HMS ''Upholder'' (P37) was a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
U-class submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
built by
Vickers-Armstrong
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...
at
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...
. She was laid down on 30 October 1939,
launched on 8 July 1940 by Mrs. Doris Thompson, wife of a director of the builders. The submarine was
commissioned on 31 October 1940. She was one of four U-class submarines which had two external
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s at the bows in addition to the 4 internal ones fitted to all boats. They were excluded from the others because they interfered with depth-keeping at
periscope depth
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
.
Career
She was commanded for her entire career by Lieutenant-Commander
Malcolm David Wanklyn, and became the most successful British submarine of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After a working up period, she left for
Malta
Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
on 10 December 1940 and was attached to the
10th Submarine Flotilla
The 10th Submarine Flotilla was a Royal Navy submarine formation during World War I and during World War II
In January 1915 it was based on the Humber but by January 1917 it had relocated to the Tees.
During the Second World War it was formed at ...
based there. She completed 24 patrols, sinking 93,031 tons of enemy shipping including four warships; the destroyer after the
Battle of the Duisburg Convoy, two submarines ( and ) and an auxiliary minesweeper, and ten merchant ships; three
troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...
s, six cargo ships, and an auxiliary transport.
Wanklyn was awarded the
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
for a patrol in her in 1941, which included an attack on a particularly well-defended convoy on 24 May 1941 in which ''Upholder'' sank the Italian troop ship . On 28 July 1941 she damaged the (9500 tons). On 18 September 1941 she sank two troopships within hours of each other: the
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...
s () and ().
''Upholder'' also damaged the German freighter ''Duisburg'' (), the French tanker ''Capitaine Damiani'' (), the Italian freighters ''Dandolo'' () and ''Sirio'' () and destroyed the wreck of the German freighter ''Arta'' () already grounded after the
battle of the Tarigo Convoy
The Battle of the Tarigo Convoy (sometimes called the Action off Sfax) was a naval battle of the Second World War, part of the Battle of the Mediterranean. It was fought on 16 April 1941, between four Royal Navy destroyers and three Italian dest ...
.
Successes
Sinking
''Upholder'' was lost with all hands on her 25th patrol, which was to have been her last before she returned to England. She left for patrol on 6 April 1942 and became overdue on 14 April. On 12 April she was ordered, with and to form a patrol line to intercept a convoy, but it is not known whether she received the signal.
Theories about the loss
The most likely explanation for her loss is that after being spotted by a reconnaissance
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...
, she fell victim to
depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...
s dropped by the northeast of Tripoli on 14 April 1942 in the position , although no debris was seen on the surface. The attack was north-east from Wanklyn's patrol area and he may have changed position to find more targets. It is also possible that the submarine was sunk by a mine on 11 April 1942 near Tripoli, when a submarine was reported close to a minefield. A third and less likely theory came from an alleged air and surface attack on a submarine contact by German aircraft and the escort of a convoy on 14 April off
Misrata
Misrata ( ; , Libyan Arabic: ; also spelled Misratah and known by the Italian spelling Misurata) is a city in northwestern Libya located in the Misrata District, situated to the east of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast near Cape Misrata. ...
, but no official Axis record of this action was found after the end of the war.
More recent research carried out by Italian naval specialist Francesco Mattesini points to a German aerial patrol supporting the same convoy, comprising two
Dornier Do 17
The Dornier Do 17 is a twin-engined light bomber designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Dornier Flugzeugwerke. Large numbers were operated by the ''Luftwaffe'' throughout the Second World War.
The Do 17 was designed during ...
and two
Messerschmitt Bf 110
The Messerschmitt Bf 110, often known unofficially as the Me 110,Because it was built before ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke'' became Messerschmitt AG in July 1938, the Bf 110 was never officially given the designation Me 110. is a twin-engined (de ...
aircraft, that attacked an underwater contact with bombs two hours before the ''Pegaso'' incident. The author asserts that the seaplane crew was unsure if the target they pinpointed to ''Pegaso'' was a submarine or a school of dolphins. Mattesini admits the possibility that ''Pegaso'' could have finished off the submarine damaged by the German aircraft.
The Canadian naval researcher Platon Alexiades has concluded that the ''Pegaso'' and German aircraft claims can be dismissed outright. Scrutiny of British records show that submarine could not have been in the positions where these attacks occurred. Following an ULTRA intercept and a signal from Captain S.10 (the 10th flotilla commander), it is most likely that ''Upholder'' was lost on a mine as she was proceeding to intercept the Monreale/Unione convoy on 13 April. Her likely route would have brought her close to an Italian minefield laid by the destroyers and on 1st May 1941 (section d AN of the "T" minefield) some 15 miles north of Tripoli.
Tribute
When, on 22 August 1942, the Admiralty announced her loss, the communiqué carried with it an unusual tribute to Wanklyn and his men,
''Upholder'' was credited with having sunk 97,000 tons of shipping, in addition to three U-boats and one destroyer.
Quoted by
Admiral of the Fleet
An admiral of the fleet or shortened to fleet admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to field marshal and marshal of the air force. An admiral of the fleet is typically senior to an admiral.
It is also a generic ter ...
,
The Lord Fieldhouse GCB, GBE probably during the
Falklands War
The Falklands War () was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependenci ...
, "I can do no better than repeat the unique message following the sinking of HMS ''Upholder'' on April 14th 1942 : 'The ship and her company are gone but the example and inspiration remain".
Notes
Citations
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Upholder (P37)
1940 ships
Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness
British U-class submarines
Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
Maritime incidents in April 1942
Submarines lost with all hands
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Submarines sunk by Italian warships