HMS P48 (1942)
HMS "P48" was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. Commissioned on 18 June 1942, she spent most of her career in the Mediterranean Sea. After an initial patrol in the Norwegian Sea, "P48" sailed to Gibraltar, then was assigned to the 10th Submarine Flotilla, based in Malta. After an uneventful patrol, she departed port on her last patrol, on 23 December 1942. She is thought to have been sunk two days later whilst attacking an Italian convoy in the Gulf of Tunis heading towards Tunis, from depth charges launched  by the Italian torpedo boat , northwest of the island of Zembra. This vessel and her crew were honoured and immortalized by the nephew of one of the lost sailors (Lt. Stephen E. Spring Rice, RNVR), English musician Thomas Dolby, in the song "One of Our Submarines". Design and description. The third batch was slightly enlarged and improved over the preceding second batch of the U class. The submarines had a length of overall and displaced on the surface and submerged. The U-class submarines had a crew of 31 officers and ratings. "P48" was powered on the surface by two  diesel engines providing a total of and when submerged by two electric motors with a total of through two propeller shafts. The maximum speed was on the surface and underwater. "P48" was armed with four 21-inch torpedo tubes in the bow and also carried four reloads for a grand total of eight torpedoes. The boat was also equipped with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun. Construction and service. Ordered on 23 August 1940, "P48" was laid down on 2 August 1941 by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, then launched on 15 April 1942. She was commissioned on  18 June 1942 at Holy Loch, then conducted training and diving tests in the River Clyde area. After additional tests with torpedoes off Arrochar, the submarine then sailed for Lerwick, arriving on 17 July. The next day on 18 July, "P48" departed Lerwick for an anti-submarine patrol in the Norwegian Sea. The patrol was uneventful, and she returned to port on 29 July. After passing through Holy Loch and Rothesay, the boat departed for Gibraltar on 12 August; after one week at sea, she was ordered to search for a German tanker, but suffered flooding in her auxiliary machinery , forcing her to abandon her patrol and continue to Gibraltar. On 23 August, "P48" arrived and underwent repairs, then exercises until 27 September. Between 29 September and 6 October 1942, "P48" conducted another patrol, in the Alboran Sea, but did not record any sinkings. On 31 October, "P48" departed Gibraltar for another patrol in the Mediterranean, with orders to conduct a special landing operation off Algiers, then proceed to Malta. Her armament had been reduced to six torpedoes overall to make space for the extra equipment. On 4 October, "P48" launched a landing party in a folbot, then acted as  a directional radio beacon during the Allied landings three days later. After being ordered to patrol off Bizerte, Tunisia, "P48" sighted an enemy merchant ship and attacked it with three torpedoes, but missed. After another unsuccessful attack, the submarine ended her patrol in Malta and joined the 10th Submarine Flotilla which was based there. On 26 November, "P48" started another patrol, northeast of Tunisia. One week later, she attacked a German-Italian convoy, but did not obtain any hits; she was subsequently attacked with depth charges by escorting ships but was not damaged. On 5 December, the boat launched three  torpedoes at a German merchant ship, escorted by a destroyer. The torpedoes missed, however, and "P48" was again attacked, but escaped unscathed. the submarine returned to Malta on 8 December. HMS "P48" departed Malta on her last patrol on 23 December 1942, under the command of Lieutenant M.E. Faber. Two days later, while attacking a large Italian convoy, an escorting aircraft fired bursts of machine-gun fire into the sea to signal the presence of an enemy submarine. Seconds later, the escorting Italian torpedo boat made sonar contact with a target, then attacked it with 48 depth charges. A large  oil patch 100–150 metres in diameter was observed in position and the crew of the torpedo boat claimed the submarine sunk. It is most likely that the submarine was "P48", but her wreck was not found and it is possible that she was sunk elsewhere later. The submarine was officially declared overdue on 5 January 1943.