By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group
You may have seen newspaper articles and television news pieces in mid-June, reporting a 25-year search has finally brought to the end an 81 year old World War II submarine mystery, without realising the story had a connection with Lindfield. In All Saints church, there is a brass plaque mounted on the southern wall that reads:
Remember in Love
JOHN SYMONS HUDDART LIEUTENANT ROYAL NAVY H.M. SUBMARINE TRIUMPH WHO WITH HIS OFFICERS AND MEN WAS KILLED IN ACTION JANUARY 1942
The Lord of Hosts is with us
Lt. John Symons Huddart, known as Tommy, was 31 years old, living with his parents George and Clare Huddart at Froyls in the High Street. He joined the Royal Navy, Submarine Service in January 1934, completing his Commanding Officers course in April 1940. The command of several submarines followed before joining HMS Triumph in November 1940; a T-class 1,300 tonne submarine, 275ft long with a company of about 60 men that had been in the Mediterranean for 12 months patrolling and undertaking special covert operations.
On 20th November 1940, the submarine departed from Alexandria, Egypt for her 20th war patrol in the Aegean, which included special operational executive missions, returning to port on 11th December 1941. The crew were greeted with the news that the Triumph was to return home for crew leave and a refit. Joy was short lived as Triumph, being the only available operational submarine, was ordered to undertake her 21st mission. She was tasked with urgently landing 5,000 kilos of supplies including radios, weapons and possibly money for the Greek Resistance. The drop was to be made at Antipros, an isolated location where the supplies could be rowed ashore in a small boat. The few remaining Commonwealth servicemen that had evaded capture and were waiting at Antipros had expected to be evacuated after the unloading.
However, Triumph had only just started her patrol and it appears that this had not been advised to the servicemen. Lt. Huddart decided not to have a debate on the beach about air consumption and food and water supplies, all of which were limited and restricted operational capabilities. Instead he simply quoted a change of orders preventing him from taking on board passengers, but promised he would return in 10 days to pick them up on his return to Alexandria. Triumph signalled Naval Command confirming successful completion of the deliveries and this was the last communication.
Triumph departed and was not seen or heard from again. She failed to show up at the promised rendezvous at Antipros on 9th January. On 21st January 1942, C & C Mediterranean reported to the Admiralty ‘Regret in absence of further news HMS Triumph must now be considered lost’. The circumstances and location of the disappearance of the submarine and what happened to the crew have remained a mystery ever since, but it was assumed that all crew perished. There is no German record of a submarine having been engaged.
In June 2023, it was announced that following years of searching Triumph had now been found in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Greece, lying 660ft below the surface. Images from a remotely operated submersible show her hull almost intact, although some damage to the stern is visible, possibly caused by an underwater explosion. Importantly, the images reveal that all the escape hatches and gun hatches were sealed closed indicating the crew are entombed inside. In that depth of water, crew were doomed as escape would have been impossible. Triumph was probably at a deep dive depth when the disaster struck.
The exact location of the submarine has yet to be disclosed as it must be treated with the respect of a maritime war grave. Protected by the strict archaeology laws of Greece.
This discovery brings to a close the 81 year old mystery and the location of the men’s grave. You can see a video clip of the submarine lying on the seabed here.
