| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | T |
| Pennant | P 311 |
| Built by | Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) |
| Ordered | 2 Sep 1940 |
| Laid down | 25 Apr 1941 |
| Launched | 5 Mar 1942 |
| Commissioned | 7 Aug 1942 |
| Lost | 8 Jan 1943 |
| History | P 311 was the only unnamed T-class boat, she was due to have been named Tutenkhamen but lost before she could be renamed. She was fitted to carry 2 Chariot human torpedoes. HMS P 311 (Cdr. Richard Douglas Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) was lost while engaged in Operation Principle, the Chariot attack on Italian cruisers at La Maddalena. HMS P 311 left Scotland in November 1942 with sister-boats HMS Thunderbold and HMS Trooper after addition of human torpedo deck-mounted watertight containers, direct for Malta. P 311 departed from Malta on 28 December 1942. She sent her last signal on 31 December 1942 from position 38º10'N, 11º30'E. After this signal she was not heard from again and she is presumed sunk by Italian mines in the approaches to Maddalena on or around 2 January 1943. She was reported overdue on 8 January 1943 when she failed to return to base. |
| Former name | P 91 |
Commands listed for HMS P 311 (P 311)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt.Cdr. Richard Douglas Cayley, DSO, RN | 8 Jun 1942 | 8 Jan 1943 |
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Noteable events involving P 311 include:
13 Sep 1942
After a period of trials and training HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) departed from Holy Loch for Plymouth. She has to be modified at the Devonport Dockyard to carry the containers that hold the Chariot human torpedoes.
15 Sep 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) arrived at Plymouth. After disembarking ammunition and torpedoes she enters Devonport Dockyard on the 17th.
5 Oct 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) left dock at the Devonport Dockyard.
10 Oct 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) is docked again at the Devonport Dockyard. She left dock the next day.
31 Oct 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) is still in dockyard hands at the Devonport Dockyard. No logs are available after this date so her subsequent movements are not known. She must have left in early November 1942 to a secret base in North-West Scotland to take on board the Chariot human torpedoes.
12 Nov 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) departed from Eddrachilles Bay (on the North-West coast of Scotland) bound for Malta. She is not stop at Gibraltar so not to alert the German and Italian spies stationed in 'neutral' Spain on the Chariot containers on her deck.
30 Nov 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) arrived at Malta.
28 Dec 1942
HMS P 311 (Cdr. R.D. Cayley, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) departed from Malta for a Chariot attack on La Maddalena.
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