Class

Perseus (N 36)

Built By:	Vickers (Barrow)
Build Group:	P
Fate:	On 6th December 1941 the boat was mined off Cephallonia. The sole survivor was L/S John Capes whose extraordinary escape has become a legend within the Submarine Service

Perseus (N 36)

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Commanders

1930:	Lieutenant Commander	George Arthur Wallis Voelcker
1935:	Lieutenant Commander	William Eric Banks
1939:	Lieutenant Commander	Peter Joseph Howell Bartlett
1941:	Lieutenant Commander	Edward Christian Frederic Nicolay	DSO

Served in China and in 1940 she went to the Mediterranean.

1930: Portsmouth.
1931-1940: China Station.
1940-1941: Mediterranean, Alexandria.

March 1940 - Patrolling Sunda Strait observing German shipping in the Dutch East Indies harbours.

1940-1941 - Sinks two ships of some 6,000 tons.

Adoption

By Dr Peter Schofield

The memorial near the porch of The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Stafford

Not a Warship Week plaque although it notes she was adopted by Stafford.

Roll of Honour

Burford, William Joseph

P/SSX 28802

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Bury, Alfred

C/KX 85297

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Leading Stoker

Carpenter, Henry John

C/KX 91062

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Caselton, Herbert Robert

D/JX 200382

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 24

Able Seaman

Chetham, Percy Charles Hugh

P/J 92112

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 38

Leading Seaman

Codrington, Thomas Michael Geoffrey (RNR) DSC

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 24

Lieutenant

Craig, Thomas Fraser

D/SSX 17358

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 25

Able Seaman

Craig, Thomas Henry

D/JX 136197

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 26

Able Seaman

Craw, Andrew Mackie

D/SSX 29779

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 20

Able Seaman

Deacon, Harry Jeffrey

C/J 113765

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 32

Petty Officer

Dickerson, Ronald Frederick Francis

D/JX 159406

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 18

Ordinary Telegraphist

Dickson, John McDonald

D/KX 89139

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 25

Stoker 1st Class

Dobson, Gordon

C/JX 127847

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 30

Leading Seaman

Duell, George Albert

P/MX 50439

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Petty Officer Cook

England, GeorgeArthur

D/JX 183994

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Francis, Claude

P/MX 60192

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 24

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Gilbert, William Albert Edward

P/JX 136821

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 25

Leading Seaman

Griffin, Jack Stanley

P/MX 69988

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 26

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Gunter, Robert Frederick

P/KX 112291

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 24

Stoker 1st Class

Hammond, Norman Frank

P/SSX 28564

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 21

Able Seaman

Hartley, Albert Ernest

D/LX 23842

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 28

Steward

Henderson, Crawford

D/JX 143656

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Able Seaman

Hodson, Raymond Edward

D/KX 105140

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 20

Stoker 1st Class

Holden, James William

C/JX 151775

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 21

Telegraphist

Hull, William

P/MX 53813

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 26

Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class

Johnson, Alexander DSM

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 40

Warrant Engineer

Jones, Cyril

P/SSX 22128

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 21

Able Seaman

Kearey, Frederick Albert

C/KX 89086

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 23

Leading Stoker

King, Roland Francis

D/KX 77851

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 33

Leading Stoker

Lattimore, Stanley George

P/KX 75890

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Stoker Petty Officer

Law, Alexander Storrie

C/KX 116859

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Stoker 2nd Class

Lehane, Francis

C/KX 85218

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Leading Stoker

Lillford, Charles

D/KX 88705

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 25

Leading Stoker

Lloyd, Abbot Moore

C/JX 159457

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 21

Able Seaman

Luckham, Horace John

D/JX 208475

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 20

Ordinary Seaman

Mapstone, Alistair Arthur Beresford

P/JX 148951

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 28

Able Seaman

McDonald, Daniel MID

P/JX 131771

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 20

Able Seaman

Mead, Charles Ernest

P/SSX 28326

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 20

Able Seaman

Meek, Reginald Charles Fisher

P/JX 129408

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 30

Petty Officer

Neale, Peter Thomas

C/JX 143914

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Leading Signalman

Nicolay, Edward Christian Frederick DSO

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 34

Lieutenant Commander

O'Riordan, Denis

P/KX 88597

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 24

Leading Stoker

Oldridge, Frederick William John

D/KX 90881

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Stoker 1st Class

Oxley, Eric George

C/J 110824

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 32

Petty Officer

Peacock, Charles Cranston

D/KX 86396

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 27

Leading Stoker

Plant, Douglas Frank

P/SMX 22

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 23

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Preddy, Thomas Norman

D/KX 80586

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 30

Stoker Petty Officer

Ex.Jx127141

Rees, Thomas John

D/KX 85461

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 26

Stoker 1st Class

Render, Jack

C/SSX 29326

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 21

Telegraphist

Richardson, Cyril George

C/J 114005

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 31

Leading Seaman

Robertson, Andrew Spence

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 23

Sub Lieutenant

Robertson, Frank Sangster (RNR)

LT/X 10053

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 34

Able Seaman

Stanley, Sidney James

C/SKX 165

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 22

Stoker 2nd Class

Symons, Leonard Henry

D/JX 140715

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 23

Leading Seaman

Tait, Joseph (RNR) MID

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 28

Lieutenant

Wardrop, Henry Vallance DSM

D/J 72812

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 40

Chief Petty Officer Telegraphist

Whalley, John

D/MX 48772

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 32

Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class

Whyte, Andrew Moffat

D/MX 60091

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 32

Engine Room Artificer 4th Class

Wotherspoon, John William Jackson

P/MX 45661

Died: 6th Dec, 1941.

Aged: 30

Engine Room Artificer 1st Class

Events

02-07-1928	Laid Down

22-05-1929	Launched

15-04-1930	Completed

06-12-1941	HMS Perseus sunk 7 miles north of Zante (Zakinthos) Island, west coast of Greece in Ionian Sea - by Italian mines. Originally attributed to contact with Royal Italian Naval forces, probably a submarine was based on Mediterranean Fleet intelligence estimates. However, these estimates came into question in 1943 when the then 33 year old John Capes showed up at Alexandria via the British consulate in Turkey, claiming to be a survivor of His Majesties Submarine Perseus. He stated that the ship had been mined on the night of 6/7 December 1941, and that it sank in 170 feet of water with the stern section holding air. He had been in the Petty Officer Stokers mess with several others at the moment of the mining sharing a bottle of rum. He and three others made it into the stern section alive, sealed it off, and after coming to rest on the sea floor in pitch darkness, donned their DESA escape gear and commenced flooding the after spaces in preparation to making a free ascent escape. All four left the submarine, with Capes being last. Before departing, he polished off the remaining rum, and then left through the after escape hatch. He came to the surface alone and then was faced with swimming 7-9 miles to Cephalonia. He did so, met up with Greek partisans, and then spent 20 months with them before successfully reaching Turkey. The other three survivors of the mining did not make it to the surface alive, most probably due to a failure to exhale completely throughout the ascent, which was made, as it turned out, from 20 feet deeper than it was thought possible. To say that Capes story was thought to been overly remarkable by many is an understatement. Many did not believe it, nor did they believe Capes was in fact himself, though those making those conclusions had to admit that, the crew list being classified, it was unlikely an imposter could have come up with the facts he had. None the less, his statements concerning the location of the sinking did not jive with Admiralty estimates, and many considered him a fraud to the day he died. However, in 1996, Greek divers located HMS Perseus on the ocean floor, exactly where Capes said it would be. It was in 170 feet of water, and the rear escape hatch was open. Upon looking into the open hatch, the divers clearly saw on the floor below the rum bottle emptied by Capes just before his departure. All of this was photographed. Though Capes had been dead for some 15 years when the sub was discovered, it can truly be said that he had the last laugh on those that doubted his story. It is probably the single most remarkable survival story to come out of WW II.

Official

Broad Design

P Specification

Length overall	289 ft 2 inch
Beam	28 ft
Draught	13 ft 8 inch
Displacement	1760 tons (surface)
	2040 tons (submerged)
Diving Depth	500 ft
Speed	Surface 17 to 17.5 knots (design)
	Surface 17.5 knots (service)
	Submerged 9 knots (design)
	Submerged 8.5 knots (service)
No. of shafts	2
Propeller	3 blades, 6 ft 5 inch dia
Endurance	Surface: 11400 miles at 8 knots (design)
	Surface: 10750 miles at 8 knots (service)
	Submerged: 60 miles at 4 knots (design)
	Submerged: 8.5 miles at 8.5 knots or 70 miles at 4 knots (service)
Armament	6 x 21 inch bow tubes
	2 x 21 inch stern tubes
	(14 torpedoes carried)
	1 x 4 inch gun
Complement	53

Comments

Comment by: Tilemachos Beriatos on October 13th, 2020

Hello, I would like to provided you with some information that you may find helpful, regarding the location of the wreck: Please consider thwt the wreck of Royal Navy submarine "HMS Perseus" lies closer to Kefalonia Island (around 4 Km off the coast) compared to Zakynthos (11 Km), therefore technically it should be referred to as a wreck off Kefalonia Island.

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Perseus (N 36)

Commanders