| 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 |
Ex P78(i)
1943: Mediterranean, HMS Maidstone
Splendid was one of the more successful boats sinking the destroyer Aviere and some 30,000 tons of shipping.
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
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| Boulton, Bernard |
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| Telegraphist | ||||||
| Bryant, Leslie Charles |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Croker, Reginald John MID |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Freeman, Fred DSM |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Galloway, Alexander Fraser |
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| Leading Telegraphist | ||||||
| Gillispie, Leslie |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Family changed name to GILLESPIE in 1943 | ||||||
| Goodwin, Eric |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Herbert, Leslie William |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Hodgson, William |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Kempthorne, Leslie Richard |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Lawrence, Douglas MID |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Legassick, William |
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| Signalman | ||||||
| Macken, Thomas |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Moody, James |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Orrom, Warren Stanley MID |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Pilton, Francis John MID |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Savill, Kenneth Aubrey Peploe |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Smith, Leslie Stephen |
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| Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | ||||||
| Dixon, Samuel Hughes DSM |
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| Chief Petty Officer | ||||||
| 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. |
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| 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 |
| 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. |
Unbeaten (N 93) |
|
| Class: | 1936 - 1958: U Class |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | U1 |
|
Fate: Mistaken for a U boat in the Bay of Biscay and bombed by the RAF on 11 Nov 1942 |
|
Originally designed in 1934 for anti-submarine training, by the end of the war 72 U-Class subs had been commissioned; 17 were lost to the enemy, and 3 in accidents.
Manned by crews from seven nations' navies, they served worldwide, and never more successfully than in the Mediterranean. This book is the definitive study of this class of submarine and the men who serve on them.
22 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.
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. |
Unbeaten (N 93) |
|
| Class: | 1936 - 1958: U Class |
| Built By: | |
| Build Group: | U1 |
|
Fate: Mistaken for a U boat in the Bay of Biscay and bombed by the RAF on 11 Nov 1942 |
|
Originally designed in 1934 for anti-submarine training, by the end of the war 72 U-Class subs had been commissioned; 17 were lost to the enemy, and 3 in accidents.
Manned by crews from seven nations' navies, they served worldwide, and never more successfully than in the Mediterranean. This book is the definitive study of this class of submarine and the men who serve on them.
22 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.
Please Note: Donations made using this option go directly to the site owner and not to the Submariners Association.
Thankyou for your support.
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