Lt. Commander G. M. Sladen: Reindeer Submarine

[william turton]

Anyone know anything about a Lt Cdr G.M. Sladen. He was a captain on the submarine (N52, Trident) that came back from Russia with a reindeer on it called polyanna. Im trying to find out about his career from start to finish. Any information would be much appreciated.

[herakles]

Welcome William.

A reindeer on it? Must have got wet. Or do you mean a reindeer in it?

[The Sailor]

Welcome to our group William. This any help?


Lt.Cdr. GM Sladen, RN, 18 Apr 1940 - 21 Mar 1942, promoted to Cdr. on 30 June 1941, DSC 3 Dec 40, DSO 27 Jan 42; Lt. AR Profit, DSC, RN, 21 Mar 42 - 18 Oct 42; Lt. PE Newstead, RN, 18 Oct 1942 - Refit, DSC 18 Feb 44; Lt. A.J. Sumption, RNVR; Lt.Cdr. AJW Pitt, DSO, RN, Nov 1944 - 20 Jan 1945; Lt. AR Profit, DSC, RN, 20 Jan 45 - End of war.
24 Mar 40, torpedoed and sank the German merchant Edmund Hugo Stinnes 4 (2189 GRT) off Jylland, Denmark in position 56º42'N, 08º04'E.
8 Apr 40, torpedoed and sank the German tanker Stedingen (former Posidonia, 8036 GRT) south of the Oslofjord in position 58º57'N, 10º25'E.
8 Apr 40, sank German tanker Stedingen 8000 tons, off Norway, and in the evening of the same day, managed to get within range of - but failed to hit - the cruiser Lützow with any of her complement of ten torpedoes.
10 Apr 40, attacked but missed the German merchant Wandsbek (2388 GRT) SSE of the Oslofjord in position 58º36'N, 10º58'E.
25 Apr 40 (Lt.Cdr. G.M. Sladen, RN) torpedoed, butt missed, the German merchants Palime (2863 GRT) and Pelikan (3464 GRT) about 30 nm SW of Lindesnes, Norway in position 57º30'N, 06º10'E.
2 May 40, attacked and damaged the German merchant Cläre Hugo Stinnes (5295 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire off the Björn fjord, Norway.
23 Jun 40, attacked but missed the German oiler Dithmarschen (10816 GRT) north of Frohavet in position 64º21'N, 09º12'E.
8 Oct 40, attacked, but missed, the German Type VIIA U-boat U-31 with torpedoes in the Bay of Biscay about 15 nm south of Lorient, France in position 47º28'N, 03º25'W.
27 Dec 40, misses a darkened ship that entered Punta Delgada, Azores.
19 Aug 41, damaged the German merchant Levante (4769 GRT) east of Havoysund, Norway in position 71º01'N, 24º34'E.
22 Aug 41, torpedoed and sanks the German merchant Ostpreußen (3030 GRT) in the Kvaenangenfjord, Norway in position 70º12'N, 21º05'E.
30 Aug 41, torpedoed and sank the German merchants Donau II (2931 GRT) and Bahia Laura (8561 GRT) in Lopphavet, Norway in position 70º35'N, 21º45'E.
3 Sep 41, while returning to base at Polyarnoe, Russia, Trident is fired upon but missed by the German Type VIIC U-boat U-566.
30 Sep 41, fired three torpedoes at, but missed, the German hospital ship Birka (1000 GRT) in the Breidsundet about 4 nm NW of Havøysund, Norway in position 71º03'N, 24º34'E.
3 Nov 41, torpedoed and sank the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ 1213 / Rau IV (354 GRT) in the Porsangerfjord in position 70º58'N, 26º08'E. The German merchant Altkirch (4713 GRT) was missed in the same attack.
7 Nov 41, attacked, but missed, the German minesweeper depot ship MRS 3 / Bali north of the Laksefjorden in position 71º06'N, 26º57'E.
23 Feb 42, fired 7 torpedoes against the German heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen and Admiral Scheer west of Kristiansund, Norway in position 63º12'N, 07º00'E. Prinz Eugen is hit in the stern with one torpedo but Admiral Hipper is missed. (See more details).
20 Apr 42, (Lt. A.R. Hezlet, DSC, RN) torpedoed and sank the German merchant Hödur (5368 GRT) in the Svefjord, Norway in position 64º38'N, 10º49'E.
3 Apr 43, (Lt. P.E. Newstead, RN) attacked, but missed, an unknown submarine off La Spezia, Italy.
9 Apr 43, attacked, but missed, an Italian submarine off Corsica.
14 Apr 43, attacked the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ 2202 with gunfire south-east of Capo Mele, Italy in position 43º51'N, 08º19'E.
12 May 43, unsuccesfully fired 6 torpedoes at the Italian merchant Agnani (5718 GRT) east of Cevrione, Corsica, France in position 42º27'N, 09º53'E.
14 May 43, missed the French passenger/cargo ship Cap Corse (2444 GRT) north-west of Corsica.
27 Jun 43, sank a sailing vessel with gunfire north of Crete.
2 Jul 43, sank three sailing vessels with gunfire off Rhodos, Greece.
3 Jul 43, torpedoed and damaged the Italian merchant Vesta (3351 GRT) west of Leros, Greece in position 37º03'N, 26º07'E.
4 Jul 43, sank two sailing vessels (one of these was the Turkish Sisman, 73 GRT) with gunfire off Symi.
8 Jul 43, damaged the German patrol vessel GA 41 / Tassia Christa with gunfire 20 miles north of the Doro channel.
29 Aug 43, (Lt. A.R. Profit, DSC, RN) attacked the Japanese training cruiser Kashii off northern Sumatra in the Strait of Malacca with a spread of eight torpedoes. All eight torpedoes miss.
2 Jun 45, sank a Japanese sailing vessel with demoliotion charges in the Strait of Malacca.
18 Jun 45, sank a Japanese landing craft with gunfire in the Strait of Malacca.
Returned to UK for repairs after only one patrol. Broken up at Newport.

[John Brown]

William

Here is a short version of the life of Geoffrey Mainwaring Sladen.

Education: RN Colleges, Osborne & Dartmouth
15.09.1922
-
(01.1925)
HMS Hawkins (cruiser) (China)

14.02.1927
-
(07.1927)
HMS L 14 (submarine) (for duty with "M" submarines in reserve at Portland)

(08.1929)


no appointment listed

10.08.1929
-
(04.1930)
First Lieutenant, HMS H 27 (submarine) (Portsmouth)

15.04.1930
-
(02.1931)
HMS Rodney (battleship) (Atlantic Fleet)

08.09.1931
-
(09.1932)
First Lieutenant, HMS L 54 (submarine) (Portsmouth)

01.12.1933
-
(01.1934)
HMS Titania (submarine depot ship) (for submarines)

23.03.1935
-
(02.1937)
staff, RN College, Dartmouth [HMS Britannia]

09.07.1937
-
(10.1938)
Commanding Officer, HMS Shark (submarine)

21.01.1939
-
(08.1939)
Commanding Officer, HMS Thames (submarine) (Portsmouth)

(04.1940)


HMS Oswald (submarine) *

18.04.1940
-
(03.1942)
Commanding Officer, HMS Trident (submarine)

22.03.1942
-
(06.1942)
HMS Dolphin (submarine depot) (for submarines)

12.06.1942
-
(02.1943)
Commanding Officer, HMS Titania (submarine depot ship)

30.03.1943
-
(12.1943)
Executive Officer, HMS Sheffield (cruiser)

(04.1944)
-
(06.1944)
no appointment listed

20.02.1945
-
(07.1945)
Commanding Officer, HMS Musketeer (destroyer)

(1945?)


HMS Matchless (destroyer)

27.08.1945
-
(04.1946)
Executive Officer, 5th Submarine Flotilla [HMS Dolphin (submarine depot)] (for Fort Blockhouse)

28.10.1947
-
(07.1948)
Commanding Officer, & Flag Captain, HMS Forth (submarine depot ship)

(05.1950)


HMS President *

(05.1953)


no appointment listed

* indexed, but not listed as such
Played rugby for England (1929).


Note from John Brown: this document shows him as having been Executive Officer in HMS Sheffield. I have seen another ref to him as being Sheffields CO from 5/8/44 to Nov 1944 so you might want to check that out. I also suspect this is the same Geoffrey Sladen that developed the rubber suit used by British frogmen who rode the human torpedoes (Chariots) in WW2.


Hope this helps...Regards...John

[tim lewin]

There was a lot of stuff about this in the Russian papers some years ago, the poor creature was loaded into the sub via the torpedo hatch and grew so much on the journey they had trouble to get her out; she was presented to London Zoo, i think, on arrival back home and lived there for some years after.

[tonclass]

Reindeer Sails on WWII Submarine

A WWII legend of how a Russian reindeer sailed from the far north to Britain in a submarine had always been written off as one of those hoary old wartime tales.

The submarine 'Trident' was among a fleet of submarines and supply ships that the British Navy sent to support the Soviet Union in June 1941. The submarines although sometimes called on to defend the merchant shipping carrying badly needed supplies to the red army were mainly patrolling the seas off the Norwegian coast in hunting for German supply ships.

The Trident was based at Polyarny near the Artic port at Murmansk and it was there that the reindeer made its appearance. On the submarines last night in port, Trident commander Sladen had a farewell dinner with a Soviet admiral how gave the CO a baby reindeer that was passed through the torpedo hatch in a grey bag. With the crew too busy moving out of port no one realised what was in the bag until the submarine was at sea. The reindeer, quickly named Pollyanna after the port of Polyarny, soon became the crew’s pet, roaming the submarine at will and living in the Captains cabin.

Every evening when the klaxon would sound to signal that the submarine was surfacing, Pollyanna would rush from her cabin to stand under the hatch, eager for a breath of fresh air. The only person she would allow to get near to the hatch was the Captain.

Trident was not heading back to England, but was going first on a three week patrol and food had run out for the reindeer. The reindeer was the fed scraps and took a fancy to carnation milk. However a wild animal in the tight confines of a submarine during wartime was far from ideal. Pollyanna probably was about as happy at the smell of 55 submariners as they were happy with the smell of the reindeer.

When Trident arrived three weeks later in Blyth, Pollyanna had grown so much that she could not fit through the hatch. Fortunately there was a butch on board and they trussed her up and pulled her out of the hatch.

Pollyanna was presented to London Zoo. Pollyanna however was said to have never forgotten her youth under the seas.

Whenever she heard the clanging bell of a fire engine going past the Zoo she would lower her head as if ready to rush to the hatch. She died in 1946 only a few days after the Trident was decommissioned.

[The Sailor]

In actual fact, in reading the story I put up of the submarine Trident, it is a virtual indictment of the proficiency of the Captains. If only the Germans had been so badly trained.
One Captain missed with a whole spread of eight torpedoes against a cruiser sized ship.

[herakles]

Wow! So he really did snaffle a reindeer! The mind boggles over the thing loose in a sub.

That's a strange thing to have done. Still, it's one of the nice things about our race - eccentricity!

[tim lewin]

I would suggest that the proficierncy of our British-made torpedoes rather than our skippers was more to blame; Remember that the cruiser Trinidad, en route to Russia, fired a torpedo which managed to about turn and torpedo herself whith extremely damaging consequences resulting in a long stay at Murmansk for temporary repairs. If anyone wants to see, read, what it was really like in Russia at this bleak time in the war read Frank Pearce's book "The ship that torpedoed herself". Such eccentric torpedo behaviour was not exceptional!
tim

[The Sailor]

I guess there were many reasons Tim.
In the case I mentioned it was in southeren waters in the Straights of Malacca in late 1943.