|
B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
SICILY 1943 - MEDITERRANEAN
1943
Served under her Pennant Number identity P44 until January
1943 when renamed UNITED and first RN warship to carry this
name.
She completed work-up in the Clyde area before taking passage for
service in the Mediterranean on 29th April 1942. Whilst in the
Atlantic on 7th May she carried out an attack on a submarine which
missed.
Deployed at
Gibraltar she carried out a patrol off Alboran Island as an operational work-up and
returned on 31st May. In June she carried
out a patrol SE of Sardinia during Operation HARPOON, the transit of
a Malta relief convoy through the western Mediterranean, to
intercept any Italian attempt to attack this convoy. After returning
to Gibraltar on 24th May she was transferred to Malta for service in
the 10th Submarine Flotilla, arriving on 21st July. In August she
carried out a patrol in the central Mediterranean during which
unsuccessful attacks were made on an auxiliary warship and a 6,00 ton mercantile before providing cover against
an attack on the PEDESTAL Malta relief operation. On 17th August
after the completion of PEDESTAL she sank the Italian mercantile
ROSOLINO SILO of 8,325 tons which blew-up and caused significant
damage to the submarine.
When repairs
had been completed she resumed patrol duties in the central
Mediterranean and one her first mission she
damaged one ship and sank two smaller vessels. Whilst the following
two patrols an attack on a two ship convoy was unsuccessful but
during a later torpedo attack on a single ship damaged a small
steamer. Her patrols in November and December included # failed
attack on a submarine and gun attacks on smaller vessels with
further failures on the later patrol in the Gulf of Tunis. Her first
deployment in 1943 included the sinking of the Italian destroyer
BOMBARDIER on 17th January which broke in half on impact She carried
out a reconnaissance of landing area in Sicily during February after
an uneventful patrol off Tunisia Patrols carried out in April and
May off Italy were also uneventful but in July 1943 she attacked and
sank the 5,000 ton German liner RUNGULV on 14th and an Italian liner
OLBIA on 20th before return to Malta two days later. She was next
deployed in support of the allied landings in Sicily (Operation
HUSKY) and later sank the Italian submarine REMO. Her final patrol
before leaving the Flotilla in September was in the Gulf of Taranto
for observation of Italian Fleet movements.
During passage
to UK this submarine carried out a patrol in the Bay of Biscay for
interception of German submarines before arriving at Devonport on
1st October for refit Resumption of operational service in February
1944 was delayed by defects discovered on trials and she did not
join the 7th Submarine Flotilla in Londonderry until 18th March that
year. She was then deployed for anti-submarine training, at first in
Home waters for Western Approaches escorts and then at St Johns in
Newfoundland after passage via Bermuda. This duty lasted from
September 1944 until 26th June 1945. This submarine then carried out
visits to US ports before returning to UK via Bermuda on 9th
September. She was Paid-off at Londonderry on 14th October 1945 and
placed in Reserve at Lisahally, Ulster.
Placed on the Disposal List she was sold for breaking-up at Troon, Ayrshire where she arrived for demolition
on 8th February 1946. The Commanding Officer in 1943 was Lieutenant
J C Y Roxburgh RN. |
