HMS Tarpon (N17)

British T-Class submarine (example: HMS Tudor)
History
United Kingdom
Builder:	Scotts, Greenock
Laid down:	5 October 1937
Launched:	17 October 1939
Commissioned:	8 March 1940
Fate:	sunk 14 April 1940[1]
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	British T class submarine
Displacement:	1,090 tons surfaced 1,575 tons submerged
Length:	275 ft (84 m)
Beam:	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught:	16.3 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion:	Two shafts Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
Speed:	15.25 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced 9 knots (20 km/h) submerged
Range:	4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
Test depth:	300 ft (91 m) max
Complement:	59
Armament:	6 internal forward-facing 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes 6 reload torpedoes 1 x 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun

The second HMS Tarpon (N17) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scotts, Greenock and launched in October 1939.

Career

Tarpon had a short career, serving in the North Sea. She left Portsmouth on 5 April 1940 for Rosyth in company with HMS Severn. The following day they were ordered to Norway. On the 10th Tarpon was ordered to take up a new position. Tarpon was never heard from again. Post War German records showed that Tarpon had attacked the Q-ship Schiff 40/Schürbek, but her first torpedoes had missed. The Q-ship picked up the Tarpon on her sonar and her periscope was sighted. The ship dropped numerous depth charges in a sustained counterattack that went on most of the morning. Finally a pattern of depth charges brought wreckage to the surface. The Q-ship remained on the scene until 0500 the next morning until it became clear the submarine had been sunk. Tarpon was reported overdue on 22 April 1940.^[2][3] The wreck was found and identified in the Danish part of the North Sea, near the harbour town of Thyborøn, by a danish commercial diver, Gert Normann, from the company JD Contractors in March 2016. ^[4]

See also

• List of shipwrecks in 1940

Notes

1. Colledge (2006), p. 344
2. HMS Tarpon, Uboot.net
3. Submarine losses 1904 to present day, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport
4. Usædvanligt fund af ubåd fra anden verdenskrig fundet i dansk farvand, Jyllandsposten, 17 Marts 2016

References

• Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
• Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
• Kemp, Paul J. (1990). The T-class Submarine: The Classic British Design. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-826-7.
• McCartney, Innes (2006). British Submarines 1939–1945. New Vanguard 129. Oxford, UK: Osprey. ISBN 1-84603-007-2.

Coordinates: 56°43′01″N 6°33′00″E / 56.717°N 6.55°E