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B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
MEDITERRANEAN 1941 - MALTA CONVOYS
1941
Launched with
this name in 1940 this was its first use by the RN. Part of her
ship's company including the Commanding Officer Lieutenant F J Brooks, RN had served in sister
submarine HMS UNITY which had been sunk a collision in April
1940. This submarine was deployed at Portsmouth after
completion and during September and October
carried out anti-invasion patrols in the English Channel before
being transferred Mediterranean.
Initially part
of the 1st Submarine Flotilla in Malta carried out a patrol in the
western Mediterranean on passage to Malta. Transferred to the 10th Submarine Flotilla in January
1941. Her first patrol in her new Flotilla was uneventful
but the next month she sank the Italian cruiser
ARMANDO DIAZ which sank in six minutes after her magazine exploded on 25th February.. The following
patrols until June were also unremarkable but before a refit in
Malta a torpedo attack on a floating dock failed. After completion
of the refit she resumed patrol duties for interception of shipping
off Sicily and on 29th September 1941 she sank the Italian torpedo
boat ALBATROS. Later in
December she sank two mercantiles off
Taranto. Following a further patrol in January 1942 this submarine
was damaged in air raid whilst at Malta and under dockyard repair for two weeks before returning
to UK. Her Mediterranean patrols also
included deployments in defence against
attacks by Italian warships attempting to intercept Malta supply
convoys.
Refitted at
Blyth between April and June 1942 she joined the 9th
Submarine Flotilla at Dundee and was deployed in the North Sea for
two months before being transferred for training duties at Blyth
until February
1944. After another refit at Blyth in May that year she joined the
7th Submarine Flotilla for anti-submarine
training of Western Approaches escorts. Later that year she was
transferred to Bermuda for similar training of escorts built in the
USA, Returning to the UK in September 1945 she Paid-off and was
placed on Disposal List. Sold in December 1945 and this submarine
was broken-up at Troon in 1946. The
Commanding Officer during Mediterranean service in 1943 was
Lieutenant J Wraith RN. |
