Umpire commissioned on 10 July 1941 and sank in a collision on 19 July, only nine days later. She was accompanying a northbound convoy while an armed trawler escorted a convoy heading south. With the ships darkened under wartime conditions, the trawler struck her and she sank in about 18 metres of water. One bridge survivor was picked up by the trawler, while others escaped through the conning tower and engine-room hatch. Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus helped crew members get out of the sunken boat.
Chapter · 6:35:40-6:37:12
HMS Umpire's nine-day career and underwater escape
Umpire sank only nine days after commissioning when wartime blackout conditions produced a convoy collision, yet several sailors escaped from the wreck.