Top
Home → Boats → Submarines → T Class → Thorn

Thorn (N 11)

Built By: Cammell Laird (Mersey)
Build Group: T 2
Fate: Believed to have been sunk 'With All Hands' on 6th August 1942 after an attack on an Italian convoy in the Mediterranean in position 34°25'N, 22°36'E.

A Ju-88 aircraft had been seen to make a machine-gun attack ahead of the convoy. The Italian torpedo boat Pegaso then detected a contact and carried out a series of depth charge
attacks. After seven attacks a large air bubble was seen, as was a large oil slick.

HMS Thorn had been expected to arrive at Beirut but was declared overdue on 11th August 1942 when she did not arrive.

Upload An Image Of This Boat

Thorn (N 11)
Thorn (N 11)

Roll of Honour
60
Died: 07-08-1943
Aitchison, Thomas McMillan  DSM* C/KX 83016
Stoker Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 27
Balshaw, Joseph William  (RNVR) D/MD/X 2547
Leading Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 28
Barrow, James  D/SSX 33705
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Bell, Albert  P/KX 76158
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 36
Bell, Arthur Edwin Colin  (RNVR)
Lieutenant Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Bond, Albert Godfrey  P/JX 154890
Telegraphist Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 20
Boon, Frederick  D/JX 144535
Leading Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Brodie, Frank Harry  D/JX 196780
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 25
Burr, Walter Sidney  C/KX 100265
Leading Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Butcher, Henry Bernard Robert Burns  MID D/JX 145695
Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Caffery, Patrick  D/SKX 910
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Chalcraft, Reginald John  P/JX 235692
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Cockwill, George Edward  MID D/JX 212772
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Collier, James  D/SSX 19469
Leading Seaman Born: 14-05-1919 Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Crompton, Thomas  D/JX 190274
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Davies, Leonard Frederick 
Warrant Engineer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 39
Detton, Frederick Cyril  P/JX 85973
Leading Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 27
Dodd, Kenneth  P/JX 148360
Leading Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Eason, William James  MID D/J 97357
Chief Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 38
Elphick, Charles Donald  P/JX 137927
Petty Officer Telegraphist Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 25
Flockhart, Peter  C/KX 113074
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Freese, Joseph  MID D/KX 85980
Petty Officer Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 25
Gibbons, Frederick Bernard  P/JX 189434
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 20
Gossman, Dennis Herbert  C/JX 149240
Petty Officer Born: 27-04-1920 Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 23
Hatchard, Arthur James  DSM P/JX 125830
Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 31
Hawksworth, Arthur St George 
Lieutenant Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 26
Hay, John  (RNVR) MID D/KX 118044
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Hayes, Patrick  DSM D/K 58034
Chief Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 41
Hayler, Claude Levi  D/JX 199995
Ordinary Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Hayward, Leslie Edward  DSM D/JX 150478
Leading Telegraphist Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Henden, Frederick William Henry  C/J 105303
Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 36
Incledon, Lewis John 
Sub Lieutenant Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Jones, Charles (Johnny)  P/JX 220357
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 20
Laird, James Burton  C/SSX 20927
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Magness, William Stanley  MID D/JX 137447
Petty Officer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 26
Maples, Cyril  P/JX 157413
Leading Telegraphist Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
McCarthy, Dennis  P/KX 110877
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
McInnes, Colin  C/MX 73106
Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 39
Milburn, John Joseph  D/KX 129666
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 20
Milliken, Thomas Eric  D/LX 21430
Petty Officer Steward Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 29
Mitchell, Thomas  P/SSX 21743
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Moorcroft, Reginald George  MID P/MX 47791
Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 28
Newland, John Leonard  C/KX 88353
Leading Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 25
Norfolk, Robert Galliano  DSO
Lieutenant Commander Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 33
Nuttall, Wilkin  D/MX 60274
Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Parker, Chester James  (RNVR)
Lieutenant Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 26
Paterson, James Alexander  C/KX 97396
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Paul, Charles Neville  P/MX 50840
Leading Cook Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 28
Pope, John Edmund  C/KX 111806
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Porter, Reginald Edward  P/JX 223838
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 21
Price, Thomas  DSM P/M 22637
Chief Engine Room Artificer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 41
Reeson, Robert Charles  C/KX 94382
Leading Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Smithson, John Albert  D/KX 92434
Leading Stoker Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 23
Torr, Herbert  MID P/J 112475
Yeoman of Signals Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 33
Upton, Walter William Gilmore  MID P/SSX 22533
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Webb, Frederick Albert John  D/JX199782
Able Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 22
Webster, George Walter  D/MX 58988
Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 24
Wood, Bernard John  C/KX 138477
Stoker 1st Class Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 18
Wood, Eric Albert  P/MX 51717
Chief Engine Room Artificer Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 33
Yardley, Kenneth James  D/JX 160490
Ordinary Seaman Died: 07-08-1943 Aged: 20
CWGC has D/JX 160450

Events

20-01-1940 Laid Down
18-03-1941 Launched
26-08-1941 Completed
30-12-1941 HMS Thorn torpedoes and sinks the German tanker Campina about 5 nautical miles west off Cape Dukato.
28-01-1942 HMS Thorn torpedoes and sinks the Italian tanker Ninuccia off Cape Planka, Yugoslavia.
30-01-1942 The Italian submarine Medusa was sunk in the Adriatic near Promontore, Istria, Italy by the British submarine HMS Thorn.
05-03-1942 HMS Thorn sinks the Italian auxiliary patrol vessel AS 91/Ottavia with gunfire of Kefalonia, Greece.
07-05-1942 HMS Thorn fires four torpedoes against an Italian convoy in the central Mediterranean about 180 nautical miles north-west of Benghazi, Libya. All torpedoes missed their targets.
03-08-1942 HMS Thorn torpedoes and sinks the Italian transport ship Monviso 8 nautical miles from Sidi Sueicher, Libya.
06-08-1942 Lost.

On the 7th August 1942 HMS Thorn encountered the Italian torpedo boat Pegaso, escorting the steamer Istria from Benghazi, 30 miles south west of Gaudhos Island, off southern Crete. At 1255 an escorting aircraft was seen to machine-gun the seas surface and Pegaso moved in to investigate. Just four minutes after the aircraft's attack the Pegaso picked-up a contact and carried out seven attacks after which contact was lost. HMS Thorn failed to return from the patrol and is believed to have been lost in this attack.
Comments

Comment by: Nicholas Kenneth Yardley Fowler, M.D. on February 25, 2022

My mother’s brother, my uncle, was Kenneth James Yardley. He died on the Thorn on that fateful day in August of 1942. I never knew him as I was born a few years later. His mother was tormented for the rest of her life.

Comment by: Kirsteen Nash on May 31, 2021

My father was Able seaman Charles Jones who survived the torpedoing with spinal injuries.

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.

rfsk    
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.

Triton (N 15)