Anthony Foster Collett DSC, RN
| Born | 4 Mar 1911 | Gloucester | |
| Died | Feb 1991 | (79) |
| Ranks
Retired: 29 Jan 1948 Decorations
|
Warship Commands listed for Anthony Foster Collett, RN
| Ship | Rank | Type | From | To |
| HMS H 34 (N 34) | Lt. | Submarine | 26 Apr 1940 | 18 Sep 1940 |
| HMS Unique (N 95) | Lt. | Submarine | 19 Sep 1940 | 18 Jun 1942 |
| HMS Upright (N 89) | Lt.Cdr. | Submarine | 1 Jul 1942 | 11 Dec 1942 |
| HMS Tactician (P 314) | Lt.Cdr. | Submarine | 12 Dec 1942 | 1 Oct 1944 |
Career information
We currently have no career / biographical information on this officer.
Events related to this officer
Submarine HMS Unique (N 95)
10 Mar 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. A.F. Collett, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian passenger/cargo ship Fenicia (2584 GRT) about 95 nautical miles north-west of Tripoli, Libya in position 34º19'N, 12º40'E.
3 Jun 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. F.D.G. Challis, RN) torpedoes and damages (total loss) the Italian cargo ship Arsia (736 GRT, built 1900) inside Lampedusa harbour.
At 1825 hours the previous day (time zone -2) HMS Unique spotted a small Italian convoy. The convoy entered Lampedusa harbour nearly an hour later.
The next day Unique closed the harbour submerged to investigate and found one of the ships in an exposed position, provided that the boom defences were not effective against torpedoes.
At 0753 hours a torpedo was fired that struck the shore just astern of the ship. Indeed the boom defences were not torpedo proof, so another torpedo was fired at 0822 hours. This was a hit amidships. A big column of water and debris was thrown in the air followed by white smoke.
20 Aug 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. A.R. Hezlet, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian troop tansport Esperia (11398 GRT) 11 nautical miles bearing 318 of the Tripoli lighthouse, Libya in position 33º03'N, 13º03'E.
5 Jan 1942
HMS Unique (Lt. A.R. Hezlet, DSC, RN) attacks the Italian battleship Littorio with torpedoes in the Gulf of Taranto in position 40º07'N, 17º07'E. All torpedoes fired missed their target.
Submarine HMS Tactician (P 314)
5 May 1943
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) sinks the Italian auxiliary patrol vessel V17 / Pia (385 GRT) with gunfire about 10 nautical miles west of Grosseto, Italy in position 42º34'N, 10º45'E.
12 Jun 1943
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) sinks the Italian schooner Bice (1459 GRT, built 1902) with gunfire 5 nautical miles north-east of the Bari lighthouse.
At 1220 hours (no time zone given in patrol report) Tactician surfaced and engaged a large schooner with gunfire from 2200 yards. The schooner was escorted by an armed vessel that was approximately 4500 yards away.
The first round was fired only 24 seconds after Tactician passed 10 feet. The fourth and fifth round were a hits on the schooners hull. The crew of the schooner abandoned ship.
About 5 minutes into the action the armed vessel opened fire on Tactician which now shifted target. Several hits were obtained on this vessel with one of the hits knocking out it's gun. The enemy vessel eventually fled towards Bari harbour.
Target was now shifted back to the schooner again that soon started to settle after several more hits.
At 1234 hours Tactician was taken under fire by shore batteries forcing Lt.Cdr. Collett to dive and break off the action.
At 1320 hours 23 depth charges were dropped but these caused no damage.
14 Jun 1943
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) torpedoes and damages the Italian merchant Rosandra (8035 GRT) off the coast of Albania in position 40º14'N, 19º28'E. The ship sinks the following day.
At 1610 hours (no time zone given in patrol report), while Tactician was in position 15 nautical miles bearing 155 Cape Linguetta, a northbound merchant vessel of 7600 tons was sighted clore inshore.
Four torpedoes were fired when range was closed to 2200 yards. Although no escort was seen during the setup of the attack there was one that closed Tactician and forced her deep shortly after firing the torpedoes.
Before the last torpedo exploded a depth charge was dropped that was very close. Within 10 minutes 16 more depth charges were dropped with three of them even closer then the first one. No real damage was done and the escort lost contact soon after.
20 Feb 1944
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) attacks a Japanese submarine north of Sumatra in position 05º53'5N, 96º46'2E. Five torpedoes were fired but these missed.
At 0725 hours (no time zone given in the patrol report but most likely it was -6.5) Tactician spotted a Japanese submarine on the surface steering course 125. At 0729 hours 5 torpedoes were fired from 5000-6000 yards. All five torpedoes missed the target. It was intended to fire eight torpedoes but when the 5th torpedo was fired it was realised that the targets speed was underestimated.
28 Feb 1944
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) sinks a small Japanese vessel off Penang.
28 May 1944
HMS Tactician (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Collett, DSC, RN) sinks two Siamese sailing vessels with gunfire of the west coast of Siam.