HMS P38 (1941)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | U-class submarine |
| Name: | HMS P38 |
| Builder: | Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 2 September 1940 |
| Launched: | 9 July 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 17 October 1941 |
| Fate: | sunk 23 February 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: |
Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load Submerged - 730 tons |
| Length: | 58.22 m (191 ft) |
| Beam: | 4.90 m (16 ft 1 in) |
| Draught: | 4.62 m (15 ft 2 in) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shaft diesel-electric |
| Speed: |
11.25 knots max surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h) max submerged |
| Complement: | 27-31 |
| Armament: |
4 bow internal 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes 1 - 3-inch (76 mm) gun |
HMS P38 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness.
[edit] Career
P38 had a shortlived career with the Royal Navy. She was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean, where she sank the Italian merchant Ariosto off Tunisia. 138 Allied prisoners of war aboard were lost.
[edit] Sinking
P38 left Malta on 16 February 1942 to intercept a convoy off Tripoli. By the 23rd she was in position as the convoy hove into view. Amongst the convoy was the Italian torpedo boat Circe. At 0800 the Circe reported a contact with a submarine and that she turned in to attack. A periscope was sighted but was quickly replaced by bubbles as the submarine dived realising it had been spotted. At 1050 after a flurry of attacks P 38 rose stern first out of the water, her propellers turning wildly, before crashing back beneath the waves. A large patch of oil appeared on the surface as well as debris, clear evidence of the submarine’s destruction. P 38 was sunk some 90 nautical miles (170 km) east of Tripoli, Libya. There were no survivors.
[edit] References
- HMS P 38). uboat.net.
- P32 to P222. British submarines of World War II.
- Submarine losses 1904 to present day. RN Submarine Museum, Gosport.
- Colledge, J. J. and Warlow, Ben (2006). Ships of the Royal Navy: the complete record of all fighting ships of the Royal Navy, Rev. ed., London: Chatham. ISBN 9781861762818. OCLC 67375475.
- Submarines, War Beneath The Waves, From 1776 To The Present Day, by Robert Hutchinson
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