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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.
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