X 5 (Platypus)
| Built By: | Vickers (Barrow) |
| Build Group: | X |
| Fate: | Lost during an attack on on German Battleship Tirpitz in Altenfjord Norway on 22 Sept 1943 |
An X5 Class midget submarine being 'launched' into Buccleuch Dock
X5
Unofficially named Platypus
Related Pages
Operation Source - September 1943
In September 1943 six in X-Craft were towed by six Submarines to attack German Capital Ships in the Kaa Fjord in Norway. In all (apart from the Towing Submarine Crew) forty-two X- Craft personnel took part in Operation Source, eighteen Passage Crew Members and twenty-four Operational Crew Members.
Roll of Honour |
4
|
| Died: 22-09-1943 | |||||
| Henty-Creer, Henty (RNVR) MID | |||||
| Lieutenant | Died: 22-09-1943 | Aged: 23 | |||
| Lost in Operation Source, raid on Tirpitz | |||||
| Malcolm, Alastair David (RNVR) MID | |||||
| Acting Sub Lieutenant | Died: 22-09-1943 | Aged: 20 | |||
| Lost in Operation Source, raid on Tirpitz | |||||
| Mortiboys, Ralph James MID O/N P/MX 79142 | |||||
| Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | Died: 22-09-1943 | Aged: 22 | |||
| Lost in Operation Source, raid on Tirpitz | |||||
| Nelson, Tom John (RNVR) MID | |||||
| Sub Lieutenant | Died: 22-09-1943 | Aged: 22 | |||
| Lost in Operation Source, raid on Tirpitz | |||||
Events
| 22-09-1943 | In Kaa Fjord X5 allegedly surfaced and was sunk by Tirpitz's automatics, 500 metres away from her target. Later research has suggested that this was in fact X7 abandoned and circling out of control after her attack, and that X5 never reached her intended destination. The part played by X5 in the attack is not known but, some time after the attack, divers found wreckage possibly (but not definitely) of X5 about a mile to seaward of the Tirpitz, halfway between her and the entrance to Kaa Fjord. No bodies or personal gear were found, and of survivors there was no trace. It is believed that she was destroyed by depth-charges; whether she was on her way out at the time, after laying her charges, or whether she was waiting to go in during the next attacking period will very possibly never be known. |
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