View source for HMS Tarpon (N17)

{{other ships|HMS Tarpon}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:HMS Tudor.jpg|300px]]
|Ship caption=British T-Class submarine (example: HMS Tudor)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner=
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company|Scotts]], [[Greenock]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=5 October 1937
|Ship launched=17 October 1939
|Ship sponsor=
|Ship christened=
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=8 March 1940
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship identification=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship honors=
|Ship captured=
|Ship fate=sunk 14 April 1940<ref name=colledge344>Colledge (2006), p. 344</ref>
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=[[File:TARPON badge-1-.jpg|left|100px]]
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[British T class submarine]]
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=*1,090 [[long ton|ton]]s surfaced
*1,575 tons submerged
|Ship tons burthen=
|Ship length={{convert|275|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{convert|16.3|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draft=
|Ship depth=
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*Two shafts
*Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each
*Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed=*15.25 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced
*9 knots (20 km/h) submerged
|Ship range=4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} max
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=59
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
*6 internal forward-facing [[British 21 inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|sing=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes
*6 reload torpedoes
*1 x [[QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII|{{convert|4|inch|mm|sing=on|0}} deck gun]]
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
The second '''HMS ''Tarpon'' (N17)''' was a [[British T class submarine|T-class]] [[submarine]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was laid down by [[Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company|Scotts]], [[Greenock]] and launched in October 1939. She is named after the large fish [[Tarpon]]; one species of which is native to the Atlantic, and the other to the Indo-Pacific Oceans.<ref name="Megalopsatlanticus">" Megalops atlanticus", www.fishbase.org, 11 February 2010.</ref>

==Career==
''Tarpon'' had a short career, serving in the [[North Sea]]. She left [[Portsmouth]] on 5 April 1940 for [[Rosyth]] in company with [[HMS Severn (N57)|HMS ''Severn'']]. The following day they were ordered to [[Norway]]. On the 10th ''Tarpon'' was ordered to take up a new position. ''Tarpon'' was never heard from again.

It is asserted that there are a combination of [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Germany|German]] records which state that she was engaged by [[Schiff 40]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url=http://www.newhistorian.com/sunken-wwii-era-british-submarine-found-off-danish-coast/7190/ |title=Sunken WWII-Era British Submarine Found off Danish Coast |publisher=New Historian |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> The records show that ''Tarpon'' had attacked the [[Q-ship]] Schiff 40/''Schürbek'', but her first torpedoes had missed. The Q-ship picked up the ''Tarpon'' on her sonar and her periscope was sighted. The ship dropped numerous depth charges in a sustained counterattack that went on most of the morning.  Finally a pattern of depth charges brought wreckage to the surface. The Q-ship remained on the scene until 0500 the next morning when it became clear the submarine had been sunk.  ''Tarpon'' was reported overdue on 22 April 1940.<ref>[http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3490.html HMS Tarpon], Uboat.net</ref><ref>[http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm Submarine losses 1904 to present day], RN Submarine Museum, Gosport</ref>

==Wreck==
The wreck was found and identified in the Danish part of the [[North Sea]], near the harbour town of [[Thyborøn]], by a Danish commercial diver,  Gert Normann Andersen of the company JD-Contractor and British marine archaeologist Dr [[Innes McCartney]] in March 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/05/wreck-second-world-war-british-submarine-hms-tarpon-denmark|title=Wreck of second world war British submarine found off Denmark|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=5 September 2016|accessdate=5 September 2016}}</ref><ref>[http://jyllands-posten.dk/indland/ECE8519713/usaedvanligt-fund-ubaad-fra-anden-verdenskrig-fundet-i-dansk-farvand/ Usædvanligt fund af ubåd fra anden verdenskrig fundet i dansk farvand], Jyllandsposten, 17 Marts 2016</ref> The wreck was explored in a live TV program by Denmarks Radio on 28 August 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dr.dk/tv/se/live-fra-dybet/live-fra-dybet#!/|title=Live fra dybet|accessdate=5 September 2016}}</ref> The submarine wreck was found with two torpedo tubes empty; confirming it likely they were fired in battle before her sinking.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3777888/Mystery-missing-submarine-solved-HMS-Tarpon-coast-Denmark-76-years-sunk-WWII.html |title=Mystery of the missing submarine |publisher=[[Daily Mail]] |access-date=22 September 2016}}</ref> It is therefore still most likely she was then sunk by [[depth charges]].<ref name=":1"/> The wreck is submerged in 40 [[metres]] of water.<ref name=":1"/>

==In Popular Culture==

''Tarpon'' is referenced in Meic Stevens's Welsh-language song "Cân Walter".  The song depicts a young sailor bidding farewell to his family and friends, on the eve of setting sail on ''Tarpon''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cords.cymru/cords/can-walter/ |title=Can Walter |access-date=September 15, 2017 |language=Welsh}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of shipwrecks in 1940]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Bagnasco |first=Erminio |title=Submarines of World War Two |year=1977 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-962-6}} 
*{{Colledge}}
*{{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Kemp|first=Paul J.|title=The T-class Submarine: The Classic British Design|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Maryland|year=1990|isbn=1-55750-826-7}}
*{{cite book|last=McCartney|first=Innes|location=Oxford, UK|title=British Submarines 1939–1945|series=New Vanguard|volume=129|year=2006|publisher=Osprey|isbn=1-84603-007-2}}

<!-- non-breaking space to keep AWB drones from altering the space before the navbox-->

{{T class submarine}}
{{April 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{coord|56.717|N|6.55|E|display=title|source:dewiki}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tarpon (N17)}}
[[Category:British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Clyde-built ships]]
[[Category:1939 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1940]]