Hms/m Tantivy: Inner Moray Firth
Submarine (20th Century)
Site Name Hms/m Tantivy: Inner Moray Firth
Classification Submarine (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Findhorn Bay; Cromarty Firth; Firth Of Cromarty; North Sea; Hms Tantivy
Canmore ID 196202
Site Number NH96NW 8002
NGR NH 9058 6643
Datum Datum not recorded
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/196202
- Council Highland
- Parish Maritime - Highland
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
NH96NW 8002 9058 6643
N57 40.483 W3 50.085
NLO: Findhorn [name: NJ 041 642]
Cromarty Firth [name centred NH 69 67].
Location formerly entered as NH c. 905 664 [N57 40.47 W3 50.08].
(Classified as submarine: date of loss [scuttle] cited as 1951). HMS [HMS/M] Tantivy: [this vessel was] sunk as a target off the Cromarty Firth.
Registration: London.
(Location of loss cited as N57 40.47 W3 50.08).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):
A4166 1 'ammunition lift': from seabed.
(No accurate location cited).
NMRS, MS/829/35.
The evident ambiguity in the description of the location of this wreck is probably due to its location having been held undisclosed for some years. It may fall within the quasi-administrative area defined as Maritime - Moray.
The citation by Larn and Larn of this wreck within their section DA (SE Scotland) of their work is erroneous.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 24 October 2001.
R and B Larn 1998.
Displacement: 1090 tons (surfaced), 1571 tons (submerged)
Length: 273ft 6ins (83.4m)
Beam: 26ft 6ins (8.1m)
Draught: 12ft (3.7m)
Speed: 15 ? kts (surfaced) 8 ? kts (submerged)
Guns: 1x4in (102mm), 1x20mm AA, three x 0.303ins
Torpedo tubes: 1 x 21in (533mm): 8 forward, 2 amidships, 1 aft [cited as usual for class]
Complement: 61
(Location cited as N57 40.483 W3 50.085 [NH 9058 6643]). This submarine was one of the third (and final) group to be built of the 53-strong T-class, the quintessential British submarine of the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 6 April 1943, she served briefly in the Far East, sinking three coasters. She survived a potentially disastrous collision with sister boat HMS/M Templar in April 1945 and was used as the test vessel for an experimental anti-aircraft system (the after portion of the conning tower being significantly altered) before being sunk as a sonar target in the Cromarty Firth in 1951. The wreck was discovered in 1985 by the Inverness branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, who now own and conserved it.
The submarine lies upright in 38m depth of water and remains essentially complete. The gun and propellors have been removed, and there is apparently a break in the after casing. The forward torpedo tube doors are open and the forward hydroplanes folded upwards; the doors of the after (external) tubes remain closed. The periscope standards apparently remain intact, but are net-encumbered.
The indicated location falls in a charted depth of about 30m about 4.8nm NNE of Nairn. It is not charted as a wreck and no sounding or seabed type is noted nearby.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 12 October 2003.
Source: well-illustrated article in Dive (magazine), August 2003.
UKHO chart no. 223 (1978, amended 1992).
Neither plans nor photographs of this vessel are held in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Information from Ms G Fabri (NMM), 7 November 2003.
Tantivy s/m [submarine] T-class. [Built] Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, 6 April 1943. Sunk 1951 [as] asdic [sonar] target, [in] Cromarty Firth.
J J Colledge and B Warlow 2006.
The cited location of this vessel lies close to the unverified location of the barge NH96NW 8003.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 20 July 2011.
Loss (1951)
(Classified as submarine: date of loss [scuttle] cited as 1951). HMS [HMS/M] Tantivy: [this vessel was] sunk as a target off the Cromarty Firth.
Registration: London.
(Location of loss cited as N57 40.47 W3 50.08).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Note (24 October 2001)
The evident ambiguity in the description of the location of this wreck is probably due to its location having been held undisclosed for some years. It may fall within the quasi-administrative area defined as Maritime - Moray.
The citation by Larn and Larn of this wreck within their section DA (SE Scotland) of their work is erroneous.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 24 October 2001.
R and B Larn 1998.
Named Location (Nlo) (13 September 2001)
NLO: Findhorn [name: NJ 041 642]
Cromarty Firth [name centred NH 69 67].
Location formerly entered as NH c. 905 664 [N57 40.47 W3 50.08].
Evidence Of Loss (2001)
Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):
A4166 1 'ammunition lift': from seabed.
(No accurate location cited).
NMRS, MS/829/35.
External Reference (7 November 2003)
Neither plans nor photographs of this vessel are held in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.
Information from Ms G Fabri (NMM), 7 November 2003.
Note (12 October 2003)
Displacement: 1090 tons (surfaced), 1571 tons (submerged)
Length: 273ft 6ins (83.4m)
Beam: 26ft 6ins (8.1m)
Draught: 12ft (3.7m)
Speed: 15 ? kts (surfaced) 8 ? kts (submerged)
Guns: 1x4in (102mm), 1x20mm AA, three x 0.303ins
Torpedo tubes: 1 x 21in (533mm): 8 forward, 2 amidships, 1 aft [cited as usual for class]
Complement: 61
(Location cited as N57 40.483 W3 50.085 [NH 9058 6643]). This submarine was one of the third (and final) group to be built of the 53-strong T-class, the quintessential British submarine of the Second World War. Built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 6 April 1943, she served briefly in the Far East, sinking three coasters. She survived a potentially disastrous collision with sister boat HMS/M Templar in April 1945 and was used as the test vessel for an experimental anti-aircraft system (the after portion of the conning tower being significantly altered) before being sunk as a sonar target in the Cromarty Firth in 1951. The wreck was discovered in 1985 by the Inverness branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, who now own and conserved it.
The submarine lies upright in 38m depth of water and remains essentially complete. The gun and propellors have been removed, and there is apparently a break in the after casing. The forward torpedo tube doors are open and the forward hydroplanes folded upwards; the doors of the after (external) tubes remain closed. The periscope standards apparently remain intact, but are net-encumbered.
The indicated location falls in a charted depth of about 30m about 4.8nm NNE of Nairn. It is not charted as a wreck and no sounding or seabed type is noted nearby.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 12 October 2003.
Source: well-illustrated article in Dive (magazine), August 2003.
UKHO chart no. 223 (1978, amended 1992).
External Reference (2006)
Tantivy s/m [submarine] T-class. [Built] Vickers Armstrong, Barrow, 6 April 1943. Sunk 1951 [as] asdic [sonar] target, [in] Cromarty Firth.
J J Colledge and B Warlow 2006.
Note (20 July 2011)
The cited location of this vessel lies close to the unverified location of the barge NH96NW 8003.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 20 July 2011.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 102
Name : HMS TANTIVY
Latitude : 574028
Longitude : 35005
Date Built : 1943
Registration : LONDON
Type : SUBMARINE
Tonnage : 1571
Tonnage Code : D
Length : 83
Beam : 8
Position : Exact Position
Loss Year : 1951
Comment : Sunk as a target off the Cromarty Firth.
