Tally-Ho, The Boat With a Charmed Life

Building of the T-class began in 1936-37 and HMS Triton was Barrow's first. They were designed as the patrol submarines for ocean work and displaced rather more than 1,000 tons surfaced and 1,575 tons submerged.

The Triton was actually a fraction heavier but both first and second group boats had the same dimensions - 275 feet length overall, 26½ feet beam and 141 feet depth.

They had twin diesels driving two shafts and developing 2,500 b.h.p. and electric motors for underwater running rated at 1,450 b.h.p.

Surface speed was 15 knots and submerged speed 9 knots. They carried a 4-inch gun and some smaller armament but the main armament was eight torpedo tubes in the bow and three stern tubes.

This weapon fit seems to have varied a little group to group. The boats in the first group had a crew of 59, those in the second group a crew of 65.

Now the Tally-ho.

One of the first - HMS Tally-Ho

She began life, as HM submarine P 317 and then changed to P 97. When it was decided to give her a name, Sir Winston Churchill chose it. He probably felt that the huntsman's cry on sighting his quarry was appropriate for a submarine. Tally-Ho's first motto, however, was an unofficial choice, Celeriter in Hostem ("swiftly among the foe.") How appropriate it turned out to be.

Barrow shipbuilders certainly "did their stuff" with the wartime submarines. Read this; "Laid down 23rd March, 1942; Launched 23rd December 1942, Completed 12th April, 1943;" John Brown on Clydeside too hurried things along for they built the engines for the boat.

Six months after - completion, Tally-Ho's first war patrol started in the Far East. A little slower than the original design but she had a formidable armament of 17 torpedoes in all ready for use during each three-week patrol.

Her quick firing, semi-automatic 4-inch gun forward of the bridge and the 20 mm Oerlikon cannon on a bandstand platform just aft the bridge were intended for defence against air attack as well as for shooting up small surface targets.

Tally-Ho's captain on her first patrol, and for the remainder of the war was Lieutenant W. A. Bennington subsequently promoted to captain with two DSOs and three DSCs after his name. Bennington had been an acting Leading Torpedo Operator when he was selected to become an officer. His rapid promotion from the lower deck to become a submarine commanding officer - and a brilliant one at that - are clear indications of his ability both as a submariner and as a leader of men.

Tally-Ho's Engineer Lieut. Peter Scott-Maxwell had modified Nos.3 and 5 main ballast tanks to contain fuel and so Tally-Ho was able to get to her patrol area Without using her precious internal fuel supplies - a system soon adapted by other British submarines.

On the third day of that first patrol, after seeing nothing more than small coastal craft, a German U boat was sighted. Bennington fired a torpedo salvo but missed, although Tally-Ho herself was very nearly hit!

One of the torpedoes circled and. passed close down her port side. Next day a merchant ship was attacked with two torpedoes from a range of 700 yards but again they missed, probably due to mechanical faults all too common in the torpedoes of British, German, Japanese, Russian and American navies at that time.

In November 1943 the Kisogawa Maru - 1914 tons was sunk, but one of the two torpedoes fired came back at Tally-Ho forcing her to go deep in order to avoid it. Sinking the Kisogawa Maru was the first confirmed kill for Tally-Ho, and marked the end of her first patrol.

On the way home and on the surface, Tally-Ho came across a Japanese destroyer escorting a U boat. While Tally-Ho manoeuvred to attack, the destroyer turned towards and started to signal the submarine. Bennington altered course away and increased speed, hoping the enemy would take him for a small cloud!

The escort declined to accept the "small cloud" theory and gave chase, but Tally-Ho dived to safety.

After a rest period in Colombo Tally-Ho sailed for her second patrol on December 3, carrying with her several agents for a special operation.

Shortly after diving, the binocular search periscope started to fill with water, rendering it useless. The search periscope is the principal periscope with which the majority of the 'looking out" is done, and with only the attack periscope left, the success of the operation was doubtful.

The engineer officer and the chief engine room artificer did their best to dissect the periscope, without success. But despite her handicap Tally-Ho accomplished her special operation arid returned to Trincomalee on time. The defective periscope was changed. Tally-Ho's next patrol started with a special operation which had to be aborted due to enemy activity inland.

A few days later, on January 9 1944, the cry of "Captain in the Control room" rang out as the masts of a large ship rose over the horizon.

It proved to be a Kuma class light cruiser of 5,500 tons - a prime target. When the cruiser .was sighted it was impossible for Tally-Ho to get into an attacking position, but, next day the cruiser was spotted again, coming out of Penang harbour.

This time Tally-Ho was favourably placed and Bennington decided on a salvo of seven torpedoes. As soon as the salvo was on its way Tally-Ho crept inshore into' shallow water and successfully avoided the counterattack by the escorting destroyers. Smoke from the burning cruiser could be seen from 20 miles away. It was confirmed later that the cruiser had, indeed, sunk.

On January 14 Tally-Ho sank the 6,000 tons Jahore Maru having first detected the vessel by radar - an unusual achievement, as submarine radar was not renowned for reliability in those days.

When Tally-Ho returned from her patrol, 14 of her officers and men received decorations or mentions in despatches.

The next patrol again started with a special operation which Bennington found particularly frustrating. He was not allowed to attack any targets 48 hours before or after carrying out the mission and in accordance with Murphy's well known law targets could be expected to turn up in plenty during the banned period.

On the morning of February 14, while on the surface, the officer of the watch reported sighting a U boat, also on the surface. Not having special operation Tally-Ho was able to engage the enemy.

It was the U-1T23, originally an Italian submarine that the Japanese had taken at Singapore, and now manned by a German crew. Its task was to carry cargo from the Far East to Germany. Tally-Ho sank the U boat and set course for the Sembilian Islands, hoping to complete the special operation.

It proved impossible to contact the agents ashore, and the agents from the submarine could not be landed. Bennington wasted four days which he would have dearly loved to have put to better use.

Not until February 21 was another suitable target sighted - the 510 ton Diagen Maru. This ship was hit by one of the five torpedoes fired and sank within four minutes.

From now on the patrol became one of the most hair-raising that any submarine had ever undertaken.

While Tally-Ho was on the surface one night, charging her batteries, two dimly outlined vessels were sighted coming straight towards her. Both the Truculent and Tactician, two other submarines, were in the area, so Tally-Ho signalled the recognition code.

The ships were Japanese submarine - chasers which lost no time in letting go their depth charges and firing everything available at Tally-Ho.

Bennington, staying on the surface, skillfully avoided one attack while trying to get the 20mm Oerlikon into action, but the gun jammed

By now the Japanese ships were very close indeed - so close that they could not depress their guns sufficiently to open fire. One of them swept down the submarine's port side, cutting open her ballast. Some how Tally-Ho managed to avoid any further damage from her pursuers, and escaped.

For Peter Scott-Maxwell this was the second ramming he had survived. The first came while serving in the older submarine Porteus. He considered himself lucky in Tally-Ho, for few submarines rammed by surface ships have lived to tell the tale.

Despite heavy weather and very low buoyancy, causing her to roll as much as 30 degrees, Tally-Ho managed to reach Colombo, where the damage was successfully repaired.

When ready for sea again, Tally-Ho was sent off on a mine-laying operation off the north-east coast of Sumatra. On this patrol after laying her mines under difficult circumstances, Tally-Ho twice fired torpedoes at a German U-Boat but missed with both salvoes quite probably because the torpedoes were defective.

For the next patrol the First Lieutenant, Lieutenant J M Steadman DSC RNR had to be replaced because he was suffering from complete physical exhaustion. The new First Lieutenant was Lieutenant A.G Tait DSC RN, the present Flag Officer Plymouth in the rank of Vice-Admiral.

The patrol was uneventful, apart from a minor gun action in which 40 shells were fired at an elusive 250 ton coastal vessel. Four hits were seen but the ship was not sunk.

During the entire war the ship's company of Tally-Ho lost only one of its members. While engaging a Japanese submarine chaser on the surface, Lieutenant 3. D Adams, the gunnery officer, was fatally wounded by a machine gun bullet. Many more casualties might have been expected with a series of patrols as eventful as those of Tally-Ho.

The submarine's career did not finish at 'the end of the war; she went all over the world on goodwill visits - even back to Trincomalee, ending up as a floating classroom at the home of British submarines, HMS Dolphin.

After appearing in the film Morning Departure she was sold to Thomas W. Ward for scrap in 1988. A piece of her may yet remain in Barrow for the boat's - engine room telegraph was formally presented to Walney Central Club.

Reproduced from
Ulverston News (1976)