B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
NORWAY 1940 -
MEDITERRANEAN 1940-41 - ATLANTIC 1944
First use of
the name was for a destroyer built in 1915 and sold in 1931 before
being given to this submarine in May 1939. Commissioned in September
that year she was deployed with the 2nd Submarine Flotilla for North
Sea patrols.
In March 1940
she sank a transport off the Danish coast and on 9th April carried
out a torpedo attack off Kristiansund on
the German cruiser KARLSRUHE which was so badly damaged that she had
to be sunk by the torpedo boat GRIEF four hours later. Patrols off Norway continued and in June she sank a
supply ship. The next month on 22nd July she was involved in an
incident with HM Submarine CLYDE which carried out an attack. On her
last North Sea patrol she intercepted a German freighter TROPIC SEA
which was carrying 40 British prisoners who were rescued when the
enemy mercantile scuttled.
After transfer
to the Mediterranean she sank a ship off Ischia and later two more
during a patrol in the Aegean off Albania. Her successes continued
during 1941 whilst carrying out patrols off North Africa in the
eastern Mediterranean. Between January and June that year she sank
five ships and then operated from Alexandria with the 1st Submarine
Flotilla. In an attack on a coastal convoy during October this
submarine sank three of the ships under escort and on 11th December
attacked the Italian torpedo boat ALCIONE which had her after
structure blown off. This ship was later towed to the south coast of
Crete and beached.
Despite the
loss of eight RN submarines in the Mediterranean during 1941 she was
transferred to join the Fleet at Singapore and sailed from
Alexandria on 3rd January 1942. As Singapore had been abandoned she
went to Sourabya and was deployed with
Dutch and American submarines in the defence of the Dutch East
Indies. During attacks on invasion convoys she sustained damage and
after the fall of Java returned to Ceylon for service with the newly
formed Eastern Fleet In March she carried out a patrol in the
Malacca Straits and sank two Japanese mercantiles, YAE MARU
(6,781 tons) and SHUNSEI MARU (4,939 tons) early the next month. On
9th April whilst returning to Colombo was diverted to carry out an
attack on Japanese warships on passage to Ceylon to attack shore
targets. This was unsuccessful. One source records that a refit was
carried out at Ceylon during 1942 but as she was refitted with an
experimental SCHNORKEL mast during 1944 but this was not retained
and she reverted to normal design.
This submarine
is not recorded as part of the Eastern Fleet after 1942 and must
have returned to UK for an extensive refit. The award of the Battle Honour ATLANTIC 1944 may
refer to an incident during deployment in Home waters or on the
return passage to Ceylon. This submarine is recorded as having sunk
an auxiliary Japanese minesweeper in May 1945 it suggests she had
resumed service with the new East Indies Fleet by that time. However
she is not recorded as being part of the Eastern Fleet in August
1945 which suggests a return to UK before VJ Day.
One final
matter for record is that after being sold for demolition by T W
Ward at Briton Ferry in December 1945 she broke from tow to the
breakers yard a year later in a gale on 8th December 1946 and
eventually was wrecked on the French coast near Cherbourg. Her early
sale suggests that she was not considered worth retaining on the
Active List. The Commanding Officer in 1945 was Commander A R Hezlet, RN (Later Vice Admiral Sir Arthur KBE,
DSO, DSC*) |