HMS Sickle
Sickle on the surface
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Sickle |
Namesake | Sickle |
Ordered | 2 September 1940 |
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
Laid down | 8 May 1941 |
Launched | 27 August 1942 |
Commissioned | 1 December 1942 |
Fate | Sunk in June 1944, probably by mines |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | S-class submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 217 ft (66.1 m) |
Beam | 23 ft 9 in (7.2 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range | 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced); 120 nmi (220 km; 140 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) (submerged) |
Test depth | 300 ft (91.4 m) |
Complement | 48 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Sickle was a third-batch
On her second patrol from Beirut, Sickle's electric motors were damaged during an attack by two destroyers, so she sailed to Gibraltar for repairs. Several months later, the boat returned to service and conducted two patrols in the Aegean, sinking another three caïques, a sailing vessel, and a merchant ship. On 31 May 1944, Sickle departed Malta for a patrol in the Aegean and did not return. It is considered probable that she hit mines on her way back to Malta around 16–18 June 1944.
Design and description
The S-class submarines were designed to patrol the restricted waters of the
For surface running, the boats were powered by two 950-
The boats were armed with seven
Construction and career
HMS Sickle was a third-group
Between 11 and 31 January 1943, she conducted a war patrol off Norway, but sighted only another British submarine, HMS Trident. Sickle then sailed from Great Britain to Gibraltar on 6 April, with orders to intercept the Italian blockade runner Himalaya which was thought to be in the vicinity. Himalaya had stayed in port and the submarine proceeded on to Gibraltar as planned.[7]
On 18 April 1943, she departed harbour to conduct a patrol off Valencia, Spain. Five days later, the boat sighted the Italian merchant ship Mauro Croce and fired two torpedoes; the torpedoes ran under the ship, so Sickle surfaced to use her deck gun. However, after firing 19 rounds and scoring several hits, her gun jammed and she had to break off the attack. The submarine ended her patrol in Algiers on 27 April.[7]
Algiers
Sickle departed Algiers to patrol off southern France on 10 May 1943. After five days at sea, she attacked a German convoy south of Nice, France, and sank the German submarine chaser UJ-2213 which had been painted to appear like an oil tanker.[9] The boat next attacked the German submarine U-755 with torpedoes on 20 May,[10] but missed; U-755 was sunk eight days later by aircraft.[11] The next day, Sickle attacked the German submarine U-303 off Toulon and hit it with two torpedoes; U-303 sank in half a minute.[12][11][10][13] She then returned to Algiers on 25 May. After leaving on her next patrol on 16 June, Sickle unsuccessfully attacked an enemy submarine on 18 June, then returned to port on 1 July.[7]
On 13 July 1943, the boat departed Algiers to patrol in the Gulf of Genoa and east of Corsica. Four days later, Sickle fired three torpedoes at an Italian convoy without success. On 18 July, she sank with gunfire two Italian minesweepers, No. G.61 and No. R.164, east of Gorgona, Italy. The next day, she sank another Italian minesweeper, V 131, off Porto-Vecchio, Corsica. Sickle next attacked the Italian merchant ship Alfredo Oriani with seven torpedoes; two hit, but the ship did not sink and was towed back to port. The submarine also missed the German oil tanker Champagne on 22 July, then returned to Algiers on 28 July. Drummond was awarded the Distinguished Service Order at the end of this patrol.[7]
She began a new patrol on 17 August, operating east of Corsica. After patrolling for eleven days, Sickle torpedoed and sank the German escort ship SG-10, which was escorting a convoy. Sickle then ended her patrol on 5 September.[7]
On 22 September, Sickle left Algiers to patrol the Gulf of Genoa in the same area as in her previous patrol. In the evening of 28 September, the submarine landed two men near Sestri Levante, Italy; their mission was to gather intelligence as well as organize resistance movements and escapes of Allied prisoners of war to Switzerland. On 30 September and 3 October, Sickle attacked a small coastal trading vessel and a submarine chaser with three torpedoes each, missing with all six. The boat then returned to Algiers on 10 October.[7]
Beirut
Between 25 October and 1 November, Sickle sailed from Algiers to Beirut, in Allied-occupied
On 13 December, Sickle departed Beirut for another war patrol in the Aegean and attempted to attack a German convoy on 20 December. The next day, her
Malta
From 14 to 19 January, Sickle sailed to Malta, then to Gibraltar. There, she underwent repairs to her electric motors until 14 April, when she returned to Malta.[7]
On 29 April, Sickle departed Malta to patrol in the Aegean Sea, where she sighted a German transport escorted by three destroyers, but lost sight of them in the fog on 7 May. The next day, the boat sank three Greek sailing vessels with
On 31 May, Sickle left Malta harbour for a patrol in the Aegean Sea; this was to be Sickle's last patrol. On 4 June, she engaged enemy ships on the surface at Mytilene; two sailors were wounded, one killed, and another washed overboard and captured. This man later became Sickle's only survivor. She was ordered on 5 June to patrol the eastern approach to the Doro channel. On 6 June, the submarine torpedoed and sank the German merchant ship Reaumur, and on 7 June a German lighter reported having been missed by torpedoes potentially launched by Sickle. On 8 June, a submarine that was possibly Sickle sank three caïques near Skopelos, and she missed the German transport Lola with torpedoes on 9 June. A submarine, again possibly Sickle, sank the caïque Efitichia with gunfire and bombarded a shipyard at Mytilene on 14 June 1944. The submarine was never seen again, and it is considered likely that she was sunk by mines on her way back to Malta in the Kythira Strait on or around 18 June.[7][15][16]
Summary of raiding history
During her service with the Royal Navy, Sickle sank 10 Axis ships for a total of 7,665 GRT as well as a German U-boat, three caïques and a sailing vessel of unknown tonnage.[7]
Date | Name of ship | Tonnage | Nationality | Fate and location |
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15 May 1943 | UJ-2213 | 1,116 | Nazi Germany | Torpedoed and sank at 43°25′N 07°25′E / 43.417°N 7.417°E |
21 May 1943 | German submarine U-303 | - | Nazi Germany | Torpedoed and sank at 43°00′N 05°59′E / 43.000°N 5.983°E |
18 July 1943 | No. G.61 | 100 | Kingdom of Italy | Sunk with gunfire at 43°24′N 10°03′E / 43.400°N 10.050°E |
18 July 1943 | No. R.164 | 39 | Kingdom of Italy | Sunk with gunfire at 43°24′N 10°03′E / 43.400°N 10.050°E |
19 July 1943 | V 131 | 65 | Kingdom of Italy | Sunk with gunfire at 43°24′N 10°03′E / 43.400°N 10.050°E |
28 August 1943 | SG-10 | 2,526 | Nazi Germany | Torpedoed and sunk at 42°24′N 09°41′E / 42.400°N 9.683°E |
17 November 1943 | Maria (MY 153) | - | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk with gunfire west of Amorgos, Greece |
19 November 1943 | Giovanni Boccaccio | 3,160 | Nazi Germany | Torpedoed and sunk off Monemvasia, Greece |
25 November 1943 | Piraeus no. 795 | - | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk with gunfire at 37°22′N 24°15′E / 37.367°N 24.250°E |
25 November 1943 | Samos no. 45 | - | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk with gunfire at 37°22′N 24°15′E / 37.367°N 24.250°E |
26 December 1943 | unidentified | - | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk with gunfire and ramming east of Mykonos, Greece |
26 December 1943 | unidentified | - | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk with gunfire and ramming east of Mykonos, Greece |
8 May 1944 | unidentified | 50 | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk by a boarding party in the Doro Channel , Greece
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8 May 1944 | unidentified | 40 | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk by demolition charges in the Doro Channel, Greece |
8 May 1944 | unidentified | 20 | Kingdom of Greece | Sunk by ramming in the Doro Channel, Greece |
13 May 1944 | Fratelli Corrao | - | Nazi Germany | Sunk with gunfire at 35°55′N 25°02′E / 35.917°N 25.033°E |
6 June 1944 | Reaumur | 549 | Nazi Germany | Torpedoed and sank at 38°00′N 24°35′E / 38.000°N 24.583°E |
Citations
- ^ Akermann, p. 341
- ^ a b McCartney, p. 7
- ^ Bagnasco, p. 110
- ^ Chesneau, pp. 51–52
- ^ Akermann, pp. 341, 345
- ^ a b Akermann, p. 340
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n HMS Sickle (P 224), Uboat.net
- ^ Akermann, p. 348
- ^ Rohwer, Jürgen; Gerhard Hümmelchen. "Seekrieg 1943, Mai". Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (in German). Retrieved 22 June 2015.
- ^ a b Jones, p. 160
- ^ a b Tomblin, p. 126
- ^ Niestle, p. XXVI
- ^ Akermann, p. 351
- ^ Jordan, p. 532
- ^ Heden, pp. 244–245
- ^ Akermann, p. 108
References
- Akermann, Paul (2002). Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955 (reprint of the 1989 ed.). Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing. ISBN 978-1-904381-05-1.
- Bagnasco, Erminio (1977). Submarines of World War Two. Annapolis, Maryland: ISBN 978-0-87021-962-7.
- Chesneau, Roger, ed. (1980). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. Greenwich, UK: ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5.
- ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
- Heden, Karl Eric (2006). Sunken Ships, World War II: U.S. Naval Chronology Including Submarine Losses of the United States, England, Germany, Japan, Italy. History Reference Center: Branden Books. ISBN 0828321183.
- Jones, Geoffrey Patrick (1977). The Month of the Lost U-Boats. Kimber. ISBN 0718302052.
- Jordan, Roger (1999). The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships. London: ISBN 1-86176-023-X.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-007-9.
- Niestle, Alex (2014). German U-Boat Losses During World War II: Details of Destruction. Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1-473838-29-1.
- Tomblin, Barbara (2004). With Utmost Spirit: Allied Naval Operations in the Mediterranean, 1942-1945. ISBN 0813123380.