| Built By: | Scotts (Clyde) |
| Build Group: | S3 |
| Fate: | Scrapped Gateshead 9/49 |
| 1943: | Lieutenant | Ian Stewart McIntosh | |
| 1944: | Lieutenant | Hilary John Bartlett | DSC |
On 1st August 1944, Able Seaman George Dunkey O/N P/JX 394427 was accidentally lost overboard and was presumed to have drowned whilst HMS Sceptre was at Loch Cairnbawn in Western Scotland.
See Roll of Honour below
Monday 11th September 1944, twenty-two-year-old AB Alexander Archer Bruce Douglas (C/JX 234846) is reported to have died onboard HMS Sceptre. He was sleeping in his hammock just clear of a hydraulic ram when the ram moved across at full power killing him instantly.
At the time HMS Sceptre was lying off Bergen, Norway, having just towed the XCraft X-24 there for a raid on the Floating Dock at Bergen (Operation Heckle). X-24 was successfully recovered for the tow back to Scotland after the Operation.
Able Seaman Douglas was buried at sea off Bergen. He is commemorated on the Chatham NavalWar Memorial on Panel No 75 Column No 2. He was born in Coleraine, County Londonderry in 1922 and he was the son of James McGregor Douglas and Helen Douglas of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry.
Operation Source - September 1943
In September 1943 six in X-Craft were towed by six Submarines to attack German Capital Ships in the Kaa Fjord in Norway. In all (apart from the Towing Submarine Crew) forty-two X- Craft personnel took part in Operation Source, eighteen Passage Crew Members and twenty-four Operational Crew Members.
Roll of Honour |
2
|
| Dunkey, George |
|
|||||
| Able Seaman | ||||||
| George Dunkey was accidentally lost overboard and was presumed to have drowned whilst HMS Sceptre was at Loch Cairnbawn in Western Scotland. He was the son of Mr. F Dunkey and Mrs. Matilda E Dunkey. George, who was trained as a lathe operator, joined the Royal Navy at HMS Glendower on 9th November 1942. It is likely that SCEPTRE was at Loch Cairnbawn (Port HHZ) for training in towing X-Craft when the accident occurred. George Dunkey was not recovered. |
||||||
| Douglas, Alexander Archer Bruce |
|
|||||
| Able Seaman | ||||||
| 'Alexander Douglas was born in 1922 and he was the son of James McGregor Douglas and Helen Douglas of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry. It is not reported when he was drafted to the Submarine Depot Ship HMS Forth (3rd Submarine Flotilla) at the Holy Loch for Submarine HMS Sceptre. Alexander is reported to have died onboard HMS Sceptre. He was sleeping in his hammock just clear of a hydraulic ram when the ram moved across at full power killing him instantly. At the time HMS Sceptre was lying off Bergen, Norway, having just towed the XCraft X-24 there for a raid on the Floating Dock at Bergen (Operation Heckle). X-24 was successfully recovered for the tow back to Scotland after the Operation. Able Seaman Douglas was buried at sea off Bergen' |
||||||
| 25-07-1940 | Laid Down |
| 09-01-1943 | Launched |
| 15-04-1943 | Completed |
| 07-03-1944 | HMS Sceptre torpedoes and heavily damages the German merchant Lippe off the Foldafjord, Norway. The Lippe is beached but breaks up the following day. |
| 20-05-1944 | HMS Sceptre torpedoes and sinks the German merchant Hochheimer off Bilbao, northern Spain. In the same attack the torpodoes miss the German patrol vessels V-402 and V-405. |
| 23-05-1944 | HMS Sceptre torpedoes and sinks the German merchant Baldur off Castro-Urdiales, northern Spain. |
| 20-09-1944 | HMS Sceptre torpedoes and sinks the Norwegian merchant Vela and the German minesweeper M 132 about 11 nautical miles west-south-west of Norway. |
| 20-10-1944 | HMS Sceptre torpedoes and sinks the German auxilary submarine chaser UJ 1111 off Lister, Norway. |
| Length overall | 217 ft |
| Beam | 23 ft 6 inch |
| Depth | 11 ft |
| Diving Depth | 350 ft |
| Speed | Surface 15 knots (design) |
| Surface 14.75 knots (service) | |
| Submerged 10 knots (design) | |
| Submerged 9 knots (service) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 6000 miles at 10 knots (design) |
| Armament (i) | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| 1 21 inch stern tube | |
| (13 torpedoes carried) | |
| 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| 1 x 20mm Oerlikon cannon | |
| Complement | 5 Officers and 43 Ratings |
| Note | The armament of submarines of this class varied considerably. For example: 23 boats were fitted with the six bow tubes only; 18 vessels, intended to operate in the Far East, had their 3 inch guns replaced by 4 inch guns; whilst, in some boats, the Oerlikon cannon replaced, rather than supplemented, the three machine-guns. |
| Class: | 1944 - 1952: XE Class |
| Built By: | Broadbent (Huddersfield) |
| Build Group: | XE |
| Fate: | |
| Scrapped Australia 1945/46 | |
11 pages added or updated in the last Array 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. Or you can make a big one if you like :)
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
| Length overall | 217 ft |
| Beam | 23 ft 6 inch |
| Depth | 11 ft |
| Diving Depth | 350 ft |
| Speed | Surface 15 knots (design) |
| Surface 14.75 knots (service) | |
| Submerged 10 knots (design) | |
| Submerged 9 knots (service) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 6000 miles at 10 knots (design) |
| Armament (i) | 6 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| 1 21 inch stern tube | |
| (13 torpedoes carried) | |
| 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| 1 x 20mm Oerlikon cannon | |
| Complement | 5 Officers and 43 Ratings |
| Note | The armament of submarines of this class varied considerably. For example: 23 boats were fitted with the six bow tubes only; 18 vessels, intended to operate in the Far East, had their 3 inch guns replaced by 4 inch guns; whilst, in some boats, the Oerlikon cannon replaced, rather than supplemented, the three machine-guns. |
| Class: | 1944 - 1952: XE Class |
| Built By: | Broadbent (Huddersfield) |
| Build Group: | XE |
| Fate: | |
| Scrapped Australia 1945/46 | |
11 pages added or updated in the last Array 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. Or you can make a big one if you like :)
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
This form is for you to comment on, or add additional information to this page. Any questions will be deleted. If you wish to ask a question contact the Branch or the Webmaster using the Contact Us page or ask your question on our Facebook Page