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On This Day - October 16

1905 A 4 Whilst carrying out sound signal experiments at Spithead, HMS A4 was trimming down when water came through a ventilator being used to signal, with a flag on a boathook, the results of the sound tests.

The submarine went down to 90 feet with an inclination of 40 degrees by the bow. Due to the contact with seawater, chlorine gas started escaping from the batteries. The Captain ordered all ballast tanks blown and as soon as the submarine surfaced, the crew were ordered on deck.

An explosion occurred as the boat was being towed to the dock and she slowly sank. She was later salvaged and put back into service.
1917 L 56 Laid Down
1940 Tigris (N 63) HMS Tigris sinks the French fishing vessel Cimcour with gunfire in the Bay of Biscay.
1940 P 552 Recommissioned
1943 Torbay (N 79) HMS Torbay torpedoes and sinks the German troopship Kari and torpedoes and damages the Italian merchant (in German service) Trapani east of Naxos, Greece.
1944 Vengeful (P 86) Completed
1971 Courageous (S 50) Completed

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Triad (N 53)

Class: 1935 - 1970: T Class
Built By: Vickers (Barrow)
Build Group: T 1
Fate:
On 15th October 1940, the Italian submarine Enrico Toto (C.C. Bandino Bandini) encountered HMS Traid south west of Calabria in position 38°16'N, 17°37'E.

The Submarines passed at close range on opposite courses as the Italian submarine engaged with machine-gun fire and three rounds of 4" from her deck gun, claiming two direct hits. HMS Triad fired back scoring a hit on the conning tower of Enrico Toti but this caused only slight damage and wounded two sailors. Triad’s torpedo missed the Italian submarine by a few yards.

Triad pulled away and dived but Enrico Toti had fired a torpedo which made a direct hit. Triad was lost with all hands.
Featured Film
The Silent Enemy
Directed by William Fairchild, The Silent Enemy is a newly restored 1958 war film based on the real Lionel 'Buster' Crabb who vanished during a reconnaissance mission for the MI6, played by Laurence Harvey.

In 1941, Britain was sustaining enormous losses fighting a war on three fronts against an ever increasing Axis power. To add to their problems, the Italians have recently created a new form of warfare - Frogmen - an intrepid band of men who travel astride small torpedo-type vessels, and attach explosive charges to the hulls of enemy ships, below their waterline.

A young Naval Lieutenant, 'Buster' Crabb, an expert in mine and bomb disposal, is sent to Gibraltar to try and combat this new threat. Never having dived before, he sets to work to master the technique of underwater operations, and soon he and his team are able to locate many of the frogmen's charges and render them harmless. But with an invasion of North Africa imminent, time is not on the Allies' side.
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