HMS ''Truant'' (N68) was a
T-class submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
. She was laid down by
Vickers Armstrong,
Barrow
Barrow may refer to:
Places
England
* Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria
** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area
** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency)
* Barrow, Cheshire
* Barrow, Gloucestershire
* Barro ...
and launched on 5 May 1939.
Career
''Truant'' had a relatively active career serving in the main naval theatres of war – Home waters, the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, and the Pacific Far East.
Home waters
''Truant''s first major victory came when she torpedoed and damaged the German
light cruiser off
Kristiansand
Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
, which disabled both engines and power stations. ' had to be scuttled with two torpedoes by the German torpedo boat ''Greif''. ''Truant'' later attacked the British merchant , unaware that it had been recently captured from the Germans, but her torpedoes missed. She also intercepted the German merchant ''Tropic Sea''. ''Tropic Sea'' had formerly been in Norwegian service, but had been captured by the German
armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
in the South Pacific. As well as 8,000 tons of wheat, she had on board the captain and 22 survivors of the British SS ''Haxby'', which had been sunk by the raider, as well as her own Norwegian crew. ''Tropic Sea'' was scuttled by the German prize crew in the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
. ''Truant'' embarked the captain and survivors of ''Haxby'', and the master of ''Tropic 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 the , who had mistaken her for an enemy submarine. ''Clyde''s torpedoes missed.
Mediterranean
Assigned to the Mediterranean in mid 1940, ''Truant'' went on to sink a number of enemy ships, including the Italian merchant vessels ''Providenza'', ''Sebastiano Bianchi'' and ''Multedo'', the Italian tankers ''Bonzo'' and ''Meteor'', the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser ''Vanna'', the Italian passenger/cargo ship ''Bengasi'' and the German merchantman ''Virginia S.'' ''Truant'' also damaged the small Italian tanker ''Prometeo'' and the , which was later declared a total loss. She also unsuccessfully attacked the Italian merchant vessels ''Utilitas'', ''Silvia Tripcovich'', ''Bainsizza'' and ''Arborea'', the small Italian tanker ''Labor'' and the German merchantman ''Bellona''.
Far East
''Truant'' was assigned to operate in the Far East, against Japanese shipping in 1942. She was present for the beginning of the
Battle of Badung Strait
The Battle of Badung Strait was a naval battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the night of 19/20 February 1942 in Badung Strait (not to be confused with the West Java city of Bandung) between the American-British-Dutch-A ...
and spotted the Japanese covering force, launching an attack at the light cruiser
''Nagara'' but scored no hits, although the crew said to have heard two impact noises from dud torpedoes hitting the target. She sunk the Japanese merchant ships ''Yae Maru'' and ''Shunsei Maru'' in the
Malacca Strait
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, conne ...
. She almost sunk a large liner, but held off as poorly displayed hospital markings were spotted (possibly the ''
Hikawa Maru
is a Japanese ocean liner that Yokohama Dock Company built for '' Nippon Yūsen Kabushiki Kaisha'' ("NYK Line"). She was launched on 30 September 1929 and made her maiden voyage from Kobe to Seattle on 13 May 1930. She is permanently berthed as ...
''). A few days after she engaged in a gun battle with the Japanese army cargo ship ''Tamon Maru No.1'', which sank shortly after.
This was her final patrol as she started to experience engine trouble.
Back to home waters
By this point ''Truant'' 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 for
''Tirpitz''. 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.
Post war
''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.
References
*
*
External links
IWM Interview with Rear-Admiral Christopher Haynes Hutchinson, DSO, OBE, who commanded HMS ''Truant'' during the Norwegian campaign
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truant (N68)
British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
1939 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom