HMS Safari (P211)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 HMS Safari |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | S-class submarine |
| Name: | HMS Safari |
| Builder: | Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead |
| Laid down: | June 5, 1940 |
| Launched: | November 18, 1941 |
| Commissioned: | March 14, 1942 |
| Fate: | Sold to be broken up for scrap sunk on tow to shipbreakers on the January 8, 1946 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 814-872 tons surfaced 990 tons submerged |
| Length: | 217 ft (66 m) |
| Beam: | 23 ft 6 in (7.2 m) |
| Draught: | 11 ft (3.4 m) |
| Speed: | 14.75 knots surfaced 8 knots submerged |
| Complement: | 48 officers and men |
| Armament: | 6 x forward 21-inch torpedo tubes, one aft 13 torpedoes one three-inch gun (four-inch on later boats) one 20 mm cannon three .303-calibre machine gun |
HMS Safari was launched in November 1941, one of the third group of S-class submarines built by Cammell Laird & Co Limited, Birkenhead. So far she has been the only ship to bear the name Safari.
[edit] Career
She spent most of World War II in the Mediterranean Sea where she was highly successful. She sank:
- The Italian sailing vessels Adda, Ausonia, Eufrasia, Eleonora Rosa, Stefano M., and Nasello
- The Italian merchants Perseo, Torquato Gennari, Valsavoia, Loredan, Entella, Isonzo, Peppino Palomba and Salemi
- The German transport Hans Arp
- The Italian ships Bice, Aniello, Sogliola and Gemma
- The German barge F 346
- The Italian auxiliary minesweepers Rosina S., No. 295/Bella Italia, No. 47/Amalia, FR 70/La Coubre and R 106 /Onda
- The Italian fishing vessel S. Francisco di Paola A.
- The Italian tanker Isonzo
- The German transport ship KT-12
- The German barges Maria and Paula
- The Italian armed yacht Margherita
- The Italian pilot vessel F 50/Silvio Onorato
- The Italian minelayer Durazzo
Safari also damaged the following:
- The Italian merchants Tigrai, Eneo, and Liv (the former Norwegian Liv)
- An unknown sailing vessel
- The Italian merchant Veglia (the former Yugoslavian Kosovo). The damaged ship was later salvaged but declared a total loss
- The Italian auxiliary patrol vessel F 139 / Constantina. The damaged Italian ship was declared a total loss.
Safari also launched unsuccessful attacks on the Italian merchant Cap Figalo and the German controlled French tanker Champagne. Safari also attacked the Italian submarine Bronzo.
On 19 October 1942 HMS Unbroken had torpedoed and damaged the Italian merchant Titania. The Titania was taken in tow by the Italian destroyer Ascari, but was sunk early the next day by Safari.[1]
On 8 January 1946 she was being towed to the breaker's yard to be scrapped when she sank in heavy seas with no crew on board. Today she is a popular site for divers in the English Channel, she lies on a rock seabed at a depth of 44m. Her brass conning tower has been removed, as has the nose cone, so the bow caps (outer doors of the torpedo tubes) are visible.
She is the subject of a popular book on submarines, "Crash Dive".
[edit] References
- ^ HMS Safari, Uboat.net
- 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.
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