P38 had a short-lived career with the Royal Navy. Commissioned in October 1941, she was assigned to operate with the 10th Flotilla based at Malta for operations in the Mediterranean Sea in January 1942, under the command of Lieutenant Rowland Hemingway. On her first patrol she sank the Italian merchant ship Ariosto of 4,116 tons off Cape Afrika, Tunisia on 15 February 1942. 138 Alliedprisoners of war aboard were lost. This was the only successful attack by P38.
Sinking
P38 left Malta on 16 February 1942, to intercept a very important large supply convoy for Axis forces off Tripoli, Libya. By 23 February, she was in position as the group of ships approached. Amongst them was the Italian torpedo boatCirce, equipped with German sonar and depth charge throwers. At 08:14 British time (10:14 Italian time), Circe reported a sonar contact at 1,800 m (5,900 ft) with a submarine and that she was turning in to attack, ordering the convoy to turn to port.
Shortly after 10:32 (Italian time), following a single attack in which all depth charges were dropped by Circe, P38 rose only to sink immediately again. At 10:40 (Italian time), after further attacks with depth charges and machine guns by the escorts Emanuele Pessagno, and Antoniotto Usodimare, as well as aircraft, during which one Italian rating was killed by friendly fire, P38 rose out of the water, her propellers still turning, steering planes set to surfacing, before crashing back beneath the waves at a bow-down angle of 40 degrees. A large patch of oil appeared on the surface as well as debris and human remains. P38 was sunk in 350 m (1,150 ft) of water in position 32 degrees 48 minutes north and 14 degrees 58 minutes east some 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) east of Tripoli, off Cape Misuratha. There were no survivors from her complement of 32.
References
Royal, Navy (1955). Naval Staff History - Submarines Vol. II Operations in the Mediterranean. Unpublished.
"HMS P 38". uboat.net.
. British submarines of World War II. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 15 July 2007.
. RN Submarine Museum, Gosport. Archived from the original on 14 July 2013. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
1941, other, ships, with, same, name, royal, navy, class, submarine, built, vickers, armstrong, barrow, furness, p38historyunited, kingdomnamep38buildervickers, armstrong, barrow, furnesslaid, down2, september, 1940launched9, july, 1941commissioned17, october,. For other ships with the same name see HMS P38 HMS P38 was a Royal Navy U class submarine built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow in Furness HMS P38HistoryUnited KingdomNameP38BuilderVickers Armstrong Barrow in FurnessLaid down2 September 1940Launched9 July 1941Commissioned17 October 1941HomeportMaltaFateSunk 23 February 1942General characteristicsClass and typeU class submarineDisplacementSurfaced 540 tons standard 630 tons full load Submerged 730 tonsLength58 22 m 191 ft 0 in Beam4 90 m 16 ft 1 in Draught4 62 m 15 ft 2 in PropulsionTwo shaft diesel electric Two Paxman Ricardo diesel generators electric motors 615 825 hpSpeed11 25 knots 20 84 km h 12 95 mph surfaced 10 knots 19 km h 12 mph submergedComplement27 31Armament4 bow internal 21 inch 533 mm torpedo tubes 8 10 torpedoes 1 3 inch 76 mm gunCareer EditP38 had a short lived career with the Royal Navy Commissioned in October 1941 she was assigned to operate with the 10th Flotilla based at Malta for operations in the Mediterranean Sea in January 1942 under the command of Lieutenant Rowland Hemingway On her first patrol she sank the Italian merchant ship Ariosto of 4 116 tons off Cape Afrika Tunisia on 15 February 1942 138 Allied prisoners of war aboard were lost This was the only successful attack by P38 Sinking EditP38 left Malta on 16 February 1942 to intercept a very important large supply convoy for Axis forces off Tripoli Libya By 23 February she was in position as the group of ships approached Amongst them was the Italian torpedo boat Circe equipped with German sonar and depth charge throwers At 08 14 British time 10 14 Italian time Circe reported a sonar contact at 1 800 m 5 900 ft with a submarine and that she was turning in to attack ordering the convoy to turn to port Shortly after 10 32 Italian time following a single attack in which all depth charges were dropped by Circe P38 rose only to sink immediately again At 10 40 Italian time after further attacks with depth charges and machine guns by the escorts Emanuele Pessagno and Antoniotto Usodimare as well as aircraft during which one Italian rating was killed by friendly fire P38 rose out of the water her propellers still turning steering planes set to surfacing before crashing back beneath the waves at a bow down angle of 40 degrees A large patch of oil appeared on the surface as well as debris and human remains P38 was sunk in 350 m 1 150 ft of water in position 32 degrees 48 minutes north and 14 degrees 58 minutes east some 90 nautical miles 170 km 100 mi east of Tripoli off Cape Misuratha There were no survivors from her complement of 32 References EditRoyal Navy 1955 Naval Staff History Submarines Vol II Operations in the Mediterranean Unpublished HMS P 38 uboat net P32 to P222 British submarines of World War II Archived from the original on 11 July 2007 Retrieved 15 July 2007 Submarine losses 1904 to present day RN Submarine Museum Gosport Archived from the original on 14 July 2013 Retrieved 7 January 2015 Colledge J J Warlow Ben 2006 1969 Ships of the Royal Navy The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy Rev ed London Chatham Publishing ISBN 978 1 86176 281 8 Hutchinson Robert 2001 Jane s Submarines War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day London HarperCollins ISBN 978 0 00 710558 8 OCLC 53783010 Wingate John The Fighting Tenth The Tenth Submarine Flotilla and the Siege of Malta Pen amp Sword 1991 ISBN 978 0 85052 891 6Coordinates 32 48 0 N 14 58 0 E 32 80000 N 14 96667 E 32 80000 14 96667 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS P38 1941 amp oldid 1152287530, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
