HMS Thetis 1918
Marker: recorded wreck position (First World War).
Key facts
| Name | HMS Thetis | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1918 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | First World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | submarine | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United Kingdom | Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country |
| Operator | Royal Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Tyrrhenian Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Sicily | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 10 km from land |
| Position | 38.2500, 13.2500 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMS Thetis (N25) was a Group 1 T-class submarine of the Royal Navy which sank during sea trials in Liverpool Bay, England on 1 June 1939. After being salvaged and repaired, the boat was recommissioned as HMS Thunderbolt in 1940. It served during the Second World War until being lost with all hands in the Mediterranean on 14 March 1943.
The Thetis accident happened after the inner hatch on a torpedo tube was opened while the outer hatch to the sea was also open. Four men successfully used the aft escape chamber to reach the surface and be rescued but 99 men died in the incident. The sinking led to the redesign of all torpedo tubes on British and Australian submarines. A latch, known as the "Thetis clip", was added to the inner torpedo tube door limiting its initial opening; if water then flooded in the clip could be wound closed against the water pressure.
Location
- Recorded position: 38.2500, 13.2500 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Tyrrhenian Sea
- Nearest coast: Sicily
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS Thetis (N25) (revision 1376530951), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
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All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Europe wrecks · wrecks off Sicily · Tyrrhenian Sea · First World War