HMS Tuna (N94)
HMS "Tuna" (N94) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Scotts, Greenock (in Scotland) and launched on 10 May 1940. She was equipped with German-built engines and spent her career in World War II in western European waters, in the North Sea and off the west coast of France, and most famously taking part in Operation Frankton. The raid on Bordeaux harbour was later dramatised in the 1955 film The Cockleshell Heroes starring Trevor Howard. "Tuna" also took part in many war patrols and her crew received service medals  for the boat's destruction of several U-boats. Design and description. "Tuna" was ordered from Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 9 December 1937, as part of an extension of the 1937 construction programme, with an initial four submarines ordered earlier that year in July. "Tuna" was part of a further three boats to be ordered, along with "Triad" and "Truant", which were obtained from another shipbuilder. She was equipped with diesel engines produced by MAN SE, a German company. The engines had been delivered before the war, and spare parts were rare, members of the crew at least  once creating replacement parts from other equipment while at sea. Wartime service. "Tuna" had a relatively active career, serving in the North Sea and off the French and Scandinavian coasts. Attacks on shipping and submarines. "Tuna" sank the 7,230-ton merchantman "Tirranna" on 22 September 1940. The "Tirranna" was a Norwegian ship that had been captured by the German armed merchant cruiser "Atlantis", in the Indian Ocean. "Tirranna" had 292 on board when she was sunk, including at least 264 captured Allied sailors and a 16-strong German prize crew. Eighty-seven people died in the sinking, including one German . She also torpedoed and sank the German catapult ship "Ostmark" and the French tug "Chassiron". She fired upon and sank the German submarine "U-644" and attacked the German submarine "U-302" and the Italian submarine "Brin" as well as two unidentified submarine contacts, all unsuccessfully. An attack also failed on the German tanker "Benno", formerly the Norwegian "Ole Jacob", which had also been captured earlier by the "Atlantis". In January 1941 "Tuna" and the submarine "Snapper" were escorted by the captured French minesweeper "La Capricieuse" as far as Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly. "Snapper" left for a different patrol area and  was presumed lost after she failed to return. Later that month "Tuna" engaged and pursued an unidentified surfaced U-boat at night for more than an hour. She fired the forward-mounted four-inch gun and damage was noted to the U-boat's conning tower. The German vessel returned the fire with an aft-mounted gun, but no damage was reported by "Tuna". The pursuit was called off after more enemy vessels appeared, "Tuna" diving to avoid them. In February 1942 the boat was ordered towards the Trondheim area along with HMS "Trident" to protect a convoy from enemy  sorties from Norwegian ports. Although "Tuna" did not engage the enemy, "Trident" damaged the German cruiser "Prinz Eugen". Section::::'Cockleshell' raid and decorations. On 30 November 1942, under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes DSO, "Tuna" sailed from Holy Loch, Scotland, inserting twelve Royal Marines swimmer canoeist commandos soon to become the SBS into the Gironde estuary as part of Operation Frankton (the attack on Bordeaux harbour). She was to arrive on 6 December but was delayed due to bad weather and the presence of a minefield. She arrived at the estuary a day late, surfacing from the mouth of  the river. The aim of the operation was for several canoes of marines to paddle 60 miles up the Gironde to attack German ships in Bordeaux; in the process of disembarking the canoes, one of the six canoes was damaged, leaving the submarine to return those marines while the remainder continued the assault. The operation was a success although only Corporal Bill Sparks and Major Herbert Hasler survived. The mission led to the formation of the Special Boat Service. For his superb navigation and coolness under pressure, Lieutenant-Commander Dick Raikes was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, and was later  played by Christoper Lee in the 1955 film The Cockleshell Heroes. "Tuna" returned to home waters for the first time in four war patrols on 18 November 1943. For the destruction of three U-boats during those patrols, her commanding officer, Lieutenant D. S. R. Martin, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order with two bars. Additionally, the Distinguished Service Cross was awarded to Lt (E) N. Travers, and the Distinguished Service Medal to four other members of the crew including Chief Petty Officer William J Stabb and Leading Seaman Dominic "Bommy" King. In August 1945, she attended the first British  Navy week in a foreign port, in Rotterdam. Also there were the cruiser HMS "Bellona" and the destroyers "Garth" and "Onslow". Foreign vessels included two of the Dutch Navy submarines of the T-class, "Dolfijn" and "Zeehond". In 1942 the Borough of Aldershot adopted the "Tuna" as part of the Warship Week campaign. Post war. "Tuna" survived the war and was sold to be broken up for scrap on 19 December 1945, a job carried out at one of Thos. W. Ward shipbreaking yards at Briton Ferry from June 1946.