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H. M. S. P H O E N I X
M o t t o
Resurgam : I shall rise
again
This submarine was the 18th RN warship to
carry the name, introduced in 1546 for a 20 Gun ship bought in Scotland and
last used for a 1911 destroyer lost in 1918. It had never been previously been
used for a submarine. After this boat was lost in August 1940 the name was used
for an RN Air Station in Egypt and in 1949 by the RN Damage Control School at
Portsmouth. Ships carrying this name had been awarded 12
Battle Honours. The
name is that of a mythical bird, which could burn itself on a funeral pyre
then, rise again
from the ashes.
After completion in 1930 she was deployed on
the China Station in the 4th Submarine Flotilla. In 1940 this
Flotilla was
transferred from Hong Kong to the Mediterranean where they arrived in May of
that year.
During
a patrol in July she reported Italian
warship movements and a few days later was sunk off Sicily.
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