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	HMS Thistle
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Thistle
Builder	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow
Laid down	7 December 1937
Launched	25 October 1938
Commissioned	4 July 1939
Fate	Sunk by U-4 10 April 1940
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	T-class submarine
Displacement	1,090 tons surfaced; 1,575 tons submerged;
Length	275 ft (84 m)
Beam	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught	16.3 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion	Two shafts; Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1,900 kW) each; Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1,080 kW) each;
Speed	15.25 kn (28.24 km/h; 17.55 mph) surfaced; 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) submerged;
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced
Test depth	300 ft (91 m) max
Complement	59
Armament	6 internal forward-facing 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes; 6 reload torpedoes; 1 x 4 in (102 mm) deck gun;

HMS Thistle (N24) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow and launched in October 1938. She was sunk by the German submarine U-4 on 10 April 1940 near Skudenes, Norway.

Career

At the onset of the Second World War, Thistle was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 26 to 29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth.^[1]

Thistle, under the command of Lt. Wilfrid Frederick Haselfoot, was ordered to patrol off Stavanger, and to sink any enemy vessel that she might spot in the harbour, since British authorities believed that a German invasion of Norway was imminent. On 10 April, Thistle signaled her intention to comply with this order and that she had two torpedoes remaining after an unsuccessful attack on a U-boat. With this in mind the Admiralty changed her orders to patrol off Skudenes. No further contact was made with Thistle.

Sinking

It was later discovered that U-4, the U-boat Thistle had previously attacked, had sighted the submarine on the surface and sunk her with torpedoes.^[2]

The action began when HMS Thistle spotted U-4 cruising on the surface with a periscope. At 16:04 hours on 9 April 1940 HMS Thistle fired a spread of six torpedoes, all of which missed. HMS Thistle later reported the unsuccessful engagement via radio, and that the submarine had only two torpedoes left.

U-4 observed one torpedo passing ten meters ahead and evaded further underwater attacks by crash diving. The U-boat crew later heard three explosions of the off-track torpedoes at the end of their run. Afterwards U-4 found HMS Thistle on the surface recharging its batteries.

At 02:13 hours on the morning of 10 April 1940, U-4 fired a spread of two torpedoes at its attacker. The first, a G7a torpedo, missed. The second, a magnetic G7e torpedo, found its mark, sinking Thistle with all hands near Skudenes.

Discovery

The wreck of the Thistle, missing its tower,^[3] was discovered by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research in the spring of 2023, at 160 meters of depth.^[4] A second cruise in October 2023 identified the wreck as being Thistle.^[4] Royal Navy confirmed the boat is HMS Thistle. ^[5]

Notes

^ Rohwer, p. 1
^ Submarine losses 1904 to present day Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport
^ "British submarine from WWII found after 83 years". www.tv2.no. TV 2 Norway. 15 October 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Found unknown submarine wreck from World War 2". Norwegian Institute of Marine Research website. Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
^ "Wreck of British WWII submarine HMS Thistle found near Norway after 83 years".

References

Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 1-904381-05-7.
Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-962-6.
Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-146-7.
Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Kemp, Paul J. (1990). The T-class Submarine: The Classic British Design. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-826-7.
McCartney, Innes (2006). British Submarines 1939–1945. New Vanguard. Vol. 129. Oxford, UK: Osprey. ISBN 1-84603-007-2.
Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two (Revised & Expanded ed.). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-59114-119-2.