Scale: 1:192. This finely made and mounted model was presented to Rear Admiral George Creasy, CB CBE DSO MVO, in his capacity as Flag Officer (Submarines) from 1944-46. Cast in one piece in metal, and chromium plated, it is very much a presentation piece, set on a bevelled bakelite-type plinth with inscription. It is very heavy for its small size, and it shows the submarine surfaced on its base. It comes complete with its own carrying case.

The ‘T-class’ or ‘Triton-class’ submarine was designed in the 1930s to replace the old O- P- and R-classes. They had a displacement of 1290 tons, surfaced, and 1560 tons submerged. They were 276 feet 6 inches in length, and their two shafts gave them a speed of 15.5 knots, surfaced, and nine knots submerged. The class had a range of 4500 nautical miles at eleven knots surfaced. The complement was forty-eight. The first-of-class, ‘Triton’, was launched in 1937 and, in all, 53 ‘T-class’ boats were built before and during the Second World War in three distinct groups, though there were also minor differences in boats within the same group. They fought in just about every theatre of the War and around twenty-five per cent of them were lost. They were largely successful but tended to be vulnerable in the Mediterranean where their large mass was easily visible in the clear waters.

After the War all the group one and two boats were scrapped and the group three ‘T-class’ boats were fitted with snorts. The post-war world had brought a new threat, the Soviet Union, and submarines were now required to be streamlined for quiet and higher-speed operation against Communist submarines. Beginning in 1948 eight of the newer, all-welded, boats underwent extensive ‘super-T’ conversion at Chatham Dockyard. Outwardly they became longer, and more streamlined but internally the changes were radical if not entirely successful. The last operational ‘T-class’ boat in the Royal Navy was ‘Tiptoe’, decommissioned on 29 August 1969. Three were sold to the Israeli navy, which were decommissioned in 1977.