| 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. |
| 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).
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.
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 |
71
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| Adams, Andrew |
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| Petty Officer Telegraphist | ||||||
| Anderson, Robert (RNR) |
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| Ordinary Seaman | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Auty, Leonard |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Bennett, Donald Barry |
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| Ordinary Seaman | ||||||
| Blackwell, Harry Herbert |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Bond, Leslie James |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Bonnell, Charles Ernest (RCNVR) DSC |
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| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Brock, Charles Edward William |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Brown, James Malcolm |
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| Leading Telegraphist | ||||||
| Bruce, Wilfred |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Buckley, Cecil (RNVR) |
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| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Bulford, Thomas William |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Burton, William Henry |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Carr, Cecil Ernest |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Cayley, Richard Douglas DSO** |
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| Commander | ||||||
| Cheeseman, Bernard George |
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| Telegraphist | ||||||
| Clark, James |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Clarke, Robert Warner |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Cooney, William |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Cross, Bernard |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Donohue, Patrick John |
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| Stoker Petty Officer | ||||||
| Down, Percival Leo James |
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| Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | ||||||
| Dye, William Edward |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Evans, Cecil William |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Feltham, Desmond Arthur Jack |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Foulkes, Richard John |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Foundling, Wilfred |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Foxon, Henry Reginald |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| French, Thomas William |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Gee, John |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Gordon, John Hudson |
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| Engineer Lieutenant | ||||||
| Goss, George Gilbert (RNVR) |
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| Sub Lieutenant | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Griffiths, John Norbert |
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| Stoker 2nd Class | ||||||
| Hillyard, Harry |
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| Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | ||||||
| Hunt, Edmund George |
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| Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | ||||||
| Iddiolis, Christopher |
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| Petty Officer | ||||||
| Johns, Robert William |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Kerr, Kenneth Stewart (Royal Marine) |
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| 2nd Lieutenant | ||||||
| Royal Scots Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Key, Arthur |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Kimberley, Cyril |
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| Chief Engine Room Artificer | ||||||
| King, James Crisp MID |
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| Petty Officer Steward | ||||||
| Lee, Arthur Stephen Kingston DSM |
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| Chief Petty Officer | ||||||
| Lord, George |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Lord, Jim |
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| Leading Telegraphist | ||||||
| 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. |
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| Lyth, John Leslie |
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| Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | ||||||
| MaCrae, Ian Norman |
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| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Mapplebeck, Paul |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Martin, Reginald Charles William |
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| Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | ||||||
| McClure, John MID |
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| Stoker Petty Officer | ||||||
| McLean, Walter |
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| Ordinary Seaman | ||||||
| McShane, Thomas Neil |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Meyerhuber, John |
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| Leading Telegraphist | ||||||
| Milligan, John Vernon |
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| Stoker Petty Officer | ||||||
| Moon, Thomas Harold DSM |
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| Yeoman of Signals | ||||||
| Nesbitt, William Frederick |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Newton, Alfred Stanley |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Pridham, Ronald William Buller |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Quinn, Mathew |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Redman, John William |
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| Leading Seaman | ||||||
| Ribbands, Richard |
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| Ordinary Seaman | ||||||
| Rickwood, Bertie George Sidney |
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| Leading Seaman | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Rudge, Clarence Howard |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Sargent, Jack (RNVR) |
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| Sub Lieutenant | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Short, Henry Charles |
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| Leading Stoker | ||||||
| Silver, Richard Hele Spencer |
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| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Skippon, Geoffrey Leonard |
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| Leading Cook | ||||||
| Squire, Arthur James |
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| Chief Stoker | ||||||
| Stretton-Smith, S F (RNVR) |
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| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage. Born Smith but Served as Stretton-Smith | ||||||
| Sutherland, William Frank |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Trevethan, Bernard |
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| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Charioteer on passage | ||||||
| Vokins, Charles Henri |
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| Leading Stoker | ||||||
| 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 |
P311 was to have been named Tutenkhamen had she returned from her last patrol.
| 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. |
HMS Affray was the last RN submarine to be lost at sea. At the time of her sinking, rumours about the cause of her loss circulated widely. Many were discounted once her final resting place had been found and the Official Inquiry's report had been published. However, speculation persists to this day as to the reasons why she sank.
HMS Conqueror is Britain's most famous submarine. It is the only sub since World War Two to have sunk an enemy ship. Conqueror's sinking of the Argentine cruiser Belgrano made inevitable an all-out war over the future of the Falkland Islands, and sparked off one of the most controversial episodes of twentieth century politics.
The controversy was fuelled by a war-diary kept by an officer on board HMS Conqueror, and as a young TV producer in the 1980s Stuart Prebble scooped the world by locating the diary's author and getting his story on the record. But in the course of uncovering his Falklands story, Stuart Prebble also learned a military secret which could have come straight out of a Cold War thriller. It involved the Top Secret activities of the Conqueror in the months before and after the Falklands War.
Prebble has waited for thirty years to tell his story. It is a story of incredible courage and derring-do, of men who put their lives on the line and were never allowed to tell what they had done. This story, buried under layers of official secrecy for three decades, is one of Britain's great military success stories and can now finally be told.
17 pages added or updated in the last Array month
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P311 was to have been named Tutenkhamen had she returned from her last patrol.
| 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. |
HMS Affray was the last RN submarine to be lost at sea. At the time of her sinking, rumours about the cause of her loss circulated widely. Many were discounted once her final resting place had been found and the Official Inquiry's report had been published. However, speculation persists to this day as to the reasons why she sank.
HMS Conqueror is Britain's most famous submarine. It is the only sub since World War Two to have sunk an enemy ship. Conqueror's sinking of the Argentine cruiser Belgrano made inevitable an all-out war over the future of the Falkland Islands, and sparked off one of the most controversial episodes of twentieth century politics.
The controversy was fuelled by a war-diary kept by an officer on board HMS Conqueror, and as a young TV producer in the 1980s Stuart Prebble scooped the world by locating the diary's author and getting his story on the record. But in the course of uncovering his Falklands story, Stuart Prebble also learned a military secret which could have come straight out of a Cold War thriller. It involved the Top Secret activities of the Conqueror in the months before and after the Falklands War.
Prebble has waited for thirty years to tell his story. It is a story of incredible courage and derring-do, of men who put their lives on the line and were never allowed to tell what they had done. This story, buried under layers of official secrecy for three decades, is one of Britain's great military success stories and can now finally be told.
17 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.
Comments
Comment by: Gianluigi on May 24th, 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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