P311 (Tutankhamen)

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P311 (Tutankhamen)

Built By:	Vickers (Barrow)
Build Group:	T 3
Fate:	Submarine P311 took part in an operation to take Chariots to attack Italian shipping at the port of La Maddelena. Submarine P311 was allocated three Chariots for this task and completed the passage through the Sicilian Channel. No further reports were received from the submarine and P311 was presumed lost in a minefield near La Maddelena on (or about) 2nd January 1943. There were no survivors from the crew of the Submarine. Also lost were the three Chariots (Nos. X, XVIII and ***), the three Chariot Crews (six personnel in all) and the team of four Dressers.

Practice torpedo is loaded onto P311 at Holy Loch, Scotland, 1942 alongside HMS Forth

P311 (Tutankhamen)

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Commanders

1942:

Commander

Richard Douglas Cayley

DSO

Ex P91

It should be noted that boats attached to 1st Flotilla in Alexandria were likely to spend much of their time at Malta even though Malta had been given up as a submarine base due to the air attacks. Although submarines did still operate from Malta during this period the 10th Flotilla was not recognised as such until September 1941.

Submarine P311 (which was the only un-named T Class submarine, although the name of HMS Tutankhamen was to have been allocated but was never officially adopted, was taking part in an Operation to take Chariots to attack Italian shipping at the port of La Maddelena in Sicily. Submarine P311 was allocated three Chariots for this task. P311 had completed the passage through the Sicilian Channel (which was reported at 0130 on 31st December 1942).

Chariot

No further reports were received from the Submarine and P311 was presumed lost in a minefield near La Maddelena on (or about) 2nd January 1943. There were no survivors from the crew of the Submarine. Also lost were the three Chariots, including Nos. X & XVIII, the three Chariot Crews (six personnel in all) and the team of four Dressers.

The date of the loss of the crew of Submarine P311 and her passengers is taken as 8th January 1943 which is the date that the submarine was due to arrive back at Malta.

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P311 Found

In November 1942 His Majesty's Submarine P311 slipped quietly from her moorings in Malta. She was never to return. Now, 73 years after her disappearance en-route to Sardinia, the vessel and her entombed 71 man crew have apparently been found gently resting on the seabed, off the Italian island of Tavolara

Roll of Honour

Died: 02-01-1943
Adams, Andrew D/JX 147935
	Petty Officer Telegraphist		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Anderson, Robert (RNR) D/X 18907
	Ordinary Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 26
	Charioteer on passage

Auty, Leonard P/JX 237486
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 26

Bennett, Donald Barry D/JX 305625
	Ordinary Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Blackwell, Harry Herbert P/KX 132332
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 30

Bond, Leslie James D/KX 136201
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20

Bonnell, Charles Ernest (RCNVR) DSC
	Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 33
	Charioteer on passage

Brock, Charles Edward William D/JX 138882
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 26

Brown, James Malcolm P/JX 139969
	Leading Telegraphist		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 24

Bruce, Wilfred C/KX 118719
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20

Buckley, Cecil (RNVR)
	Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

Bulford, Thomas William P/KX 88120
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 26

Burton, William Henry P/SSX 22991
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21

Carr, Cecil Ernest C/JX 144742
	Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 29

Cayley, Richard Douglas DSO**
	Commander		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 36

Cheeseman, Bernard George C/JX 236264
	Telegraphist		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21

Clark, James C/SSX 23951
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Clarke, Robert Warner P/JX 321879
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Cooney, William D/SSX 28081
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21

Cross, Bernard C/JX 157739
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Donohue, Patrick John P/KX 84220
	Stoker Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

Down, Percival Leo James D/MX 53618
	Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

Dye, William Edward C/JX 126605
	Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 32

Evans, Cecil William P/JX 164117
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Feltham, Desmond Arthur Jack P/SSX 32278
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Foulkes, Richard John D/JX 212864
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Foundling, Wilfred C/KX 132645
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21

Foxon, Henry Reginald P/KX 114941
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

French, Thomas William C/KX 95964
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Gee, John D/SKX 1266
	Stoker 1st Class	Born: 21-02-1922	Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20

Gordon, John Hudson
	Engineer Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 28

Goss, George Gilbert (RNVR)
	Sub Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 29
	Charioteer on passage

Griffiths, John Norbert D/KX 144769
	Stoker 2nd Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Hillyard, Harry P/MX 60318
	Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 25

Hunt, Edmund George C/MX 77300
	Engine Room Artificer 4th Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 28

Iddiolis, Christopher C/J 100591
	Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 37

Johns, Robert William D/SSX 21077
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 23

Kerr, Kenneth Stewart (Royal Marine) 156102
	2nd Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943
	Royal Scots Charioteer on passage

Key, Arthur P/JX 275312
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Kimberley, Cyril D/M 38795
	Chief Engine Room Artificer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 33

King, James Crisp MID P/LX 22336
	Petty Officer Steward		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 23

Lee, Arthur Stephen Kingston DSM P/J 113433
	Chief Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 33

Lord, George D/JX 287256
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21

Lord, Jim D/JX 161659
	Leading Telegraphist	Born: 18-05-1923	Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19
from Burnley, Lancashire
	The son of Walter Henry Lord and Louie nee Sedgwick of Rose Grove, Lancashire. He was educated at Rosegrove School and worked for short periods at the Co-Operative dairy and at Messrs. Butterworth and Dickinsons before joining the Navy in 1938 as a boy of 15. He served aboard several battleships before being transferred to the Submarine Service. At some date he was posted to the submarine P311.

Lyth, John Leslie P/MX 66284
	Engine Room Artificer 4th Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

MaCrae, Ian Norman
	Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 24

Mapplebeck, Paul R/JX 180968
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22
	Charioteer on passage

Martin, Reginald Charles William P/MX 55884
	Engine Room Artificer 4th Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 32

McClure, John MID P/KX 80404
	Stoker Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 32

McLean, Walter P/JX 362264
	Ordinary Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

McShane, Thomas Neil P/KX 130669
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 33

Meyerhuber, John P/JX 155251
	Leading Telegraphist		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20

Milligan, John Vernon P/KX 86292
	Stoker Petty Officer		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

Moon, Thomas Harold DSM C/JX 133998
	Yeoman of Signals		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 28

Nesbitt, William Frederick C/J 99511
	Able Seaman	Born: 25-07-1903	Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 39

Newton, Alfred Stanley D/SSX 13847
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 29

Pridham, Ronald William Buller D/KX 145916
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 21
	Charioteer on passage

Quinn, Mathew D/SKX 1238
	Stoker 1st Class		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20

Redman, John William C/JX 132535
	Leading Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 29

Ribbands, Richard P/JX 338299
	Ordinary Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 20
from Leith, Midlothian

Rickwood, Bertie George Sidney P/SSX 25205
	Leading Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22
	Charioteer on passage

Rudge, Clarence Howard P/JX 276519
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 19

Sargent, Jack (RNVR)
	Sub Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 28
	Charioteer on passage

Short, Henry Charles P/KX 97695
	Leading Stoker		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Silver, Richard Hele Spencer
	Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Skippon, Geoffrey Leonard D/MX 69037
	Leading Cook		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Squire, Arthur James D/KX 75929
	Chief Stoker		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 35

Stretton-Smith, S F (RNVR)
	Lieutenant		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 26
	Charioteer on passage. Born Smith but Served as Stretton-Smith

Sutherland, William Frank C/SSX 23885
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 22

Trevethan, Bernard P/JX 149522
	Able Seaman		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 23
	Charioteer on passage

Vokins, Charles Henri P/KX 85119
	Leading Stoker		Died: 02-01-1943	Aged: 27

Events

25-04-1941	Laid Down

05-03-1942	Launched

07-08-1942	Completed

31-12-1942	HMS P311, only unnamed T-class boat, was due to have been named Tutenkhamen. Fitted to carry human torpedoes (Chariots). Lost while engaged in Operation Principal, a chariot attack on Italian cruisers at La Maddalena. Left Scotland in November 1942 with sister-boats Thunderbolt and Trooper after addition of human torpedo deck-mounted watertight containers direct for Malta. From there, sailed with Chariots for Operation Principle. Last signal on 31st December. Probably sunk by Italian mines in the approaches to Maddalena. Lost with all hands

Comments

Comment by: Gianluigi on May 24, 2016

22 May 2016 a Italian shipwreks hunter found the P311 at a deep of 90 meters in front Tavolara Island (near Maddalena)... the sub is virtual intact with only the bow damaged by a possible mine explosion (seem confirmed that run into a Italian minefield).

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Length overall	273 ft 6 inch
Beam	26 ft 6 inch
Depth	14 ft 3 inch
Displacement	1422 tons (surface)
	1571 tons (submerged)
Diving Depth	(i) 300 ft
Speed	Surface 15.25 knots (design)
	Surface 15.25 knots (service)
	Submerged 9 knots (design)
	Submerged 8.75 knots (service)
No. of shafts	2
Endurance	Surface: 7500 miles at 15.25 knots (design)
	(ii) Surface: 8000 miles at 10 knots (service)
	Submerged: 80 miles at 4 knots (design)
	Submerged: 80 miles at 4 knots (service)
Armament	8 x 21 inch bow tubes (2 external)
	2 x 21 inch amidship tubes
	(17 torpedoes carried)
	1 x 4 inch gun
	1 x 20mm Oerlikon cannon
	3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns
Complement	(peacetime) 5 Officers and 51 Ratings
	(wartime) 6 Officers and 56 Ratings
Notes	(i) This was increased to 350 feet in the all-welded boats.
	(ii) T Class submarines serving in the Far East were modified to carry extra fuel, which increased endurance to 11 000 miles at 10 knots.

RN Subs