HMS Tetrarch (N77)

HMS "Tetrarch" (N77) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched in November 1939.

Career

In common with many of her class, "Tetrarch" saw extensive service in the key naval theatres, Home waters, serving in the North Sea and off the French and Scandinavian coasts, and the Mediterranean.

Home waters

"Tetrarch's" first success came in May 1940 when she torpedoed and sank the German submarine chaser UJ B / "Treff V" in the Skagerrak. She also sunk the Danish fishing vessel "Terieven" and the German tanker "Samland", and captured the Danish fishing vessel "Emmanuel", which was taken to Leith as a prize.

Mediterranean

"Tetrarch" was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean in late 1940. She sank the Italian merchants "Snia Amba", "Giovinezza" and "Citta di Bastia", the Italian tanker "Persiano", the Italian sailing vessels V 72/"Fratelli Garre", V 113/"Francesco Garre" and "Nicita", and the Greek sailing vessel "Panagiotis Kramottos". She also damaged the German merchant "Yalova" and claimed to have damaged a sailing vessel in the Aegean. "Tetrarch" also launched an unsuccessful attack on the Greek tanker "Olympos". [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3497.html HMS Tetrarch] , Uboot.net]

inking

"Tetrach" sailed from Malta on 26 October 1941 for a refit in Britain, via Gibraltar. She failed to arrive in Gibraltar on 2nd November and was declared overdue. The route she was to take meant her passing through a known minefield. On Monday 27th she communicated with "P34" who was in the same area. This was the last contact with the submarine. She is presumed lost on Italian mines off Capo Granditola, Sicily, Italy in late October 1941. [ [http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm Submarine losses 1904 to present day] , RN Submarine Museum, Gosport]

References

*"Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day", by Robert Hutchinson
*Colledge