HMS Tiptoe (P332)

HMS "Tiptoe" was a British submarine of the third group of the "T" class. She was built as "P332" by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, and John Brown & Company, Clydebank, and launched on 25 February 1944.

She had the honour of being named by Winston Churchill, and so far has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to be named "Tiptoe".

ervice

"Tiptoe" served in the Far East for much of her wartime career. She sank two Japanese coasters, the Japanese merchant cargo ship "Tobi Maru" and the Japanese salvage vessel "Tencho Maru", which had unsuccessfully been attacked by HMS "Trump" the previous day. She also damaged a Japanese coaster with gunfire. Together with "Trump", "Tiptoe" also sank an unidentified Japanese oiler. [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3522.html HMS Tiptoe] , Uboot.net]

Post war

She survived the war and continued in service with the Navy. She took part in escape trials in 1962, which were a series of trials conducted off Malta into escape from a submarine at extreme depths. Seven men attempted to escape from "Tiptoe" at a depth of 260 feet.

On 10 January 1964, "Tiptoe" ran aground in the Clyde, coincidentally and rather embarrassingly, directly in front of the house of the area's senior naval officer.

"Tiptoe" was also damaged in a collision with HMS "Yarmouth" on 13 July 1965. "Tiptoe" was at periscope depth 10 miles SE of Portland Bill. She was repaired at the yards of Cammell Laird.

She also starred in the film "We Dive at Dawn", co-starring John Mills. By the time of her decommissioning, "Tiptoe" was the last T-class submarine in service. She was scrapped at Portsmouth in 1979. Her anchor was saved, and is at Blyth, commemorating Blyth's links with submarines.

References

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