HMS Unruly (P49)

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HMS Unruly coming in from patrol at Algiers
Career RN Ensign
Class and type: U-class submarine
Name: HMS Unruly
Builder: Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down: 19 November 1941
Launched: 28 July 1942
Commissioned: 3 November 1942
Fate: scrapped February 1946
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
2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors

615 / 825 hp
Speed:

11.25 knots max surfaced


10 knots max submerged
Complement: 27-31
Armament:

4 bow internal 21 inch torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes


1 - 3 inch gun

HMS Unruly (P49) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Unruly.

[edit] Career

Unruly spent most of her eventful wartime career in the Mediterranean, apart from a period on convoy escort duty off the North Cape. Whilst serving in the Mediterranean, she sank the French merchant St Lucien, the Italian merchant Valentino Coda, twelve sailing vessels, including the Greek Aghios Giorgios (Saint George), and the German minelayer Bulgaria. The Bulgaria was loaded with supplies for the island of Kos. Unruly missed the minelayer Drache the same day. She spotted the Drache several days later, but again failed to sink her.

Unruly also damaged the Italian tanker Cesco, and the Italian merchant Nicolo Tommaseo. The damaged Nicolo Tommaseo was later sunk by Allied aircraft. Unruly also launched failed attacks on the German merchants Erpel and Pelikan, and an unidentified Spanish merchant.

One of her most significant actions however, was the sinking of the Italian submarine Acciaio during the Allied invasion of Sicily. She was attacked with four torpedoes, at least one of which hit the Italian submarine, which sank her with the loss of all 46 of her crew. The crew of Unruly did not actually see the results of the attack, and initially believed they had missed and their target had escaped.

Unruly survived the war and was scrapped at Troon in February 1946.

[edit] References