120 nautical miles north of Ras Amir, Libya. |
| 1943 | Unruly (P 49) | HMS Unruly torpedoes and damages the Italian tanker Cesco off Brindisi, Italy. |
| 1943 | Uther (P 62) | Completed |
| 1943 | P 52 / Dzik (Polish) | Attacked an Italian convoy damaging the merchant vessel Goggiam, 27 nautical miles east of Bari, Italy. The damaged Goggiam was taken in tow by the Nettuno and then beached. She was later declared to be a total loss. |
| 1945 | Solent (P 262) | HMS Solent sinks a Japanese patrol vessel with gunfire in the Gulf of Siam. |
| 1947 | Artemis (P 449) | Completed |
| 1989 | Olympus (S 12) | HMS Olympus sold to Canada as a pierside training craft for Halifax |
