| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | V2 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 22nd November 19499 at Preston. |
| 1944: | Lieutenant | Anthony John Boyall |
|
||
| Official | ||
| Admiralty Approved | 6th May, 1944 | |
| Motto | One aim. | |
| Symbology | The final shot in an archery competition. | |
| Design Notes | A hurt charged with a bezant, thereon a black bow fesswise strung with an erect black arrow armed and flighted red on a white field. | |
| Length overall | 195 ft 6 inch |
| Beam | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft 10 inch |
| Displacement | 648 tons (surface) |
| 735 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 | 4 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| (8 torpedoes carried) | |
| 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| Complement | 4 Officers and 33 Ratings |
On Thursday 1st June 1939 the brand new submarine HMS Thetis (Lieutenant Commander Guy H Bolus) sailed from the Birkenhead Yard of Cammell Laird into Liverpool Bay to carry out diving trials. In addition to the normal crew of fifty five Officers and Ratings there were a large number of passengers both uniformed personnel and civilians on board for Trials purposes. This took the total number of personnel onboard the Submarine up to one hundred and one. During the dive difficulties were encountered with the trim of the submarine.
Between 1942 and 1944 HMS Seraph was engaged in unusual but vital wartime assignments, including carrying Eisenhower's deputy, General Mark Clark, through the Mediterranean to a hazardous rendezvous with the Free French as a prelude to the North African invasion, as well as the dramatic rescue of General Giraud from Vichy France in rough sea right under the nose of the enemy. Her most famous mission however was Operation Mincemeat where she aided the allies in deceiving their enemy about the invasion of Sicily.
Yet what made these missions even more extraordinary was the fact that this 'Secret Mission Submarine' had the unusual distinction of having two captains, Royal Navy Lieutenant Bill Jewell who was in operational control and Captain Jerauld Wright of the United States Navy who commanded for political purposes.
Terence Robertson uncovers the history of this extraordinary submarine and how these two captains collaborated to pull off some of the most remarkable operations in the Second World War.
13 pages added or updated in the last 1 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.
|
|
||
| Official | ||
| Admiralty Approved | 6th May, 1944 | |
| Motto | One aim. | |
| Symbology | The final shot in an archery competition. | |
| Design Notes | A hurt charged with a bezant, thereon a black bow fesswise strung with an erect black arrow armed and flighted red on a white field. | |
| Length overall | 195 ft 6 inch |
| Beam | 15 ft 9 inch |
| Depth | 15 ft 10 inch |
| Displacement | 648 tons (surface) |
| 735 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 | 4 x 21 inch bow tubes |
| (8 torpedoes carried) | |
| 1 x 3 inch gun | |
| 3 x 0.303 inch machine-guns | |
| Complement | 4 Officers and 33 Ratings |
On Thursday 1st June 1939 the brand new submarine HMS Thetis (Lieutenant Commander Guy H Bolus) sailed from the Birkenhead Yard of Cammell Laird into Liverpool Bay to carry out diving trials. In addition to the normal crew of fifty five Officers and Ratings there were a large number of passengers both uniformed personnel and civilians on board for Trials purposes. This took the total number of personnel onboard the Submarine up to one hundred and one. During the dive difficulties were encountered with the trim of the submarine.
Between 1942 and 1944 HMS Seraph was engaged in unusual but vital wartime assignments, including carrying Eisenhower's deputy, General Mark Clark, through the Mediterranean to a hazardous rendezvous with the Free French as a prelude to the North African invasion, as well as the dramatic rescue of General Giraud from Vichy France in rough sea right under the nose of the enemy. Her most famous mission however was Operation Mincemeat where she aided the allies in deceiving their enemy about the invasion of Sicily.
Yet what made these missions even more extraordinary was the fact that this 'Secret Mission Submarine' had the unusual distinction of having two captains, Royal Navy Lieutenant Bill Jewell who was in operational control and Captain Jerauld Wright of the United States Navy who commanded for political purposes.
Terence Robertson uncovers the history of this extraordinary submarine and how these two captains collaborated to pull off some of the most remarkable operations in the Second World War.
13 pages added or updated in the last 1 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.
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