HMS Talisman (N78)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Talisman.

300px HMS Talisman
History
United Kingdom
Builder:	Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead
Laid down:	27 September 1938
Launched:	29 January 1940
Commissioned:	29 June 1940
Fate:	sunk 17 September 1942
Badge:	100px
General characteristics
Class & type:	British T class submarine
Displacement:	1,090 tons surfaced 1,575 tons submerged
Length:	275 ft (84 m)
Beam:	26 ft 6 in (8.08 m)
Draught:	16.3 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion:	Two shafts Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
Speed:	15.25 knots (28.7 km/h) surfaced 9 knots (20 km/h) submerged
Range:	4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20 km/h) surfaced
Test depth:	300 ft (91 m) max
Complement:	59
Armament:	6 internal forward-facing 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes 4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes 6 reload torpedoes 1 x 4-inch (102 mm) deck gun

The second HMS Talisman (N78), and the first to enter service under the name, was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead and launched on the 29 January 1940.

Career

Talisman had a relatively short but active career, spending most of her time in the Mediterranean.

One of her first actions was the capture of the French fishing vessel Le Clipper, which was then used to observe U-boat movements off the Gironde estuary before being brought into Falmouth. She later attacked HMS Otus by mistake, but fortunately was unsuccessful. She went on to sink two sailing vessels, the Vichy-French passenger ship Théophile Gautier and the Italian merchant Calitea, as well as destroying the grounded wreck of the German merchant Yalova. She also unsuccessfully attacked the German merchant Salzburg and an Italian convoy, missing the Italian merchant Lauretta, and being heavily depth charged by the escorting Italian torpedo boat Libra.

Sinking

Talisman left Gibraltar on 10 September 1942 carrying supplies to Malta, where she was due no later than the 18th. She reported sighting a U-boat off Philippeville, Algeria on the 15th, but was not heard from again, and she failed to arrive at Malta. She is presumed either to have hit an Italian mine off Sicily or to have been destroyed by Italian surface forces on the 17th. She was declared overdue on 18 September 1942.

External links

• IWM Interview with Philip Francis, who commanded HMS Talisman from 1939 to 1940