HMS ''Umpire'' (N82) was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

U-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

built at

Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham, Kent, Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham, Kent, Gillingham; at its most extens ...

and sunk in an accident nine days after commissioning in July 1941 with the loss of 22 men. The submarine was sunk while en route from Chatham to join the 3rd Submarine Flotilla at

Dunoon Dunoon (; ) is the main town on the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located on the western shore of the upper Firth of Clyde, to the south of the Holy Loch and to the north of Innellan. As well as forming part of the cou ...

, under the command of Lieutenant Mervyn Wingfield. From Dunoon she was to carry out a single working-up patrol in the North Sea before heading to the Mediterranean. Young was on board the submarine when it sank She stopped overnight at

Sheerness Sheerness () is a port town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 13,249, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby ...

and joined a convoy headed North. The submarine suffered engine failure with one of the two diesel engines and as a result fell behind the convoy; the propellers were driven purely by electric motors on the surface and when submerged with no mechanical linkage to the diesel engines. The convoy passed a Southbound convoy around midnight while about off

Blakeney, Norfolk Blakeney is a coastal village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Blakeney lies within the Norfolk Coast AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. The North Norfol ...

, with the two convoys passing starboard to starboard; this was unusual since ships and convoys should pass port to port. No ships showed any lights because of the risk from German

E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat"; plural ''Schnellboote'') of the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a pat ...

s. However, an armed escort trawler, ''Peter Hendriks'' in the southbound convoy accidentally struck ''Umpire'' sinking her in 18 metres of water. Four crew members were on the bridge when the submarine sank - Wingfield, the navigator and two lookouts. However, only Wingfield survived in the cold water to be picked up by the trawler. Several other personnel also survived, escaping from the sunken wreck using the conning tower or the engine room escape hatch, the majority wearing DSEA. Chief ERA Killen received a

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

for leaving the submarine wearing DSEA to check for obstructions around the engine room hatch and then returning to the engine room to assist the other crew members in escaping. He remained in the engine room until everyone else there had escaped. 17 of the crew successfully escaped, 16 crew were lost. Lieutenant

Edward Young Edward Young ( – 5 April 1765) was an English poet, best remembered for ''Night-Thoughts'', a series of philosophical writings in blank verse, reflecting his state of mind following several bereavements. It was one of the most popular poem ...

, one of the survivors from ''Umpire'', later went on to command HMS ''Storm''. The wreck is designated as a protected place under the

Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (1986 c. 35) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that provides protection for the wreckage of military aircraft and designated military vessels. The Act provides for two types of prot ...

Citations

References

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Umpire (N82) British U-class submarines 1940 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom British submarine accidents World War II shipwrecks in the North Sea Protected wrecks of England Maritime incidents in July 1941 Submarines sunk in collisions