Early completion before the naming policy was introduced gave only the Pennant Number as identity for this submarine. After trials and work-up in the Clyde area she carried out an uneventful patrol SW of Ireland during October 1941 followed by a deployment in the Bay of Biscay for patrol to intercept U-Boats on passage to and from bases in France. An attack carried out on a U-Boat on 28th November was unsuccessful whilst off Belle Isle.

Nominated for service with the 10th Submarine Flotilla in Malta she took passage from Portsmouth on 18th December and arrived at Gibraltar nine days later after a Bay of Biscay interception patrol. During passage to join the Flotilla in Malta she landed two intelligence agents near Monte Carlo on 9th January 1942 and arrived for Flotilla deployments a week later. Her subsequent short service in Malta included an attack at the southern end of the Messina Straits on two Italian cruisers and the destroyer CARABINEER which was hit and damaged on 15th February. The next day she carried out another attack on Italian warships with a hit claimed on a cruiser. A patrol off Khoms in late February was uneventful and on return to Malta on 1st March she was slightly damaged during an air raid and under repair until 12th.

Her next and final patrol started on 14th March when she sailed for the Gulf of Taranto in support of the passage of military convoy MW10 from Alexandria to Malta. On 22nd a major squadron including a LITTORIO-Class battleship with cruisers and destroyers in company was attacked and in anticipation of counter attacks the submarine dived deep and was unable to observe any positive results. The enemy depth charge assault continued for over six hours and caused some damage. Surfacing after nightfall the submarine reached Malta safely. Whilst under repair on 1st April she was badly damaged and holed causing the boat to sink. Salvage under the conditions extant at Malta during this period was not a practicable proposition and she lay off Lazaretto for another 16 years when raised on 7th August 1958. Subsequently she was beached and later towed to a position off Malta and sunk for the second time. Her Commanding Officer was Lieutenant H Edmonds RN.