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Submarines

The Submarine is probably the Navy’s most formidable weapon, but when it was first invented, nobody wanted to use it because they thought it underhand. The Great War soon got rid of those courtly sentiments, and by the time of the Second World War, Churchill famously said, that the only thing that frightened him was the German U.boats.


The Uboat pens at Lorient and St. Nazaire

Here in the West Country we are lucky to have examples of nearly all types of submarine prior to the nuclear age that have sunk in our waters over the years.Some you can dive on, some are now restricted, and two have been salvaged and put on display.

Three U. boats which are now museum pieces are also included because they are so historically important, and are well worth a visit.

  • The Holland
  • A.7
  • The Untiring
  • M.2
  • U.995
  • Wilhelm Bauer XX1
  • U.534
  • Holland Gallery
  • UB116
  • Midget Submarine XE8
  • Submarine U.S.S.Pampanito

Recommended Reading

Special Reports, Submarines

Comments

  1. William Hearnden says

    September 18, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Grabbing at straws here,but wondered if you could help regarding the wreck of the submarine HMS TETRARCH.It was lost in 1941 off Cape Bon in the Mediterranean,according to the Gosport Submarine Association a Wreck has been found but I cannot get any more information. My interest is that my father was on this boat when it was lost and I would like to know if this is his last resting place. Thank you.

  2. Richard Cobbold says

    June 11, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    Let me know if you get any response to this question – my grandfather, Walter Norris, was an ERA on Tetrarch.

  3. JEAN-PIERRE MISSON says

    February 11, 2018 at 7:52 am

    For William Hearnden : I have sonar-located a T Class submarine off Tabarka , Tunisia , in 2015 . The image shows the short after casing of a T Class GROUP 1 unit and the only candidate of this type (a T Class with no stern Torpedo Tube n° 11) is HMS TETRARCH . The sonar image and the study will be made available to you . Sincerely yours . JP MISSON missonjp@hotmail.com

  4. JEAN-PIERRE MISSON says

    February 11, 2018 at 7:55 am

    My Post is also for Richard Cobbold.

  5. Mark Heard says

    November 10, 2018 at 11:31 pm

    Hi Guys, I am doing some research for my Father,who’s brother Harry Heard was lost on the Tetrarch somewhere in the Med. If you have any news or images of the resting place of the vessel, could you please let me know. Thanks very much. Mark Heard. e-mail Markmad333@aol.com

  6. Platon Alexiades says

    November 21, 2019 at 1:42 am

    The claim that HMS Tetrarch was found at Tabarka is the product of someone’s imagination:
    1. The prescribed route of this submarine did not take her anywhere near Tabarka.
    2. She had no reason to investigate Tabarka. Tunisia was then under Vichy French control and technically “neutral”.
    3. There were no minefields off Tabarka (none were laid before April 1943).
    4. Tabarka was a fishing vessel port with hardly anything worth attacking even if relations with Vichy were sometime strained. Its low importance is illustrated by the fact that during the Axis occupation (1942-1943), Tabarka was not used by enemy shipping. The area was only mined by the Germans in late April 1943 to prevent allied MTBs from interfering with the Axis evacuation of Tunisia.
    5. HMS Tetrarch was probably lost on an Italian minefield off Marsala (Sicily).

IMPORTANT: Please note the author of this article, Peter Mitchell, passed away in 2015. Comments are now closed.

Submerged Books and DVDs

The Wreckers Guide To South West Devon Part 1
The Wrecker's Guide To South West Devon Part 1
The Wreckers Guide To South West Devon Part 2
The Wrecker's Guide To South West Devon Part 2
Plymouth Breakwater Book
The Plymouth Breakwater Book
The Plymouth Breakwater DVD
The Plymouth Breakwater DVD
Shooting Magic DVD
Shooting Magic DVD
Devon Shipwrecks DVD
Devon Shipwrecks DVD
The Silent Menace DVD
The Silent Menace DVD
The Tragedy Of The HMS Dasher DVD
The Tragedy Of the The HMS Dasher DVD
Missing  DVD
Missing: The Story Of The A7 Submarine DVD
HMS Royal Oak DVD
HMS Royal Oak DVD
Bombs And Bullets DVD
Bombs And Bullets DVD
Bay Watch DVD
Bay Watch DVD

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Devon Shipwrecks

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World Shipwrecks

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Shipwreck Book Reviews

  • Neutral Buoyancy – Tim Ecott
  • Admiral Shovell’s Treasure-R.Larn & R.McBride
  • The Silent Service – John Parker
  • Scapa Flow In War And Peace-W.S.Hewison
  • This Great Harbour-W.S.Hewison
  • The Duchess-Pamela Eriksson
  • Stokers Submarine-Fred &Liz Brencley
  • The Wreck at Sharpnose Point – J.Seale
  • Business in Great Waters – John Terraine
  • Submarine in Camera – Hall & Kemp
  • Autumn of the Uboats – Geoff Jones
  • Under the Red Sea – Hans Hass
  • To Unplumbed Depths – Hans Hass
  • Goldfinger – Keith Jessop
  • Custom of the Sea – Niel Hanson
  • Stalin’s Gold – Barry Penrose
  • Pieces of Eight – Kip Wagner
  • The Man Who Bought a Navy – Gerald Bowman
  • The Treasure Divers – Kendall McDonald
  • The Deepest Days – Robert Stenhuit
  • The Wreck Hunters – Kendal McDonald
  • Sea Diver – Marion Clayton Link
  • The Other Titanic – Simon Martin
  • Falco,chief diver of the Calypso – Falco & Diole
  • World without Sun – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Ship of Gold – Gary Kinder
  • Seven Miles Down – Piccard & Dietz
  • The Living Sea – J.Y.Cousteau
  • The Undersea Adventure – Philip Diole
  • Life and Death in a Coral Sea – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Dolphins – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Whale – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Shark – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Sea Lion- Elephant Seal and Walrus – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Octopus and Squid – J.Y.Cousteau
  • Shadow Divers – Robert Kurson
  • A Time to Die, the story of the Kursk – R. Moore
  • The Sea Around Us – Rachel Carson

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