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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 BOMBARDIERE 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, now armed merchant cruiser 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.
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