Allied Warships

HMS Tarpon (N 17)

Submarine of the T class

Navy	The Royal Navy
Type	Submarine
Class	T
Pennant	N 17
Mod	First Group
Built by	Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. (Greenock, Scotland)
Ordered	20 Jul 1937
Laid down	5 Oct 1937
Launched	17 Oct 1939
Commissioned	8 Mar 1940
Lost	10 Apr 1940
Loss position	56° 43'N, 6° 33'E

History	HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. Herbert James Caldwell, RN) left Portsmouth for Rosyth on 5 April 1940. She was diverted to patrol around Norway on 6th. Most likely sunk around 0600 hours on 10 April 1940 by the German 'Q-ship' Schiff 40 / Schürbek west of Jutland, Denmark in position 56º43'N, 06º33'5"E. Reported overdue on 22 April 1940. Tarpon possibly attacked the German vessel with two torpedoes. They missed and Tarpon was most likely sunk by depth charges in the counter attack.

Commands listed for HMS Tarpon (N 17)

Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.

	Commander	From	To
1	Cdr. Robert Cecil Somers Garwood, RN	30 Sep 1938	10 Jan 1940
2	Lt.Cdr. (retired) Charles Bate Limpright Wren, RNR	10 Jan 1940	12 Mar 1940
3	Lt.Cdr. Herbert James Caldwell, RN	12 Mar 1940	Apr 1940

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Notable events involving Tarpon include:

This page was last updated in January 2016.

16 Mar 1940
HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Caldwell, RN) departed the Clyde area for Portsmouth. She was escorted by HMS Havelock (Capt. E.B.K. Stevens, DSC, RN) and HMS Havant (Lt.Cdr. A.F. Burnell-Nugent, RN). (1)

20 Mar 1940
HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Caldwell, RN) arrived at Portsmouth. (1)

26 Mar 1940
HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Caldwell, RN) departed from Portsmouth for Portland where she arrived later the same day. (1)

3 Apr 1940
HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Caldwell, RN) departed from Portland for Portsmouth where she arrived later the same day. (1)

5 Apr 1940
HMS Tarpon (Lt.Cdr. H.J. Caldwell, RN) departed from Portsmouth bound for Rosyth. She made the passage together with HMS Severn (Lt.Cdr. B.W. Taylor, RN). They were escorted by HMS Wivern (Lt.Cdr. W.C. Bushell, RN). They joined northbound convoy FN 139 at 1530/6 until 2100/7 when both submarines were ordered to patrol of the Skagerrak and course was set accordingly. (2)

17 Mar 2016
Wreck was discovered by commercial diving company near the harbour of Thyborøn News paper article in Danish: click here (3)