Rubis Photo Gallery Photographs of the Free French Naval Forces submarine Rubis and her crew.
Rubis in Action (Google Map) The map shows the positions of all of Rubis's documented actions.
Rubis Today (Diving Videos) Rubis was scuttled in 1957 off St. Tropez, France, for sonar target practice.
Tribute to Submarines By Winston Spencer Churchill, Prime Minister.
Estuary Panorama (Scrollable Panorama) of the Tay Estuary with wartime points of interest highlighted.
The 46-gun frigate HMS Unicorn was towed to Dundee in 1873 to serve as drill ship for the city's naval reserves. Despite their seagoing training, in 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, Dundee's 157 naval reservists fought as soldiers, first in the abortive in the defence of Antwerp, then in the trenches. Once again, the Dundee reserves were called up for active service when the fleet mobilised in 1939, though this time they were used in their customary role at sea.
Unicorn herself served in both world wars as the headquarters of the Naval Officer in Charge, Dundee. The NOIC Dundee from 1939 was Captain Henry Hurt RN. Hurt was replaced later in the war by Rear Admiral Eric Robinson, a remarkable officer who had been awarded a Victoria Cross for his actions in the Dardanelles in February 1915. He had crawled out, under heavy fire, carrying demolition charges with which he had single-handedly destroyed two Turkish gun postions. A few weeks later Robinson led an all-but suicidal operation using two steam gunboats fitted with outrigger torpedoes to destroy a British submarine that had run aground in the narrow Dardanelles Straits. As the war neared its end the post of NOIC Dundee reverted to the prewar commanding officer of the Dundee Naval reserves, local businessman Captain William Keay RNR.
Unicorn saw no action herself, but she did cause much confusion when, clearly having forgotten their old wooden-wall in Dundee, the Admiralty chose the name Unicorn for one of their new escort carriers. The Dundee drill-ship's name was changed to HMS Cressy, but not before several ratings had arrived in Dundee to find that the aircraft carrier they were supposed to be joining had been cunningly disguised as a Nelson-era frigate! Unicorn got her old name back when the carrier was scrapped in 1959.
She may not have been in action herself, but Unicorn did come into contact with the enemy on at least three occasions. The first occasion arose after a Heinkel 111 bomber, intercepted by 609 Squadron Hurricanes while attacking a convoy, was shot down into St. Andrews Bay on the afternoon of 27th February 1940.
Oberleutnant Heinrich, Feldwebel Heinrici, Unteroffizier Jonas and Unteroffizier Weinert were picked up from their dinghy by the trawler Shelomi skippered by James Dickson of Broughty Ferry and taken to Dundee by HM trawler Willow. They were held in HMS Unicorn before being taken under military escort to Perth.
Another He 111, also attacking a convoy, was brought down in St. Andrews Bay late on 11th March 1941. One of the aircrew died and the three survivors were picked up by the minesweeper Gadfly and brought in to Dundee where they were held in Unicorn before being handed over to the Army.
Finally, on 14th May 1945, a week after the end of the war, U-2326 arrived off the entrance to the Tay flying the black flag of surrender. The U-boat was escorted alongside the Eastern Wharf and her commander, Oberleutnant Karl Jobst, and Leutnant Karl Bertsch were taken aboard what was then Cressy for interrogation.
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a “Wolf in sheep’s clothing”, it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium bomber. It is perhaps the most famous symbol of the German bomber force (Kampfwaffe) due its distinctive “Greenhouse” nose. The Heinkel became the most numerous and primary Luftwaffe bomber during the early stages of World War II. It fared well in all the early campaigns suffering modest losses until the Battle of Britain, when its weak defensive armament, speed and manoeuvrability left it exposed.
Nevertheless, as a combat aircraft it proved capable of sustaining heavy damage and remaining airborne. As the war progressed the He 111 took on the mantle of “workhorse”, and was used in a variety of roles on every front in the European Theatre throughout the war. It was used in every conceivable role; as a strategic bomber during the Battle of Britain, a torpedo bomber during the Battle of the Atlantic, a medium bomber and a transport aircraft on the Western, Eastern, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and North African Fronts. Later in the war, with the German bomber force defunct, the He 111 was used as a transport aircraft in the logistics role.
German Type XXIII submarines were small, fast coastal craft, capable of remaining underwater indefinitely, fuel permitting, while at sea. This made them extremely dangerous to allied shipping and much better protected against allied counter-measures. Their main drawback was that they carried only two torpedoes, which severely limited their combat effectiveness. These boats appeared in the last two months of 1944 onward and were too late to have a major effect on the Second World War.
Due to their late arrival, the majority of these boats were never used in combat, and were scuttled either in Germany or in Operation Deadlight following the end of the war. U-2326 performed two operational patrols before surrendering to the Allies on May 14th 1945 in Dundee. She was subsequently taken over by the French before being lost in an accident in 1946.