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SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2 - Summary
by Lt Cdr Geoffrey B Mason RN (Rtd) (c) 2006

 

HMS PHOENIX - P-class Submarine

HM S/M Phoenix (Navy Photos/Mark Teadham, click to enlarge) return to Contents List 
 

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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revised 26/9/10