View source for HMS Tigris (N63)

{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}

{{other ships|HMS Tigris}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
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|Ship image=HMS Tigris.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Tigris'' in Plymouth Sound in July 1942
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=HMS ''Tigris''
|Ship namesake=[[Tigris]]
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|Ship builder=[[Chatham Dockyard]]
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|Ship laid down=11 May 1938
|Ship launched=31 October 1939
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|Ship commissioned=20 June 1940
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|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] N63
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|Ship fate=Sunk by Axis forces, 27 February 1943
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|Ship badge=[[File:TIGRIS badge-1-.jpg|left|100px]]
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[British T class submarine|T-class]] [[submarine]]
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|Ship displacement=*1,090 [[long ton|ton]]s surfaced
* 1,575 tons submerged
|Ship length={{convert|275|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|16.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=*Two shafts
* Twin diesel engines {{convert|2,500|hp|MW|lk=in|abbr=on}} each
* Twin electric motors {{convert|1,450|hp|MW|abbr=on}} each
|Ship speed=*{{convert|15.25|kn|km/h}} surfaced
* {{convert|9|kn|km/h}} submerged
|Ship range={{convert|4,500|nmi|km}} at {{convert|11|kn|km/h}} surfaced
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|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} max
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|Ship complement=59
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* 6 × internal forward-facing [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] torpedo tubes
* 4 × external forward-facing torpedo tubes
* 1 × external backward-facing torpedo tube
* 6 × reload torpedoes
* 1 x [[QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII|QF {{convert|4|in|mm|adj=on|0}} deck gun]]
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'''HMS ''Tigris''''' was a [[British T class submarine|T-class]] [[submarine]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was laid down at [[Chatham Dockyard]] and launched in October 1939.

==Career==
''Tigris'' had a relatively active career, serving in the [[North Sea]] and the [[Mediterranean]].

===Home waters===
''Tigris'' was active in the [[Bay of Biscay]] from July 1940, under the command of Commander [[Howard Bone]].<ref>Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 29.</ref><ref name="Kemp p79"/> She sank the French fishing vessels ''Sancte Michael'', ''Cimcour'', ''Charles Edmond'' and ''Rene Camaleyre'', the French merchantmen ''Jacobsen'' and ''Guilvinec'', and the German tanker ''Thorn''.  She unsuccessfully attacked a number of submarines, including the {{GS|U-58|1939|6}}<ref name="HMS Tigris" /> On 5 October 1940, ''Tigris'' made an unsuccessful attack on two Italian submarines off [[Bordeaux]], {{ship|Italian submarine|Reginaldo Giuliani||2}} and {{Ship|Italian submarine|Maggiore Baracca||2}}.<ref name="Kemp p79"/>

On 5 July 1941 ''Tigris'' torpedoed and sank the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Michele Bianchi||2}} 150 [[Nautical mile|nm]] off the [[Gironde estuary]] as the Italian submarine was on passage to the Atlantic.<ref>Rohwer & Hümmelchen 1992, p. 70.</ref><ref name="Kemp p79">Kemp 1990, p. 79.</ref>

She was assigned to operate in the North Sea near the Scandinavian coast in mid-1941. Off the coast of [[Finnmark]], she sank the Norwegian passenger/cargo ships {{SS|Haakon Jarl|1904|2}} and {{SS|Richard With||2}},<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lawson |first =Siri Holm |url=http://warsailors.com/homefleet/shipsh1.html#haakonjarl3 |title=D/S Haakon Jarl |access-date=5 July 2009 |work=Warsailors.com }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lawson |first =Siri Holm |url=http://warsailors.com/homefleet/shipsr.html#richardwith |title=D/S Richard With |access-date=5 July 2009 |work=Warsailors.com }}</ref> In the case of ''Richard With'', the ship sank in less than a minute, killing two of the three German soldiers on board and claiming the lives of 101 Norwegian civilians.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.arkivverket.no/hurtigruta/b5_forlis.html |title=Forliset |access-date=3 January 2011 |work=Richard With, Direktøren og Dampskipet |publisher=Riksarkivet |language=no |archive-date=2 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002152905/http://www.arkivverket.no/hurtigruta/b5_forlis.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Post-war, the Norwegian public was told the attacks had been carried out by Soviet submarines. She also attacked and badly damaged the German auxiliary submarine chaser ''Uj-1201'' off the Rolvsøy Fjord. The bow of the ship sank but the stern was towed to port and the ship was rebuilt, entering service again in April 1944. In addition, ''Tigris'' unsuccessfully attacked the German merchant ship ''Bessheim'' and a merchantman of 3,000 tons; she also attacked a convoy, but missed her targets; the Norwegian merchant ships ''Mimona'', ''Tugela'' and ''Havbris''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

===Mediterranean===
''Tigris'' was reassigned to the Mediterranean, and was active there from late 1942. On 6 December, she torpedoed and sank the Italian submarine ''Porfido'',<ref name="HMS Tigris" /> for which her commander, George Colvin, was later awarded the [[Distinguished Service Order]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unithistories.com/officers/RN_officersC2.html |title=Royal Navy (RN) Officers 1939–1945 – CLAR to COLV |publisher= www.unithistories.com |access-date=22 January 2011}}</ref> On 21 January 1943, she sank the Italian merchant ship ''Citta di Genova'' in the [[Strait of Otranto]].<ref name="HMS Tigris">{{cite web|url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3492.html |title=HMS Tigris |publisher=uboat.net |access-date=16 May 2015}}</ref> This ship was carrying Greek officers, who were being taken to Italy as hostages; many of them perished.<ref name="Panayotis D. Cangelaris:">[http://www.cangelaris.com/evan.htm Evangelos J. Macris (1896–1943)], Cangelaris.com</ref>

==Sinking==
''Tigris'' left [[Malta]] on 18 February 1943 to patrol off Naples. On 22 February the Italian merchant ship ''Teramo'' was attacked by a British submarine, believed to have been ''Tigris''.<ref name="HMS Tigris" /> She was last sighted at 0730 on 24 February, {{convert|39|mi|km}} from [[Capri]]. On the morning of 27 February, the German submarine chaser {{ship|German submarine chaser|UJ 2210||2}}, commanded by [[Otto Pollmann]], was escorting a convoy six miles southeast of Capri. She made contact with a submarine and carried out three depth charge attacks, the third attack brought oil to the surface and the contact was noted to be stationary. A fourth attack of fifteen depth charges brought a huge bubble of air up. On 6 March, ''Tigris'' was ordered to Algiers but there was no reply to this signal. She failed to return to Algiers on 10 March 1943 and was declared overdue on that date. It is believed that ''Tigris'' was the submarine sunk with all hands on 27 February by ''UJ-2210''.<ref name="HMS Tigris" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm |title=Submarine losses 1904 to present day |publisher=RN Submarine Museum, Gosport |access-date=27 June 2007 |archive-date=8 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808171910/http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Tributes==
The submarine had been adopted by the town of [[Newbury, Berkshire|Newbury]] during the [[World War II|Second World War]] as part of ''[[Warship Week]]''.<ref name="HMS Tigris"/> The plaque from this adoption is held by the [[National Museum of the Royal Navy]] in Portsmouth.<ref>[http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_Warshipweeks.htm Warship Weeks: Adopting Naval Vessels in World War Two | Royal Naval Museum at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207131810/http://www.royalnavalmuseum.org/info_sheets_Warshipweeks.htm |date=7 February 2012 }}</ref>

Each year there is an annual Remembrance Service for the submarine and the crew lost at [[St Nicolas Church, Newbury]], [[Berkshire]], on the Sunday nearest 27 February.  In 2016, the Remembrance Service was held on 24 July at 11.45 a.m. to allow descendants of her last commander, George Colvin, to attend.  In 2017, it will be on 26 February.  In 2018, the 75th and final commemoration is scheduled for 8 July
From 2019 onwards a small memorial service will be held at the Royal British Legion Newbury branch on the Sunday nearest 27 February.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Publications==
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
* {{Cite book | last = Hutchinson | first = Robert | title = Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day | year = 2001 | location = [[London]] | publisher = [[HarperCollins]] | isbn = 978-0-00-710558-8 | oclc = 53783010 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/janessubmarinesw0000hutc }}
* {{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Paul J.|title=The T-Class Submarine: The Classic British Design|year=1990|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland, USA|isbn=9781557508263}}
* {{cite book|last1=Rohwer|first1=Jürgen|last2=Hümmelchen|first2=Gerhard|title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945|year=1992|publisher=Greenhill Books|location=London|isbn=1-85367-117-7}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|HMS Tigris (N63)}}

{{T class submarine}}
{{February 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tigris (N63)}}
[[Category:British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Chatham]]
[[Category:1939 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1943]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines sunk by German warships]]