HMS Truant's close calls and long service

Truant survived a series of hazards that could easily have ended her career. She damaged Karlsruhe, helped rescue people after the prize crew scuttled Tropic Sea, and escaped a mistaken torpedo attack by the British submarine Clyde before campaigning against Italian shipping. In the Far East she attacked Nagara near Badung Strait, held fire when a possible target displayed hospital markings, and sank an army cargo ship in a gun battle. Repeated long patrols then produced engine trouble and returns to Britain for repair. Those failures are linked to using an ambush-oriented design more continuously than intended, while the restraint shown toward the hospital ship illustrates the operational judgments made during such patrols. After engine trouble prevented another eastern deployment, Truant served as a training ship in 1945 and participated in snorkel tests. Sold for breaking in December 1945, she was wrecked in December 1946 while being taken to the shipbreakers.