Royal Navy Submarine Service. Leaving Portsmouth on a training cruise on 16th April, HMS Affray dived at 9 pm in the extreme western part of the English Channel. She vanished with all her crew plus 23 submarine officers under training and some Royal Marine Commandos - a total of 75 men. The importance of effecting a quick rescue was hampered by the fact that the Commander's brief was very wide-ranging.
Alas, Affray remained undiscovered until late June, when an underwater television camera searching north of Guernsey found her in 278 feet of water. Pictures revealed her snort mast was snapped off, but no explanation was ever given as to why she had sunk, why nobody escaped or why she was never salvaged. HMS Affray has the unfortunate honour of being the last Royal Navy submarine to be lost.
