Untiring is a Royal Navy submarine of the ‘U’ class. She was built by Vickers Armstrong on the Tyne, and launched on January 20th. 1943.
The Untiring is 196 feet long, 16 feet wide, with a maximum hull depth of just less than 13 feet. This was all supposed to house all the food, ammunition, machinery, and a complement of 31 officers and men. Talk about a steel coffin. The Untiring had a surface displacement of 545 tons, and underwater weighed 740 tons. The submarine was powered by two diesel electric motors, which gave her around 11 knots on the surface and up to 9 knots submerged. She had a three inch gun mounted just in front of the conning tower, three machine guns, and her four 21 inch torpedo’s were all fired from the bow.
After the War she was surplus to requirements, but instead of being broken up she was lent to the Royal Hellenic Navy (Greece) and during July 1945 she was renamed the ‘Amfitriti’. She was returned to England in 1952 but was now completely obsolete, so the Navy decided in 1957 to scuttle her just off the East Rutts and use her as a sonar and asdic target.
I dived the Untiring back in the 1980’s but we missed the main part of the wreck and only saw a hawser. I never dived it again (too deep for me) but my companion on that dive, Steve Carpenter of the well-known dive emporium Sound Diving has, and it’s his impressions that I relate here.
The Untiring lies in 55 metres on a sand and silt bottom with a slight list to starboard. You cannot enter the hull but the conning tower is of an open design and you can have a good look around there. Moving towards the stern you soon see the two phosphor bronze propellers still firmly in place and the whole of the hull is covered in a carpet of plumose anemones. At the bow the most recognisable feature are the bow torpedo tubes all with their hatches closed. The visibility is usually very good, twenty feet or more. The tides are pretty savage so make sure you get the slack right.
If any one has any underwater photos or video of this wreck I would be very glad to see it. More dive reports are also welcome.
Mark Prior says
Sean Mc Tierney at In Deep has a video of an Untiring dive.
syd.thornton says
I served in untiring 1953/4 had some really good visits one was up the seine intending to visit paris but due to shallow water had to turn about just a couple of miles from paris, tied up at rouen for 8 days, had a great time.other visits— cartagena,alderney,venice,stavanger. She was a very happy boat I was not too plesed to leave her for the mechs. course at chatham. II then served in sturdy, subtle,and finally tally ho— happy days.
Dave Griffin says
I was Spare Crew on Maidstone and had a “pierhead jump” via two planks, when getting my station card on board Maidstone at 0715, sailed at 0800 in Untiring for Navy Days at Chatham then back to Pompey to pay off. The Skipper used all opened bottles of spirits in the Wardroom to send us on our way – we used our tin mugs for the tipple. we were given our railway passes and to save us from Vernons GIs landed in Old Portsmouth. Have only just found out about her end.
Denis Richards says
I was a ‘Sparker’ on Untiring at the same time as Syd Thornton. I hope he reads this. He will probably remember When Ianto Godsell (our Signal man) went ashore, bought back a bar table, couldn’t get it through the hatch and took it back to the bar. Another event in Rouen occurred the day we sailed, when the Captain, Mike Badham noticed a French dockhand wearing an oilskin with ‘H.M.S/m Untiring’ across the back! I also was on Tally-Ho! from 1957 while in 9 month dry docking at Cospicua and left her mid 1958 due to her return to UK.
If you read this Syd. I agree, Happy Days. Oh to do it all again!
Denis Richards says
I was on the Untiring at the same time as Sid Thornton. She was my first Boat on completion of Submarine training. Normally she hardly, if ever, spent a night at sea due to her rather antiquated Radar and her age, but in early 1956 we got a lot of sea time because of the Suez Crisis and the need to conserve fuel. On Monday mornings we sailed for exercises, staying at sea for 4 nights and on Friday afternoon putting into a French port on completion. The following Monday we returned to sea to repeat the routine, returning to Portland at the end of the week. This happened 2ce, our weekend ports were St. Malo and Cherbourg, though not necessarily in that order.
Another event which surfaces from the memory is that we had a contingent of Canadian ratings on board for submarine training – Canada was about to receive her first boat. The Canadians found their way into the Wardroom wine locker by knocking the pins out the locker hinges. Without a doubt, Untiring must have been the only submarine whose crew was presented with a Wardroom wine bill! If memory serves me well, it came to about £18 for each rating (Chiefs & P.O.’s not guilty).
They also showed us the things to come. Their uniforms were the pattern that we were to get in the near future, The traditional blue serge would be replaced by an almost black barathea type material, jumpers would have zip fasteners up the front (which looked like a ‘sack of spuds’) also ,we would loose our blue winter caps and be wearing white caps all year round.
June Tapsell says
My late husband, Alan Tapsell, was a telegraphist on Untiring during the war years. It was so horrific that when he got home he decided to take a walk. It lasted for two years. Later on he spent thirty-four years with the USDAO, U.S. Embassy, Stockholm. He is also the author of Northward But Gently.
John Cumming says
On her return from the Greeks, she was refitted in Devonport and recommissioned in June 1953 with Roddy Bristowe as CO. After work In the Clyde, she was based at Portland. Memorable visits included one to Alderney in company with Upstart where the large tidal range involved some interesting activities when getting the visitors back on to the jetty! I served as an RNVR Midshipman as fourth officer during National Service from May 53 until September . Happy little ship.