| Career | |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | U-class submarine |
| Name: | HMS Universal |
| Builder: | Vickers Armstrong, Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Laid down: | 5 September 1941 |
| Launched: | 10 November 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 8 March 1943 |
| Fate: | scrapped June 1946 |
| Badge: | |
| 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 (20.8 km/h) 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 Universal (P57) 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 Universal.
She spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, where she sank the Italian auxiliary patrol vessels V 130/Ugo and V 134/Tre Sorelle, the Italian merchant La Foce the German auxiliary gunboat SG 15 (the former French Rageot de la Touche), the German merchants President Dal Piaz and Canosa (the former French Corsa), the German Guardboat FMa 06 (the former French Guarani) and the German auxiliary minesweeper Petrel. Universal also damaged the Spanish sailing vessel Sevellina and the Italian tanker (in German control) Cesteriano, which was later towed to Toulon. Universal also fired a torpedo against what is identified as an enemy auxiliary minesweeper. They claimed to have damaged the so far unidentified ship.
Universal survived the war and was sold to be broken up for scrap in February 1946, and scrapped at Milford Haven in June 1946.
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