H.M.S. Thetis was built in the early days of submarines. In 1939, it was being prepared for the expected war with Germany. Less than a year after her initial launch in Liverpool, the submarine was lost in a terrible accident. 99 sailors aboard as well as several civilians were lost when she sank on June 1, 1939.
H.M.S. Thetis was towed to the coast of Wales and grounded at Traeth Bychan beach on the very day that England went to war with Germany. It was only then that the bodies aboard the submarine were recovered and buried in Maeshyfryd Cemetery in Holyhead, or sent home to be buried by their families.
A memorial service is held at the cemetery every June.
The sinking of the Thetis will somehow factor into the book I'm writing about my mother's evacuation to Wales in September 1939. I don't know how it will yet, but ... somehow ....
Read more about the tragedy HERE
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