Top
Home → Boats → Submarines → S Class → Splendid

Splendid (P 228)

Built By: Chatham Dockyard (Medway)
Build Group: S3
Fate: HMS Splendid (Lt Ian Laughlan Mackay McGeogh, DSO) was lost on 21st April 1943. The Submarine was detected by a German destroyer (Hermes) on 21st April 1943 while patrolling off Naples, Italy.

Splendid was attacked and damaged in a depth charge attack by the Destroyer and forced to the surface. Following a fire-fight with the Hermes in which sixteen crew members were killed, HMS Splendid was scuttled and her surviving forty crew members taken Prisoner of War

Upload An Image Of This Boat

HMS Splendid shown with a
HMS Splendid shown with a 'Bandstand' & Oerlikon gun. The platform is supported by a column mounted on the hull
Splendid (P 228)
Splendid (P 228)
Commanders

Ex P78(i)

1943: Mediterranean

Splendid was one of the more successful boats sinking the destroyer Aviere and some 30,000 tons of shipping.

Related Pages
Read
RN Submarines scuttled or captured in WWII

Descriptions of the events in WWII that led to the loss of Royal Navy Submarines in actions where the submarines were sunk, usually by scuttling, with the captains and crew taken prisoner. Included are two variations - in one case the submarine was captured and in another the captain was killed in action.

Roll of Honour
19
Died: 21-04-1943
Boulton, Bernard  D/SSX 34130
Telegraphist Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 32
Bryant, Leslie Charles  P/J 114025
Petty Officer Born: 30-12-1909 Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 33
Croker, Reginald John  MID D/KX 76748
Stoker 1st Class Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 33
Freeman, Fred  DSM D/JX 285923
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 37
Galloway, Alexander Fraser  D/JX 150818
Leading Telegraphist Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 22
Gillispie, Leslie  P/JX 275191
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 22
Family changed name to GILLESPIE in 1943
Goodwin, Eric  D/SSX 12992
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 35
Herbert, Leslie William  D/KX 138684
Stoker 1st Class Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 20
Hodgson, William  C/KX 111345
Stoker 1st Class Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 36
Kempthorne, Leslie Richard  C/SSX 26446
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 22
Lawrence, Douglas  MID D/JX 142867
Petty Officer Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 24
Legassick, William  C/JX 207619
Signalman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 25
Macken, Thomas  C/KX 95081
Stoker 1st Class Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 23
Moody, James  C/JX 155550
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 21
Orrom, Warren Stanley  MID C/J 113100
Petty Officer Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 33
Pilton, Francis John  MID D/SSX 22220
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 22
Savill, Kenneth Aubrey Peploe  C/JX 333132
Able Seaman Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 21
Smith, Leslie Stephen  D/MX 66053
Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Died: 21-04-1943 Aged: 21
Died: 19-02-1945
Dixon, Samuel Hughes  DSM C/JX 125574
Chief Petty Officer Died: 19-02-1945 Aged: 35
from Folkestone, Kent
Samuel Dixon was born in October 1910, the son of Samuel and Agnes Dixon and entered the Royal Navy in 1928. He joined the submarine branch in February 1942 as a Petty Officer Torpedo Gunner’s Mate. He served in HM Submarines L26 and H50 before joining HMS Splendid in October 1942.

Vice Admiral Sir Ian McGeoch, who had been his Commanding Officer at that time said of him later 'a calm and utterly reliable torpedo expert, one of the finest men I was privileged to be shipmates with. I certainly recommended him for a decoration, he richly deserved it.'

One of the survivors when Splendid was forced to the surface after a depth charge attack, Dixon was held as a PoW in Italy and then transferred to Germany. He was killed in a strafing raid by USAAF Mustang aircraft near Halberstadt on 19 February 1945 during a forced march by his German captors away from the advancing Red Army.

He left a widow, Agnes, in Folkestone, Kent.

He was awarded the DSM (see London Gazette date 6th Apr 1943) his medal was presented to his wife.

Events

07-03-1941 Laid Down
08-08-1942 Completed
16-11-1942 HMS Splendid sinks the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser San Paolo about 15 nautical miles north-west of Isola di Gorgona, Italy.
21-11-1942 HMS Splendid torpedoes and damages the Italian destroyer Velite about 18 nautical miles south-west of Isola d'Ischia, Italy.
23-11-1942 HMS Splendid sinks the Italian merchant Luigi Favorita with gunfire about 80 nautical miles from Capo Carbonara, Sardinia, Italy.
17-12-1942 HMS Splendid torpedoes and sinks the Italian destroyer Aviere about 35 nautical miles north-north-east of Bizerte, Tunisia.
15-01-1943 HMS Splendid torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Emma about 15 nautical miles south-west of Isola di Capri, Italy.
19-01-1943 HMS Splendid torpedoes and sinks the small Italian merchant Commercio south-east of Capo Sferracavallo, Sardinia, Italy. She also sinks the Italian auxiliary minesweeper No. 107/Cleopatra with gunfire.
19-01-1943 Launched
17-02-1943 HMS Splendid sinks the Italian merchant XXI Aprile about 3 nautical miles north of Cape San Vito, Sicily, Italy.
17-03-1943 HMS Splendid torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Devoli 6 nautical miles bearing 245 of Cape San Vito, Sicily, Italy.
21-03-1943 HMS Splendid torpedoes and sinks the Italian tanker Giorgio about 8 nautical miles east-north-east of Cefal, Sicily, Italy.
21-04-1943 HMS Splendid (Lt Ian Laughlan Mackay McGeogh, DSO) left Malta on 17th April 1943 with orders to patrol off Naples and later off the west coast of Corsica. On 21st April the submarine was detected by the German destroyer Hermes.

Splendid was attacked and damaged in a depth charge attack by the Destroyer and forced to the surface. Following a fire-fight with the Hermes in which sixteen crew members were killed, HMS Splendid was scuttled and her surviving crew members taken Prisoner of War
Add A Comment (click to open)

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

Name E-Mail
Your email will not be shown, but is required
Anti Spam: Type the following code exactly as shown into the box below.

3Vfh    
Note: All submissions are subject to approval prior to appearing on the page. As a SPAM prevention measure, any comments containing links to other sites will be automatically discarded.

Spiteful (P 227) Sportsman (P 229)