HMS
THAMES
(1932
-
1940)
HMS THAMES (Lt Cdr W D Dunkerley) was patrolling off Norway when it is almost certain that she encountered the German Battle cruiser Gneisenau and her escorts. At 1550 on the afternoon of 26 July, one of the escorts, Luchs, was torpedoed and sank within 30 seconds. THAMES was the only feasible candidate for the attack and may herself have been damaged in the incident if her torpedo had exploded prematurely.
If this was not the cause of her loss, then she was probably mined in one of several minefields that she would have had to negotiate en route to her home port. There were no survivors.
PEOPLE WHO DIED WHILE SERVING IN THIS UNIT
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One Response
AB Harry Harbert was my paternal grandfather. I was not born until the late 1950s so obviously never met him. I wish I had.
Harry was a career mariner (5th or 6th generation RN) from Gosport. He was married to my grandmother Doris and was father to my mother Marguerite who is now almost 88 yrs old and living in a care home. She was very young at the time of his death so does not remember him.
Harry Joined the RN in the mid 1920s and served on surface vessels. We still have memorabilia in the family that Harry brought back from his postings around the world.
I have his service record. Harry left the RN in 1938 and became landlord of The Beehive pub in Birmingham. He was only there a few months before being recalled to the Navy at the outbreak of war in 1939.
Harry volunteered for the submarine service apparently in order to better support his family with the additional pay. I understand he was a torpedo operator.
At the request of my grandmother I wrote to the RN Historical Branch in the 1980s They responded with the information and supposition that HMS Thames probably encountered a minefield somewhere in the North Sea. At that time I assume the theory of the attack on Gneisenau or her escorts was not known about.
Harry’s name is recorded in the book of remembrance at HMS Dolphin, and at Birmingham City Hall. I have seen both. I understand he is also remembered on a memorial at Chatham.
I hope before I meet my maker the wreck of HMS Thames will be discovered and the mystery of the fate of her and her brave crew will be solved.
RIP the brave men of HMS Thames and the thousands of other souls who lost their lives in the service of our country.
Any additional information would be gratefully received.