HMS Sickle

HMS ''Sickle'' was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. ''Sickle'' then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece.

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 North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The third batch was slightly enlarged and improved over the preceding second batch of the S class. The submarines had a length of overall, a beam of and a draught of . They displaced on the surface and submerged. The S-class submarines had a crew of 48 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of .McCartney, p. 7

For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the third-batch boats had a range of at and at submerged.

The boats were armed with seven 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. Six of these were in the bow, and one external tube was mounted in the stern. They carried six reload torpedoes for the bow tubes for a total of thirteen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the internally stowed torpedoes. They were also armed with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun. It is uncertain if ''Sickle'' was completed with a Oerlikon light AA gun or had one added later. The third-batch S-class boats were fitted with either a Type 129AR or 138 ASDIC system and a Type 291 or 291W early-warning radar.

Construction and career

HMS ''Sickle'' was a third-group S-class submarine and was ordered by the British Admiralty on 2 September 1940. She was laid down in the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead on 8 May 1941 and launched on 27 August 1942.Akermann, p. 340 On 28 November 1942, the boat, under the command of Lieutenant James Drummond, sailed to Holy Loch, where she was commissioned into the Royal Navy three days later.HMS ''Sickle'' (P 224)
Uboat.net Thus far, ''Sickle'' has been the only ship to bear the name in the Royal Navy.

Between 11 and 31 January 1943, she conducted a war patrol off Norway, but sighted only another British submarine, . ''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.

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.

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 ''UJ-2213'' which had been painted to appear like an oil tanker. The boat next attacked the with torpedoes on 20 May,Jones, p. 160 but missed; ''U-755'' was sunk eight days later by aircraft.Tomblin, p. 126 The next day, ''Sickle'' attacked the off Toulon and hit it with two torpedoes; ''U-303'' sank in half a minute. 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.

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.

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 , which was escorting a convoy. ''Sickle'' then ended her patrol on 5 September.

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.

Beirut

Between 25 October and 1 November, ''Sickle'' sailed from Algiers to Beirut, in Allied-occupied Lebanon, then shifted to Haifa. On 11 November, the boat departed Haifa to conduct a war patrol in the Aegean Sea. ''Sickle'' first sank with gunfire the Greek caïque ''Maria (MY 153)'' west of Amorgos, then torpedoed and sank the Italian merchant ship ''Giovanni Boccaccio'' off Monemvasia, two days later. She next sank with gunfire two sailing vessels near Milos; these were the Greek caïques ''Piraeus no. 795'' and ''Samos no. 45''. The boat returned to Beirut on 25 November.

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 periscope was sighted while looking into the harbour at Karlovasi, and she was attacked with depth charges by the German torpedo boats ''TA14'' and ''TA15''; ''Sickle'' sustained significant damage, especially to her electric motors. On 23 December, the submarine landed four Special Operations Executive Greek resistance men in Kalomos Bay, east of Euboea. Three days later, she sank with gunfire and by ramming two small unidentified Greek sailing vessels east of Mykonos Island; the crews of both ships were picked up by ''Sickle''. The boat ended her patrol on 2 January 1944.

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.

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 demolition charges and by ramming in the Doro Channel. She initially attacked them on the surface with her deck gun, but it jammed after firing four rounds, so ''Sickle'' boarded the first ship, a caïque flying the Greek flag with the German occupation pennon. The ship was carrying a cargo of oranges and lemons, and sailors from ''Sickle'' brought a thousand of these to their submarine as an addition to their diet, then holed the caïque's hull, sinking it. The next two ships did not carry any salvageable cargo, and ''Sickle'' sank one with demolition charges and the other by ramming. On 11 May, ''Sickle'' surfaced and bombarded an enemy radar station with her three-inch deck gun; 17 rounds hit their target but the enemy returned fire four minutes later, wounding three men, including ''Sickle''s captain and forcing her to submerge. Shortly after midnight on 13 May, the boat surfaced and sank the German sailing vessel ''Fratelli Corrao'' with gunfire. Two days later, she returned to Malta.

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.Heden, pp. 244–245Akermann, p. 108

Summary of raiding history

During her service with the Royal Navy, ''Sickle'' sank 10 Axis ships for a total of as well as a German U-boat, three caïques and a sailing vessel of unknown tonnage.

Citations

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sickle (P224)
British S-class submarines (1931)
Missing submarines of World War II
1942 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
Ships built on the River Mersey
Submarines lost with all hands
Maritime incidents in June 1944
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Ships sunk by mines