HMS X5

HMS X5 was an X-class midget submarine (X-Craft) of the Royal Navy, built specifically for special operations against major German warships during World War II. She is best known for her participation in Operation Source, the daring September 1943 attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in northern Norway. 

Background

X5 was one of six operational X-Craft (X5 to X10) built for attacks on heavily defended enemy vessels. These small submarines carried a crew of four and were designed to infiltrate harbours and fjords, placing large explosive charges beneath their targets. 

For Operation Source, X5 was assigned, together with X6 and X7, to attack the battleship Tirpitz, then anchored in Kåfjord (Altafjord), Norway. Tirpitz was regarded as one of the greatest threats to Allied Arctic convoys. 

Crew

The operational crew of X5 consisted of:

• Lieutenant Henty Henty-Creer RNVR (commanding officer)
• Sub-Lieutenant A. D. Malcolm RNVR
• Engine Room Artificer R. J. Mortiboys
• Sub-Lieutenant T. J. Nelson RNVR

Operation Source

X5 was towed across the North Sea by the submarine HMS Thrasher. On 22 September 1943, near the Norwegian coast, the operational crew boarded X5 and began the final approach into Kåfjord. 

The last confirmed sighting of X5 came from X7, after the three attacking X-Craft had crossed the mined approaches to the fjord. After that, X5 disappeared and was never seen again. 

Mysterious Loss

Unlike X6 and X7, whose attacks on Tirpitz are well documented, the exact fate of X5 remains uncertain. No survivors returned and no definitive evidence has ever established what happened. 

The most widely accepted theory is that X5 was detected while approaching Tirpitz and sunk by gunfire from the battleship or her escorts before she could complete her mission. German accounts suggested that a small submarine may have been destroyed by Tirpitz's 4-inch guns during the attack.

After the war, divers discovered wreckage in the fjord that may have belonged to X5, but positive identification was never achieved. No bodies, equipment or conclusive remains were recovered.

Legacy

Because X5 never returned, historians cannot say with certainty whether she successfully laid her explosive charges beneath Tirpitz. The damage that disabled Tirpitz was definitely caused by charges placed by X6 and X7, but debate has occasionally continued over whether X5 may also have contributed to the attack before being lost. 

All four members of X5's crew were killed and are commemorated by the Royal Navy as having died during one of the most hazardous submarine operations of the war. [submariner...mbrance.uk]

Key Facts

HMS X5 remains one of the great mysteries of Royal Navy submarine history. Unlike X6 and X7, whose crews survived to tell their stories, X5 vanished during the attack, leaving only educated theories about her final moments