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The World War II Submarine Behind Charles’s Gift to Trump
The bell that King Charles III gave President Trump on his state visit came from a submarine that sank several Japanese ships in the Pacific War in 1945.
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King Charles III presented President Trump with the original bell from H.M.S. Trump, a British submarine that served during World War II.
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Kenny Holston/The New York Times
By
John Yoon
April 29, 2026,
5:40 a.m. ET
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King Charles III presented President Trump with a gift on Tuesday during his state visit to the United States: the original bell from the H.M.S. Trump, a British submarine that served during World War II.
The polished brass bell once hung on the submarine’s conning tower, the raised control structure atop the vessel, Charles said in a speech celebrating the Anglo-American alliance. It bears the ship’s name in capital letters and the year 1944, when it was launched from a British shipyard.
“May it stand as a testimony to our nations’ shared history and shining future,” Charles said. “And should you ever need to get hold of us, well, just give us a ring!”
The vessel, which doesn’t appear to have a connection to President Trump’s family, is credited with sinking several Japanese ships in the Pacific War in some of the final naval operations of World War II.
H.M.S. Trump was part of the Royal Navy’s T-class, a group of long range, diesel-electric submarines built shortly before and during the war. The submarines shared a common design and bore names beginning with T, after the lead ship of the class, H.M.S. Triton, which entered service in 1938.
H.M.S. Trump was the only Royal Navy ship to bear the name. It was not immediately clear on Wednesday what the name stood for.
Image
H.M.S. Trump at sea, in an undated photo.
Credit...
Arkivi/Getty Images
The vessel was built by the British manufacturing company Vickers Armstrong after being ordered in 1941, according to Maurice Cocker’s “Observer’s Directory of Royal Naval Submarines.” It sailed to the Pacific Ocean in 1945 to take part in the final stages of the war.
The submarine sank several Japanese vessels during its service,
according to the Naval Historical Society of Australia
. Working with its sister ship, H.M.S. Tiptoe, it sank one of the last ships to be destroyed by a British warship in World War II.
The T-class submarines — 53 of which were built — were armed with 10 torpedo tubes. They offered a high standard of accommodation, with a bunk for each crew member, according to “HM Submarines in Camera: An Illustrated History of British Submarines” by J.J. Tall and Paul Kemp.
H.M.S. Trump was fitted with advanced “SJ radar,” which helped it to detect enemy ships more effectively than many of its contemporaries. It also had a hull that allowed it to withstand pressure at deeper diving depths than other submarines.
The vessel survived the war. For much of its service, it was attached to the 4th Submarine Squadron in Australia, where along with other submarines it helped train the navies of Australia, New Zealand and other countries, according to “The T-Class Submarine” by Mr. Kemp.
It returned to British waters in 1969, after cuts to military spending, and was scrapped in Newport in 1971.
John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news.
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