 HMSTruant (N68) | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Builder | Vickers Armstrong,Barrow |
| Laid down | 24 March 1938 |
| Launched | 5 May 1939 |
| Commissioned | 31 October 1939 |
| Identification | Pennant number: (N68) |
| Fate | Sold for breaking up, wrecked under tow December 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | T-classsubmarine |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 275 ft (84 m) |
| Beam | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) |
| Draught | 16.3 ft (5.0 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Range | 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) surfaced |
| Test depth | 300 ft (91 m) max |
| Complement | 59 |
| Armament |
|
HMSTruant (N68) was aT-classsubmarine of theRoyal Navy. She was laid down byVickers Armstrong,Barrow and launched on 5 May 1939.
Truant had a relatively active career serving in the main naval theatres of war – Home waters, theMediterranean, and the Pacific Far East.
Truant's first major victory came when she torpedoed and damaged the Germanlight cruiserKarlsruhe offKristiansand,Norway, which disabled both engines and power stations.Karlsruhe had to be scuttled with two torpedoes by the German torpedo boatGreif.Truant later attacked the British merchantAlster, unaware that it had been recently captured from the Germans, but her torpedoes missed. She also intercepted the German merchantTropic Sea.Tropic Sea had formerly been in Norwegian service, but had been captured by the Germanarmed merchant cruiserOrion in the South Pacific. As well as 8,000 tons of wheat, she had on board the captain and 22 survivors of the British SSHaxby, which had been sunk by the raider, as well as her own Norwegian crew.[1]Tropic Sea was scuttled by the German prize crew in theBay of Biscay.Truant embarked the captain and survivors ofHaxby, and the master ofTropic Sea and his wife. The majority of the Norwegians were rescued by British flying boats.
Truant had a narrow escape when she was attacked by theRiver-class submarineClyde, who had mistaken her for an enemy submarine.Clyde's torpedoes missed.
Assigned to the Mediterranean in mid 1940,Truant went on to sink a number of enemy ships, including the Italian merchant vesselsProvidenza,Sebastiano Bianchi andMultedo, the Italian tankersBonzo andMeteor, the Italian auxiliary submarine chaserVanna, the Italian passenger/cargo shipBengasi and the German merchantmanVirginia S.Truant also damaged the small Italian tankerPrometeo and theItalian torpedo boat Alcione, which was later declared a total loss. She also unsuccessfully attacked the Italian merchant vesselsUtilitas,Silvia Tripcovich,Bainsizza andArborea, the small Italian tankerLabor and the German merchantmanBellona.
Truant was assigned to operate in the Far East, against Japanese shipping in 1942. She was present for the beginning of theBattle of Badung Strait and spotted the Japanese covering force, launching an attack at the light cruiserNagara but scored no hits, although the crew said to have heard two impact noises from dud torpedoes hitting the target.[2] She sunk the Japanese merchant shipsYae Maru andShunsei Maru in theMalacca Strait.[3] She almost sunk a large liner, but held off as poorly displayed hospital markings were spotted (possibly theHikawa Maru). A few days after she engaged in a gun battle with the Japanese army cargo shipTamon Maru No.1, which sank shortly after.[4] This was her final patrol as she started to experience engine trouble.
By this pointTruant was in need of various repairs and refits, and was sent back to the UK, taking part in several exercises en route. Starting in December 1942 her refit was not finished until May 1943. After this she took part in training exercises, with one sortie to hunt forTirpitz. She was ordered back to the Far East, but on the way her engine troubles flared up again and she returned home. She did not sortie again, instead being used as a trials ship for 1945, including snorkel tests.
Truant survived the war and was sold to be broken up for scrap on 19 December 1945. She was wrecked in December 1946 whilst en route to the shipbreakers.
 Royal Navy |
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 Israeli Navy | |||||||||
 Royal Netherlands NavyZwaardvisch class |
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