HMS ''Trenchant'' (P331) was a
British T class submarine of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
built at
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century ...
.
On completion she was given over to the crew of
HMS ''Thrasher'' whose submarine was due for a refit.
Service
''Trenchant'' under her captain Commander
Arthur Hezlet
Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Richard Hezlet (7 April 1914 – 7 November 2007), nicknamed Baldy Hezlet, was a decorated Royal Navy submariner. He became the Royal Navy's youngest captain at the time – aged 36 – and its youngest admiral, aged 45 ...
,
DSO,
DSC DSC may refer to:
Academia
* Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
* District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India
* Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine
Educational institutions
* Dalton State Col ...
acted in the Far East mostly off South East Asia against Japanese shipping sinking a range of vessels both transports and warships, using her torpedoes, gun and also by ramming. She often operated in company with her sister,
HMS ''Terrapin''.
On 23 September 1944 she sank the German submarine ''
U-859'' in the Straits of Malacca, by torpedoes. 11 of the crew were taken aboard as
prisoners of war.
On 27 October 1944,
"Chariots" carried into action by ''Trenchant'' sank a Japanese Army cargo ship, the ''Sumatra Maru'' in
Phuket
Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
harbour,
Siam
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
.
Her most
significant action during the war was on 8 June 1945, when she sank the
Japanese cruiser ''Ashigara'' at a range of 4,000 yards with five out of eight torpedoes fired. The action in the
Bangka Straits earned her commander a second
DSO and the US
Legion of Merit, and the ship the
battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible.
In European military t ...
"Malaya 1944-45". The ''Ashigara'' had been carrying some 1,600
Japanese Army troops and
materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...
.
References
British submarines of World War II*
*
External links
* http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.2558
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trenchant (P331)
British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Chatham
1943 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Cold War submarines of the United Kingdom