Allied Warships

HMS P 611 (P 611)

Submarine of the P 611 class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassP 611 
PennantP 611 
Built byVickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down24 May 1939 
Launched19 Jul 1940 
Commissioned1 Dec 1941 
End service9 May 1942 
History

The Turkish submarine Oruc Reis was commissioned into the Royal Navy for passage to Turkey on 1 December 1941. On 26 March 1942 she left the Clyde for Gibraltar. On April 7th she left Gibraltar for Alexandria where she arrived on April 25th. She arrived at the Turkish naval base at Iskauderun on 9 May 1942 and was handed over to the Turkish Navy.

 
Former nameOruc Reis

Commands listed for HMS P 611 (P 611)

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.

CommanderFromTo
1Lt.Cdr. Walter Selby Hall, RN8 Aug 1941Sep 41 ?

2Lt. Paul Seymour Skelton, RNNov 19419 May 1942

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Notable events involving P 611 include:


The history of HMS P 611 / Oruc Reis as compiled on this page is extracted from a passage report, two logbooks of this submarine and various other files.

This page was last updated in September 2017.

21 Aug 1941
The Turkish submarine Oruc Reis departed her builders yard at Barrow for trials in the Clyde area. She was manned by a British crew under Lt.Cdr. W.S. Hall, RN. She appeared to have been escorted by HMS White Bear (Cdr.(Retd.) C.C. Flemming, RN). (1)

22 Aug 1941
Oruc Reis (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Hall, RN) arrived in the Clyde area to begin a trial period. (1)

30 Aug 1941
Having completed tials, Oruc Reis (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Hall, RN), departed the Clyde area to return to Barrow. She was escorted by HMS White Bear (Cdr. (retired) C.C. Flemming, RN). (1)

31 Aug 1941
Oruc Reis (Lt.Cdr. W.S. Hall, RN) arrived back at her builders yard at Barrow where she was laid up for a while awaiting the completion of her 'sister' Murat Reis. (1)

30 Nov 1941
Oruc Reis (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) departed her builders yard at Barrow to work up in the Clyde area. She made the passage together with HMS Turbulent (Lt.Cdr. J.W. Linton, DSC, RN). They were escorted by HMS Cutty Sark (Cdr.(Retd.) R.H. Mack, RN). (1)

1 Dec 1941
Oruc Reis (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) arrived in the Clyde area where she was commissioned as HMS P 611. She then commenced her work-up programme. Upon completion of this she was temporary assigned to A/S training duties.

26 Mar 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) departed the Clyde area for Gibraltar. Passage south through the Irish Sea was made together with her 'sister' HMS P 612 (Lt. A.J.W. Pitt, RN). Both submarines were en-route to be delivered to the Turkish Navy. They were to proceed to Alexandria first. They made the passage fully commissioned as British warships.

During the passage south through the Irish Sea they were escorted by the Norwegian torpedo boat HNoMS Draug.

[No log or passage report is available for this period so no map can be displayed.] (2)

3 Apr 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) arrived at Gibraltar. (2)

7 Apr 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) departed Gibraltar for Alexandria.

For the daily positions of HMS P 611 during this passage see the map below.

(3)

24 Apr 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) arrived at Alexandria. (3)

4 May 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) departed Alexandria for Iskanderun, Turkey.

[No log or passage report is available for this period so no map can be displayed.] (4)

9 May 1942
HMS P 611 (Lt. P.S. Skelton, RN) arrived at Iskanderun, Turkey where she was decommissioned and handed over to the Turkish Navy. (4)

Sources

  1. ADM 199/400
  2. ADM 199/424
  3. ADM 199/1218
  4. ADM 199/2565

ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.


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