| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | U1 |
| Fate: | Mistaken for a U boat by anti submarine trawler Peter Hendriks off the Wash and rammed on 19 July 1941 |
Ex P31
1941 - 3rd Flotilla: Dunoon.
Sunk in an accident nine days after commissioning with the loss of 22 men. The submarine was sunk while en route from Chatham to join the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at Dunoon, under the command of Lieutenant Mervyn Wingfield. From Dunoon she was to carry out a single working-up patrol in the North Sea before heading to the Mediterranean. She stopped overnight at Sheerness and joined a convoy headed North.
The submarine suffered engine failure with one of the two diesel engines and as a result fell behind the convoy. The convoy passed a Southbound convoy around midnight while about 12 nautical miles off Blakeney, Norfolk, with the two convoys passing starboard to starboard. This was unusual since ships and convoys should pass port to port. No ships showed any lights because of the risk from German E-boats. However, an armed escort trawler, Peter Hendriks in the southbound convoy accidentally struck Umpire sinking her in 18 metres of water
Four crew members were on the bridge when the submarine sank, Wingfield, the navigator and two lookouts. However, only Wingfield survived in the cold water to be picked up by the trawler. Several other personnel also survived, escaping from the sunken wreck using the conning tower or the engine room escape hatch, the majority wearing DSEA. ERA Killen received a British Empire Medal for leaving the submarine wearing DSEA to check for obstructions around the engine room hatch and then returning to the engine room to assist the other crew members in escaping. He remained in the engine room until everyone else there had escaped. 16 of the crew successfully escaped, 22 crew were lost.
Lieutenant Edward Young, one of the survivors from Umpire, later went on to command HMS Storm.
Eighty-four years after their tragic deaths, the 16 Royal Navy submariners who lost their lives aboard HMS Umpire will finally get a memorial. Members of the Norfolk Branch of the Submariners Association have succeeded in their campaign to honour the men who died.
Up to now, the only memorial in place was the grave of 25-year-old sub-lieutenant Tony Gooden, who was buried at Mundesley Church after his body washed ashore but the Norfolk Submariners Association were determined to create a fitting memorial to those who died in the tragedy and successfully raised the money to install a tribute to the lost crew in the graveyard of Mundesley's All Saints Church.
The tribute faces the sea, is made of Portland stone and is engraved with the submarine badge and the names of those lost. It has been crafted by renowned memorial mason Nick Hindle.
Pete Cudby, chairman of the Norfolk Submariners' Association, which is made up of serving and veteran Royal Navy submariners, said:
This memorial is long overdue.
It is crucial that we recognize the bravery of these men and ensure their sacrifice is not forgotten and remembered for generations to come.
It was especially appropriate that the oversight which meant there has never been been a memorial to the men, should be rectified in the year of the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
A special dedication service was be held at noon on Saturday, July 19th 2025 on the anniversary of the sinking of the submarine.
Roll of Honour |
16
|
| Baker, Victor Edward |
|
|||||
| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Banister, Peter Charles McConnel DSC* |
|
|||||
| Lieutenant | ||||||
| Beddie, Charles |
|
|||||
| Leading Telegraphist | ||||||
| Duffy, Joseph Angus |
|
|||||
| Leading Seaman | ||||||
| Foster, Charles Henry MID |
|
|||||
| Engine Room Artificer | ||||||
| Godden, Stephen Anthony Golder DSC |
|
|||||
| Sub Lieutenant | ||||||
| Henson, Henry William |
|
|||||
| Telegraphist | ||||||
| Hoey, Patrick John |
|
|||||
| Leading Seaman | ||||||
| Houston, William John |
|
|||||
| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Jennings, Harold |
|
|||||
| Leading Signalman | ||||||
| Lewin, Walter William |
|
|||||
| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Phillips, Victor George |
|
|||||
| Stoker 1st Class | ||||||
| Roberts, Robert |
|
|||||
| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Sumner, Frank |
|
|||||
| Able Seaman | ||||||
| Town, Ronald Thomas |
|
|||||
| Leading Stoker | ||||||
| Welham, Frederick |
|
|||||
| Ordinary Seaman | ||||||
| 01-01-1904 | Laid Down |
| 30-12-1940 | Launched |
| 10-07-1941 | Completed |
| 19-07-1941 | HMS Umpire left Chatham on 19th July 1941 bound for the Clyde prior to joining the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at Dunoon. Having stopped over night at Sheerness she joined up with a northbound convoy, although she was not part of the convoy escort. Umpire developed mechanical problems and began to fall behind the convoy which was kept informed of the submarines progress by radio. At midnight the northbound convoy passed a southbound convoy as expected but Umpire following behind was surprised to see the convoys pass starboard to starboard rather than the normal port to port. Umpire altered her course to port as the first few vessels passed to Umpire's starboard side but the trawler Peter Hendriks remained on a collision course. As the two vessels came together a gash was torn in Umpire's side sending her to the bottom. 22 of her crew went down with the ship |
| Length overall | 190 ft 7 inch |
| Beam | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Displacement | 630 tons (surface) |
| 730 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 200 ft |
| Speed | 11.5 knots (surface) |
| 9 knots (submerged) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 4050 miles at 10 knots (design) |
| Submerged: 23 miles at 8 knots or 170 miles at 2.5 knots (design) | |
| Armament | (i) 4 x 21 inch bow tubes (8 torpedoes carried) |
| (ii) 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| Complement | (peacetime) 4 Officers, 23 Others, |
| (at war) 4 Officers, 27 Others | |
| Note | (i) The first seven U Class submarines had two additional external bow tubes installed and carried 10 torpedoes |
| (ii) Undine and Unity, which were not fitted with the 3 inch gun, had 27-man complements. |
| Class: | 1959 - 1998: Oberon Class |
| Built By: | Chatham Dockyard (Medway) |
| Build Group: | O2a |
| Fate: | |
| She was sold for scrapping in 1992 but was preserved as a museum at Chatham Historic Dockyard. | |
From Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King Of Scotland) comes this gripping thriller about a rogue submarine captain, played by Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, The Talented My Ripley) who pulls together a misfit crew to search for sunken treasure in the Black Sea.
As greed and desperation take control, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.
21 pages added or updated in the last 2 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 | 190 ft 7 inch |
| Beam | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Displacement | 630 tons (surface) |
| 730 tons (submerged) | |
| Diving Depth | 200 ft |
| Speed | 11.5 knots (surface) |
| 9 knots (submerged) | |
| No. of shafts | 2 |
| Endurance | Surface: 4050 miles at 10 knots (design) |
| Submerged: 23 miles at 8 knots or 170 miles at 2.5 knots (design) | |
| Armament | (i) 4 x 21 inch bow tubes (8 torpedoes carried) |
| (ii) 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| Complement | (peacetime) 4 Officers, 23 Others, |
| (at war) 4 Officers, 27 Others | |
| Note | (i) The first seven U Class submarines had two additional external bow tubes installed and carried 10 torpedoes |
| (ii) Undine and Unity, which were not fitted with the 3 inch gun, had 27-man complements. |
| Class: | 1959 - 1998: Oberon Class |
| Built By: | Chatham Dockyard (Medway) |
| Build Group: | O2a |
| Fate: | |
| She was sold for scrapping in 1992 but was preserved as a museum at Chatham Historic Dockyard. | |
From Director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King Of Scotland) comes this gripping thriller about a rogue submarine captain, played by Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes, The Talented My Ripley) who pulls together a misfit crew to search for sunken treasure in the Black Sea.
As greed and desperation take control, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.
21 pages added or updated in the last 2 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.
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