Recognition Guide Warships of the Second World War
Royal Navy — Submarine N24

HMS Thistle (N24)

T-class submarine

HMS Thistle (N24)
Portsmouth Dockyard Constructive Department — This photograph FL 4997 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons Plate — N24 British T class submarine HMSM THISTLE underway at Spithead .

Service

  1. Royal Navy as HMS Thistle4 July 1939 — 10 April 1940222 days of the war
T-class submarine Particulars
Name
HMS Thistle
Pennant / hull number
N24
Builder
Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow
Laid down
7 December 1937
Launched
25 October 1938
Commissioned
4 July 1939
Fate
Sunk, 10 April 1940 (1940)
Status
Wreck

Specifications

Displacement, surfaced
1,090 long tons (1,107 t)
Displacement, submerged
1,575 long tons (1,600 t)
Length
83.82 m (275 ft)
Beam
7.92 m (26 ft)
Draught
4.97 m (16.3 ft)
Speed
15.3 knots (28.2 km/h, 17.5 mph)
Range
4,500 nmi (8,334 km)
Complement
59
Main gun
102 mm (4 in)

HMS Thistle was a T-class submarine built for the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number N24. Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow laid her keel on 7 December 1937. Launched on 25 October 1938, she entered service on 4 July 1939.

Her class ran to 52 ships. The class followed the Grampus-class submarine and was succeeded by the U class.

The boat displaced 1,090 long tons surfaced and 1,575 long tons submerged. She measured 83.8 m (275 ft) long with a beam of 7.9 m (26 ft). Her designed speed was 15.2 knots, and she carried a complement of 59. Her main battery was of 102 mm (4.0 in) calibre.

She was in commission for 222 days of the Second World War.

She was sunk on 10 April 1940, at 59°00′N 5°00′E. The wreck survives.

Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.

Armament and machinery

Armament and machinery
Propulsion
  • Two shafts
  • Twin diesel engines 2500 hp each
  • Twin electric motors 1450 hp each
Armament
  • 6 internal forward-facing 21 in torpedo tubes
  • 4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes
  • 6 reload torpedoes
  • 1 x 4 inch deck gun

Sister ships

27 more in the class

Sources

  • Facts harvested from HMS Thistle (N24) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
  • Photograph: Portsmouth Dockyard Constructive Department — This photograph FL 4997 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons