The Submarine Thetis (Sunk Twice)

irishroverpei — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:07:53 +0000

The Thetis was launched in 1938 and sank during sea trials in June 1939 in Liverpool Bay. She was built by Cammel Lairds of Liverpool. This story is a sequence of Admiralty errors, its difficult to believe that the crew of this submarine with a large section of the stern sticking out of the water perished. During trials they were having difficulty diving the boat, it was too light. When checking the forward torpedo tubes the disaster happened. The inner torpedo tube door had a safety tap to check for water. Opening the tap if water poured out the tube was flooded and indicated the outer tube door was open to the sea. There was also a reamer tool to check the tap was not plugged. In this instant he tap and reamer indicated the tube was dry, but when the inner door was opened sea water rushed in and the boat sank. It was later discovered that a thick coat of paint covered the test hole, when the reamer went in it lifted the paint which quickly resealed when it was removed and no water escaped. With the stern clearly visible on the surface the boat was soon discovered by the searching destroyer HMS Brazen. Its hard to believe that 99 crew died in this accident. Why didn’t the rescuers cut a hole in the hull and get every one out, why didn’t they connect a fresh air line into the boat to keep the crew alive. So many delays,so many indecision’s,so much lack of initiative. The Thetis was later towed and grounded on shore, the bodies of the crew were given a funeral with full military honours. The second world war was in progress, the Thetis was refitted and renamed Thunderbolt and went to war in the Mediterranean where in 1943 she was sunk with all hands. I served on similar T class submarines in the early 1960′s. The torpedo tubes now had a safety lock on the inner doors,an extra safety precaution besides the tap and reamer. The idea was the door could only be partly opened, if water came in the safety lock could quickly be shut. This lock was called a “Thetis Bolt”
Rest in Peace you Brave Submariners.
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The Submarine Thetis (Sunk Twice)