The Ship That Torpedoed Itself: HMS Trinidad

On March 29, 1942 the conditions of weather, sea and combat on the high seas resulted in a desperate battle, and for the light cruiser HMS Trinidad, a shocking turn of events.
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This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #wwii

[@njpaddler]

My godfather, my uncle John, was one of those merchant marines, working in the worst place onboard, running the boilers, and was torpedoed on two voyages in those frigid waters. How he survived I'll never know.

[@Paladin1873]

It may be a small consolation, but at least he was able to keep warm until then. 🤨

[@kurtvanluven9351]

My grandfather was also in the Navy in WW1. The ship he served on was tiny and they were attacked, on the surface by a U-boat off of Wales. The u-boat lost but not before killing some of the crew of the makeshift "destroyer".

[@theboyisnotright6312]

Them boys were tough as nails😊

[@Paladin1873]

@@kurtvanluven9351 So was my Grandpa, but he served on a minesweeper. Other than sweeping and detonating some mines, I don't think his ship saw any other action in "The Big One".

[@cm-hw5ww]

My father was with the merchant marines and I believe he made some of those northern runs. He talked about the experiences but never was specific. Claiming they never saw action. My brother said that most every convoy saw some kind of action. My mom was a welder at a shipyard producing Liberty Ships. We were on a vacation (in the family Truckster) in the late '50s early 60s and went past part of the mothballed fleet. Some were ships she worked on. She was small woman that they placed in the bowels of the vessel welding hull plates.

[@joegordon5117]

None of the convoys in any theatre had an easy time, be it North Atlantic or the Med, but the Arctic convoys had to fight the worst possible weather conditions in addition to the enemy. And yet, in the best traditions of both the Royal Navy and the Merchant, they damned wll did it. Remarkable heroism from so many

[@ricardobarbosa1838]

I'd love to see a story about all the people that never came home from Russia after delivering aid to them. I believe the number is in the thousands.

[@blakecaccavale6057]

Drowning in fuel oil while trapped in a steel compartment... I can't really think of a worse way to go. I certainly hope those guys found some peace in that moment.

[@stevewhisperer6609]

This is the first time I've heard of a surface ship being hit by its own torpedo however, a circular run was a hazard well known to the submarine services. The USS Tang was sunk by one of its own torpedoes in 1944, for example.

[@Zer0C00lness]

I was going to comment about that sinking too.

[@roberthevern6169]

​@@Zer0C00lness I seem to recall that in 'The Hunt for Red October' the Russkies exclaimed, (I'm paraphrasing) 'you arrogant ass, you've killed us!!' And the great Sean Connery sailed on into history ( was it the Penobscot Rivet?).

[@Alphie_G]

One known example was the USS Tang. It occurred after a surface attack, only the bridge crew survived the sinking and imprisonment. There are suspicions that several US submarines that were lost with all hands may have also succumbed to circular runs.

[@Shinzon23]

@@Alphie_GBecause the MK14 was a POS that the people involved in should have been prosecuted for.

[@curtgomes]

@@Shinzon23The Navy brass during WWII, in the Washington DC Naval Bureau of Weapons, suggested that the crews of some submarines were cowards and not using their torpedoes correctly. Total BS. The Mark 14 was a POS! And like today the military brass is in denial regarding current failures in Ukraine and elsewhere. Nothing changes.....

[@shed66215]

There is a picture of Z26 in Jurgen Rohwer' book 'War at Sea 1939-45' taken just as the deck starts to become awash as she leans over to port. The rear turret is pointed astern, the two forward of it are to port and show damage inflicted by Trinidad's guns. Can just make out the rear set of torpedo tubes slewed to about 45deg from centreline. Thick heavy smoke is emitting from holes and rented plates that prove the effectiveness of the damage inflicted and the boilers are blowing off which makes for a very dramatic picture. THG putting life and drama to a picture, really well done.

[@Kris-qy7hh]

As someone from and currently living in Trinidad 🇹🇹, I’m really happy you covered her story, and greatly too! A shame she only saw 7 months of service.

[@scoutrifle6827]

We just had the History Guy do a birthday video for my wife via Cameo; it was absolutely great, and he took time to personalize it with interesting facts about the date and other funny/interesting information. Highly recommended!

[@roberthevern6169]

Cool! He never disappoints! And Happy Birthday! Albeit belated!

[@RetiredSailor60]

I sailed as far North as Norway on USS Whidbey Island LSD 41 in 1995 for Cold Weather Operations with the US Marines. Tin Can Sailor here; USS Semmes DDG 18 and USS Kinkaid DD 965.

[@JeepWrangler1957]

U.S. Marine here. 1974-78. Served on USS Cleveland (LPD-7), USS Juneau (LPD-10), USS Tarawa (LHA-1) and USS Saginaw (LST-1188). Only did a West Pac and Med Cruise. I would have liked heading to Norway.

[@oceanhome2023]

After the Soviet Union collapsed 5 years earlier ? The last Hurrah of the Cold War LOL !!

[@RetiredSailor60]

@@JeepWrangler1957 I did one West Pac in 1986 on USS Cape Cod AD 43. Did two Meds in 1995/96 on USS Whidbey Island LSD 41 & 2002 on USS Wasp LHD 1

[@jppitman1]

Having only recently heard Mr. Lloyd’s music on a classical station I found this account very informative. Thank you for shedding some light on his life.

[@bforman1300]

HMS Ulysses may have been fiction, but it educated me about this aspect of the war and left a lasting cold pit in my gut.

[@SennaAugustus]

HMS Ulysses is a fake name of Dido-class HMS Royalist.

[@bforman1300]

@@SennaAugustus thanks!

[@stevetaylor8298]

As did this story with me. Plus the story reminds me of just how ungrateful the Soviets are for British and allied support in WWII.

[@Thecrownswill]

Fiction from what now? It sounds interesting.

[@williamromine5715]

I first read that book many decades ago(I'm 82), and it has been my favorite novel of the war ever since. Although it is fictional, I also have a cold pit in my stomach every time I re-read it. Thank you for commenting on the novel. It brought back fond memories of the enjoyment of a well written account of the Arctic convoys.

[@skywatcher5616]

The best time in my morning routine.

[@simongleaden2864]

I think that the History Guy's 2nd World War naval stories are probably the best videos on his channel. This one was very informative, but I was a bit disappointed there were no pirates involved!

[@keithrosenberg5486]

Two US subs, Tang and Tullibee, were hit by circular run torpedoes.

[@jerryodell1168]

There might be a question why sailors are required to remove ice from ships. The quick answer is: 1.) This adds weight to the ship which affects its operation and safety. 2.) An over weighted bow can literally crack and/or break off the ship because a ship flexes at sea. Like bending a piece of metal back-and-forth to break it in two. Especially in heavy seas which are often the case in Artic and Antarctic waters. Several ships had this happen in WW2 when delivering supplies to Russia in the Artic areas.

[@roberthevern6169]

Yes, as YTer Mike Brady of Oceanliner Designs has mentioned. It has specific names that escape me at this time.....

[@mikeynth7919]

@@roberthevern6169 Freighters on the Great Lakes are susceptible to ice build up because fresh water and crews would play "steam hoses" connected to the boilers to remove it. IIRC the ships would not put the regular tampions into their gun barrels but would instead tie waxed cardboard tubes over them. The ices would be kept out of the guns that way, and just firing the gun would (obviously) remove the cardboard and any lingering frost or ice not cleared otherwise.

[@jerry2357]

Also, depending on the grade, steel can become brittle at low temperatures, so it is more fragile.

[@daviddavid5880]

Less than a mile in fog... Man that's like a knife fight in a closet by navy standards. Wow.

[@roberthevern6169]

Excellent analogy! THG would approve!

[@Desertrat87]

That is true. In the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, USS Washington sank IJN Kirishima after sneaking up to within 9000 yards of her before opening fire. I have heard some say that 9000 yards (which is just over 5 miles) was pretty much point blank for a battleship engagement. So yeah, your analogy for less than a mile in fog is accurate.

[@dilligaf0220]

@@Desertrat87 Battle Of Cape Matapan is rarely talked about in the US, but three battleships and an aircraft carrier snuck up on an Italian heavy cruiser squadron at night, and as a unit illuminated it with searchlights and opened fire at 3,800yrds. The naval equivalent of 'Surprise Ma'faqer', *BOOM HEADSHOT*. Also the only known occurrence of a fleet carrier engaging surface combatants with gunfire.

[@Desertrat87]

@@dilligaf0220 When you're close enough for the carrier to use its guns, that's pretty damn close!! lol

[@edwardscott3262]

​@@Desertrat87It was more common than you would think. If you are interested in this sort of thing I'd recommend digging into it. I know American CVEs used their guns against enemy warships at least 3 different times. Then again we had about 130 aircraft carriers in WW2 so they did a ton of things that don't really get remembered.

[@spankflaps1365]

This is the problem with battles in extreme weather. Royal Navy Swordfish crews said they had to carefully drop the torpedo in the trough of a wave, otherwise it would be thrown off at a crazy angle.

[@paulsmodels]

Awesome story! Thank you.

[@frisk151]

The bowtie man is so good I actually click "like" before watching the video just to be sure I don't slip and forget.. THG has earned this and more..

[@ThatBobGuy850]

Another banger, Lance! It really drives home the horror of naval battles, especially in the North Atlantic. If a ship is "lost," then you can assume that no one onboard would be able to survive the icy waters. Never mind that - drowning in the ship's own fuel-oil is to horrific for words. Let us hope and pray that we will never see such warfare again. Great video!

[@leeturner1202]

I was already familiar with this story, as a fan of the music of George Lloyd. If you are at all interested in great symphonic music, you should give him a listen if you have not already. His story is a true example of the capricious, arbitrary, and brutal nature of the Gods of War, and also the possibility of redemption. I am glad he survived, but also greatly saddened by the loss of so many others. Who knows what some of them might have been able to accomplish had they not died.

[@billistefansson5309]

Greetings! I am an Icelander, intrested in Naval History,and especially the Arctic Convoys. Thank you! Billi.

[@Fr.O.G.]

If you're going to do this topic, you absolutely have to talk about L. Ron Hubbard's hilariously bad captaining during WW2.

[@roberthevern6169]

Did you mean, L Ron Hubbub?

[@silver-berry]

I'd watch that! 🙋🏼‍♀️

[@russwoodward8251]

A cold cold tale. Thank you History Guy and team.

[@richardcall7447]

At least two American submarines were lost due to circular run torpedoes. There may have been more.

[@billyponsonby]

Spring torpedo technology and utility is fascinating and worth a look.

[@user-oh2hs6jh5x]

Geez, I forgot there was class today.

[@No-Lngrdem]

That's so cute that you believe learning ends when school ends.

[@davea6314]

grade F 😜

[@lemmdus2119]

🤣

[@ungenbunyon5548]

Forgot to study can i copy your notes?

[@nishbrown]

My pen is stuck in the ceiling tile, again.

[@onliwankannoli]

George Lloyd knew my father. Father knew George Lloyd.

[@paulstewart6293]

In the 1970s I sailed with a captain whose first voyage at 16, was the Murmansk run, PQ13. Now that's an introduction to life in the merchant navy!

[@SennaAugustus]

There was a massive force assembled to bring Trinidad to Hvalfiord, Iceland, en route to the US, including the battleships Duke of York and Washington, carrier Victorious, and heavy cruisers London and Tuscaloosa. She was very unlucky that a bomb dropped right on top of a spot that was already damaged Luckily, none of the other ships were damaged in an attack that lasted over an hour. Trinidad was listing 14° to starboard but was still able to make 20 knots. However, the fire got out of control and she was scuttled by 3 torpedoes from Matchless. Of the 63 who were lost, 20 were survivors from Edinburgh, who was earlier sunk during Convoy QP11.

[@roberthevern6169]

Thanks, Lance, great post(as always!)!

[@lindsayheyes925]

The French ship Maillé Breze torpedoed itself in Scapa Flow, accidentally firing a torpedo across its own deck into its superstructure. The ship caught fire and began to sink. Most of its crew were trapped on the mess deck, unable to escape because the portholes were too small. The medic from HMS Firedrake got to it in a whaler, but rescue being impossible and faced with the pleas of the doomed crewmen, he ended their suffering in the only way that he could: He injected each arm stuck out the ship with morphine. My grandfather assisted him. The size of portholes was changed to enable escape from messdecks as a result of this incident.

[@twoheart7813]

A very interesting piece off WWII Naval history, I learned something new today.

[@tygrkhat4087]

The Murmansk run made the term "the cruel sea," seem inadequate.

[@Desertrat87]

That's an incredible amount of damage for one torpedo. If it did that to a cruiser, I gotta imagine it would have split that destroyer in half if it had hit its intended target.

[@Freedom4Ever420]

Friendly fire happens more often than you’d think

[@Ayeshteni]

Mad place to keep the fuel tanks (or Transmission room for that matter).

[@roberthevern6169]

Maybe towed behind would have been better?

[@michaelmarks8954]

Back in the late 50’s my Dads sub was testing new torpedoes "inert" when one circled around and punctured a hole in the outer hull of the sub.🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇸

[@jasonbender2459]

Love the "THC" sign, dude! Toke 'em if ya got 'em!

[@EGRJ]

That's THG. Perhaps you should toke 'em a little less.

[@romad357]

"Shell shock" was the World War I term for PTSD. The equivalent term from World War II was "Combat fatigue" which was used until "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" was officially classified as a diagnosis.

[@empireoflizards]

George Carlin did a bit talking about how 'terminology' had changed over the years to soften the language....including going from "shell shock" to "PTSD". Despite the seriousness of war itself, his take on word usage was pretty funny, nonetheless.

[@donaldhill3823]

Torpedos circling back on to own-ship is a fear every Submariner still has even though current mechanisms for shutting down the Torpedo in such an event are well tested.

[@shawnr771]

Thank you for the lesson.

[@davidllewis4075]

My father had one of those coats issued to him for arctic service -- he served in South Pacific..

[@BasicDrumming]

I appreciate you and thank you for making content.

[@richiephillips1541]

Great video, as usual. Thank you.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally a

[@glenmartin2437]

Thank you.

[@robertsolomielke5134]

TY THG. Fighting in Arctic waters make the land battle on the Eastern front , look somehow less dangerous.

[@jaybey7940]

My father was on the Trinidad. He rarely talked about it but it was clearly a taumatic experience that I don't believe he ever fully recovered from.

[@MGB-learning]

Great video

[@fearthehoneybadger]

Last message heard before the incident: Oops.

[@kellybasham3113]

Love your videos

[@WinstonMaraj-gx8sm]

I live in Trinidad and Tobago😏😒

[@RandomTrinidadian]

Me too!

[@NickRatnieks]

It's hard to imagine the conditions these men faced but for them, it was a day-to-day reality. A very different world they endured.

[@hrvojebartulovic7870]

I like Art Deco too!

[@Adallace]

Reminds me of the time the USS William D. Porter (a.k.a. the Willie Dee) accidentally shot a live torpedo at the Iowa, which president Roosevelt was on at the time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_William_D._Porter_(DD-579)

[@J.A.Smith2397]

Yep

[@tonydagostino6158]

Didn't a similar thing happen to an American cruiser in the south Pacific in one of those big cruiser vs cruiser battles in 1942?

[@Shadoweknows76]

With the title of this video, I got a visual of the ship, shooting itself at something and immediately started giggling. So I had to see what it meant 😂.

[@uranus.tlatoani]

Circular run for sure

[@darwindemartelaere3195]

Happy Easter

[@ThomasEJohnson]

Sad but interesting.

[@christopherroa9781]

I read about a misfire torpedo that sank the USS Tang in the Pacific. Great book called escape from the deep about the history and events of that patrol. Horrific for these brave men, that's the tragedy of war, sometimes a random freak accident will result in death

[@jeffbangkok]

Good night

[@HGShurtugal]

If you count submarines, there is a decent amount that torpedo themselves.

[@d.olivergutierrez8690]

Some u-boat that have that happened to it?

[@HGShurtugal]

@d.olivergutierrez8690 any submarine. The problem is when the gyro controls on the torp mess up and the torp goes around and hits the sub. Of course it's hard to say how many subs got sunk to this due to the fact they don't really survive it. We do know of reported close calls.

[@danfruzzetti7604]

USS Tang: hold my beer :(

[@jerry2357]

0:21 Perhaps Churchill was thinking of the book by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, which describes a winter journey from McMurdo Sound to Cape Crozier in Antarctica, to obtain an egg containing an emperor penguin embryo.

[@user-qq6rr2je4q]

This was one of several Navy ships named after the Brits ' prized Caribbean island colony of Trinidad 🇹🇹 a vital part of the war effort in the Western hemisphere

[@Zebred2001]

I'm sure the Soviets were sooo grateful!

[@craigaust3306]

Many Russians think they won World War II all by themselves

[@maplebones]

You don't get it, do you.

[@HM2SGT]

*See Also: USS Tang*

[@ianashby3626]

Convoy pq17

[@JoelMMcKinney]

Please do a detailed history of Alaska 🎉🇺🇲👑🦅

[@majcorbin]

exceed expectations

[@TheAZPro-yi8bu]

More accurately I would call this the torpedo that torpedoed its own ship.

[@susanwahl6322]

Have you ever heard about the US ship that almost sunk the ship that FDR was on?

[@susanwahl6322]

I guess you did. The Unluckiest Ship in the Navy.

[@t.c.2776]

DAMN... to drown in fuel oil... I can't even imagine, nor do I want too...

[@Rockwolf50]

She wasn’t a “Fiji” Class light cruiser. She was a Crown Colony Class light cruiser. HMS Fiji just happened to be a Crown Colony class cruiser.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

While the class was called by different names, the most commonly used was Fiji class, which is the term used by the Imperial War Museum.

[@bigsarge2085]

⚓️

[@robertrawlyss7373]

How that even possible? 🙈

[@bobcohoon9615]

Ice was so bad sometimes they worried about the ship sinking ,or capsizing, I read . Water was so cold a person was lucky to last 5 minutes if in it

[@zillsburyy1]

those early fish were lousy

[@RandomTrinidadian]

As a Trinidadian, this story depresses me 😞

[@JohnMartin-cd1qm]

A whole different level of friendly fire.

[@barharborbasher427]

The title convinced me that this was a report over the USS Liberty 🗽 🇺🇸 💥🇮🇱

[@navret1707]

Unfortunately no. We must never forget the USS Liberty, 08 June 1967.

[@returnofthenative]

A US Pacific theatre submarine shot itself in the arse with an errant torpedo, I think they all survived by leaping overboard. Tex What's his name also shot himself in the arse whilst practicing his fast draw some years back.

[@simonrook5743]

I note the news article on the sinking states eight six-inch guns when she in fact had twelve.

[@roberthevern6169]

Okay, fine.....it was twelve... geez

[@skyden24195]

In relation to the treacherous crossings, particularly of those to the USSR, by Allied merchant convoys, I'd like to ask if "The History Guy" has ever seen or even heard of the 1943 film, "Action in the North Atlantic"? I won't go into too much detail of the film other than it stars Humphrey Bogart as an officer in the U.S. Merchant Marines, and is a film dedicated to showcasing the lives, duties and procedures of the U.S. Merchant Marines, as well as Allied convoy operations during WWII. The more significant reason for mentioning the film is how it was received by the actual U.S. Merchant Marines' personnel: their praise of the film's accurate depiction of the Merchant Marines would extent to not only gifting Warner Brothers co-founder, Jack Warner, with a Merchant Marine Victory Flag, but also "Action in the North Atlantic" being included as a training film in the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, as well as being shown as an inspirational motivation film to employees of Henry J. Kaiser's ship building company, (one of the companies contracted to build Liberty Ships, as I'm sure you are aware.) I've watched the film many times, (I even own a copy on DVD,) and I do believe it is a film that, despite its significant acknowledgement among the U.S. Merchant Marines at the time of its release, (the war still ongoing,) is mostly unknown and underappreciated by the general public. However, it is a film, that I also believe, deserves to be remembered. 😉

[@167curly]

The saga of HMS Trinidad certaInly tells how awful those Arctic convoys to Russia were.

[@thomasb1889]

WWII and earlier torpedoes were subject to running wild and circling back to towards their launch point.

[@mikeloughnane5436]

And who manufacturer all those supplies?

[@kevinvilmont6061]

Hey hey hey, tractors ARE sensational.

[@pedzsan]

I don’t know much about British torpedoes but I’ve read in several sources that American torpedoes in the early war were complete crap. One of (or perhaps the most) productive American submarines was sunk by its own torpedo.

[@TheSundanceKidWatson]

Hey Siri, play My Own Worst Enemy by Lit.

[@frisk151]

Are "we" sure that it wasn't actually the soviet repairs that did her in? ;)

[@markjawitz6363]

Were not we using the Mark IV torpedos then ? They performed so poorly. Sometimes they just bounced off the enemy ships.

[@MrSuzuki1187]

The Us Navy's WW ll submarine the USS Tang in 1945 launched a torpedo that made a circular run that hit and sank the Tang.

[@Idahoguy10157]

Likely in WW2 Pacific US Navy submarines were destroyed by there own Mk 14 torpedoes. When a torpedo does a 180 degree turn back at you it’s called a circular run

[@ashergoney]

ASAP was .. Man Say Or Ghost ??

[@Eric_Hutton.1980]

A circular run. A circular run of a torpedo is what did in the U.S. submarine USS Tang.

[@USER351]

However I would be more inclined to believe it was a torpedo fired from Z26 or possibly from one of the other German destroyers.