SICILY
1943
Motto
Frango infractus: 'I break but
am not broken'
This submarine
was launched as P42 and when renamed on 1st February 1943 it was the
first use for an RN warship. On completion of working up in the
Clyde she took passage to the Mediterranean on 22nd February 1942 to
join the 8th Submarine Flotilla at Gibraltar.
Following a
week under repair she sailed for a patrol off Alboran which proved
uneventful. In April she landed an intelligence agent during a
patrol off the French Riviera when she damaged a ship in a torpedo
attack and a subsequent firing at a submarine failed before return
to Gibraltar for routine docking and repair which was completed at
the end of May. Her next deployment was to carry out a patrol in
support of the passage of the HARPOON Malta relief convoy to
intercept and attack any Italian warships attempting to intervene.
On the completion she was transferred to join the 10th Submarine
Flotilla based in Malta, joining on 20th July. Whilst on her first
patrol from Malta off Maritimo and Naples she carried out an attack
on two mercantiles both of which missed Her later bombardment of a
train near Longobadi was more re-assuring but when she attacked
another ship on 9th August this also was unsuccessful. However her
fortunes returned when she damaged two Italian cruisers ATTENDOLO
and BOLZANO and survived the subsequent counter attack by the
escorts to arrived back in Malta on 14th of
that month. A special operation at Crotone during the following
patrol off Sicily was not satisfactory but two shore railway
bombardments were carried out on the 7th and 9th of September. The
next missions in October and November included two attacks off
Lampedusa and Maritimo of which only one ship was hit and two other
ships in the later patrol were missed. On 20th December 1942 she
sailed for a patrol off Naples and before return to Malta on 6th
January had damaged the Italian mercantile DJEBEL DIRA and bombarded
a railway line NW of Policastro. Patrols in early 1943 off the coast
of Libya included the sinking of the Italian mv EDDA near Tripoli
and landing of a party near Kaliba A torpedo attack on shipping in
harbour at Sousse during March achieved no hits but at the end of
March on her next patrol she was deployed off SE Sicily where an
attack on an Italian cruiser off Calabria also missed. Before return
to Malta she hit and damaged another Italian mercantile mv REGINA of
9,00 tons which had to be beached Deployed off the North coast of
Sicily in April she encountered a submarine but the attack failed
Later she sank a small schooner on April 22nd and damaged a
mercantile GIACOMO C of 4,638 tons on 26th. She carried out patrols
off the Messina Straits in May when she sank a small tug and the mv
BOLOGNA OF 5,1440 tons before return to
Malta on 26th May. Her patrols in June was not remarkable and July
she was deployed for patrol off Taranto to intercept any attempt by
Italian warships to attack assault and follow-up convoys taking part
in the allied landings in Sicily. Nominated for return to UK to
refit at Blyth she sailed from Malta on 30th July.
Whilst in the
Atlantic she was deployed for an anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of
Biscay to intercept German submarines on passage to and from French
bases but this proved to be uneventful and she arrived at Portsmouth
on 26th August. Refit at Blyth was completed on 2nd February 1944
after which she worked-up with the 6th Submarine Flotilla before
being deployed for patrols off Norway in March.
Following
brief deployment at Blyth during April she was nominated for
transfer to the Soviet Navy and handed over at Dundee on 11th June.
Renamed V2 (B2 in Russian) this submarine served with the Northern
Fleet until February 1942 when she was returned to the RN at Rosyth.
She was placed on the Disposal List and laid up at Lisahally, Ulster
until being sold for demolition at Gateshead where she arrived on
9th May 1950. The Commanding Officer in 1943 was Lieutenant AA Mars
RN.
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