| Built By: | Devonport Dockyard |
| Build Group: | T 3 |
| Fate: | Scrapped on 14th September 1962 at Inverkeithing. |
Roll of Honour |
2
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| Acton, Thomas |
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| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| The son of Thomas Acton (a labourer) & Fanny Acton of 23, Ashburner Street, Bolton (1921 Census). By late 1944 he had joined the Royal Navy. Thomas was taken ill and died from severe heat stroke/heat exhaustion at sea on patrol in the Far East. Several other crew members were also taken ill with similar symptoms at the same time and it was initially thought that it was an outbreak of cholera. After leaving station and rendezvousing with a ship carrying medical staff the correct diagnosis was established and the patrol was continued. He was the husband of Anna Acton of Belfast |
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| Williams, Harold Victor |
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| Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | ||||||
| The son of Henry Randall David Williams and Phoebe Helen Williams. In September 1939 he was listed as an Improver Turner at the Over Engineering Works in Bristol and he was living at home with his widowed mother at 12, Narroways Road, Bristol. After the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy as a Direct Entry Engine Room Artificer and trained as a Submariner. By August 1945 he had been advanced to Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class and he was serving in Submarine HMS Thule under Lt Commander A C G Mars at Fremantle in Western Australia. Harold Williams is reported to have died having committed suicide by drowning himself ‘whilst in a depressed state of mind’ whilst HMS Thule was at Fremantle. |
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| 20-09-1941 | Laid Down |
| 22-10-1942 | Launched |
| 13-05-1944 | Completed |
| 16-12-1944 | HMS Thule lays 12 mines off Terutan Island. |
| 17-12-1944 | From 17 December 1944 to 29 December 1944 HMS Thule sinks 13 junks, 2 lighters and 5 sampams with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca. |
| 28-12-1944 | HMS Thule attacks a submarine off Penang. HMS Thule claims a kill but the torpedoes have exploded prematurely so the submarine escapes unharmed. |
| 28-03-1945 | HMS Thule sinks two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire off the west coast of Siam. |
| 01-04-1945 | HMS Thule sinks a Japanese sailing vessel with gunfire of the west coast of Siam. |
| 03-04-1945 | HMS Thule sinks two Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire of the west coast of Siam |
| 17-07-1945 | HMS Thule sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire of the north coast of Java, Netherlands East Indies. |
| 19-07-1945 | HMS Thule sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire of the north coast of Java, Netherlands East Indies. |
| 20-07-1945 | HMS Thule sinks a Japanese coaster with gunfire of the north coast of Java, Netherlands East Indies. |
| 14-09-1962 | Scrapped at Inverkeithing. |
| 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. |
Submariner who played underwater blind man's bluff with the Soviets
The story of the Thetis Submarine Tragedy in 1939, is the definitive account of the whole sorry episode of the Birkenhead built vessel that cost 99 lives; still today the worst submarine disaster in British History.
20 pages added or updated in the last 3 month
Please help to maintain this site by reporting any Errors, Broken Links, Information or Site Issues on this page using this button
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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. |
Submariner who played underwater blind man's bluff with the Soviets
The story of the Thetis Submarine Tragedy in 1939, is the definitive account of the whole sorry episode of the Birkenhead built vessel that cost 99 lives; still today the worst submarine disaster in British History.
20 pages added or updated in the last 3 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: Irene wells on June 4th, 2021
My father ( Locke) was a crew member ( stoker), under Mars on far East patrols. He was mentioned in dispatches during this tour. We think there was damage to the aft end steering gear, which he had to repair under difficult conditions.
Comment by: Gilda on April 16th, 2020
My Father James Keen served on the Thule 1944 1945
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