Francis Dickinson MBE

Royal Navy Submarine Heritage and Remembrance

Francis’ great grandfather was among the first Royal Navy submariners, commanding C and E boats prior to World War 1.

Many years later his grandfather Lieutenant-Commander Edward Tomkinson DSO* RN commanded the U class submarine HMS URGE in World War 2. In 1941 this submarine was affiliated with Bridgend in Wales, but sadly after 20 successful war patrols was lost in action with all hands in the Mediterranean on 27 April, 1942. HMS URGE had torpedoed an enemy battleship, cruiser and merchant ships and carried out many special forces and secret missions.

In 1942 the Admiral commanding the Royal Navy Submarine Service (Sir Max Horton) said of Lt Cdr Tomkinson that his “courage, leadership and great skill were second to none in the Submarine Service, either in this War or the last…”. The Admiral’s successors said that Lt Cdr Tomkinson’s “name will live forever in the Submarine Service” (Admiral Barry, 1943) and that he “was one of the most outstanding submarine captains in the proud history of the Submarine Branch” (Admiral Creasy, 1945). These comments reflect on all those who served in HMS URGE.

In 1940 Francis’ grandmother launched the submarine HMS P31 (later HMS UPROAR) and in 1975 she opened the TOMKINSON Building at HMS DOLPHIN.

In 2017 Francis formed and co-led a maritime search project with the Canadian naval researcher Platon Alexiades and the University of Malta, which discovered HMS URGE’s wreck. In 2022 HMS URGE families came together with Bridgend, the RN Submarine Service and many others to commemorate the submarine. Heritage Malta played a leading role in this work.

The project to remember HMS URGE’s ship’s company had the kind support of the late HRH Prince Philip. In 2022 those involved in commemorating HMS URGE were honoured to receive a message of best wishes from Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Today, remembrance of HMS URGE’s ships’ company continues to bring together HMS URGE families, the people of Bridgend and Malta, the RN Submarine Service and many others.

Francis is a Trustee of the Friends of the Royal Navy Submarine Museum.