''Thames'' was a Rescue tugboat that saw service with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Named for the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, she was launched in 1938. With the outbreak of the Second World War, she was acquired by the Royal Navy in June 1940. She was based at the strategically vital naval base at Gibraltar, moving the large warships there in and out of the harbour. Her duties also included coming to the assistance of any allied ships, naval or merchant, that might be damaged and require towing to safety. If this was impossible, she would take off survivors. To protect against air attacks she was fitted with a 12-pounder anti-aircraft gun.

HMS ''Ark Royal''

On 13 November 1941, the aircraft carrier was torpedoed some 30 miles off Gibraltar by the . After

damage control In navies and the maritime industry, damage control is the emergency control of situations that may cause the sinking of a watercraft. Examples are: * rupture of a pipe or hull especially below the waterline and * damage from grounding (runni ...

efforts seemed to have stabilised the subsequent flooding, the commander of

Force H Force H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940, to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany. The force occupied an odd place within the ...

, Sir

James Somerville Admiral of the Fleet Sir James Fownes Somerville, (17 July 1882 – 19 March 1949) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the First World War as fleet wireless officer for the Mediterranean Fleet where he was involved in providing naval suppo ...

sped into Gibraltar aboard the battleship to organise salvage operations. The ''Thames'' and another tug, the ''St Day'' were dispatched to the scene. ''Thames'' arrived first and was able to attach a tow line to the stricken carrier. She then attempted to tow her to Gibraltar, but her efforts were foiled by the strong current flowing through the

Strait of Gibraltar The Strait of Gibraltar ( ar, مضيق جبل طارق, Maḍīq Jabal Ṭāriq; es, Estrecho de Gibraltar, Archaism, Archaic: Pillars of Hercules), also known as the Straits of Gibraltar, is a narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. Despite towing ''Ark Royal'' for nine hours at a speed of two knots, she could make little headway. ''Ark Royal'' capsized and sank the following day, 14 November, after being overwhelmed by flooding that could not be controlled. The belief that ''Ark Royal'' had been under tow for nine hours led the subsequent Board of Inquiry to assume that ''Ark Royal'' had sunk closer to Gibraltar than was actually the case. The true site of the sinking was not discovered until ''Ark Royal''’s wreck was located by a film crew in 2002. ''Thames'' continued in service with the Navy until 1944, by which time the

allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

had largely secured control of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

. She then left Navy service.

References

* Mike Rossiter, ''Ark Royal: the life, death and rediscovery of the legendary Second World War aircraft carrier'' (Corgi Books, London, 2007).
Thames at Uboat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thames, HTMS Tugboats of the United Kingdom 1938 ships