HMS ''Ursula'' was a U-class submarine, of the first group of that class constructed for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

. The submarine entered service in 1938 and saw action during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the North and Mediterranean Seas. In 1944, ''Ursula'' was transferred to the Soviet Navy and renamed ''V-4''. She remained in

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

service until 1950 when the submarine was returned to the United Kingdom and was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered m ...

in May 1950.

Construction and career

''Ursula'' was 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 ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 202 ...

. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

on 19 February 1937 and was commissioned on 20 December 1938. At the onset of the Second World War, ''Ursula'' was a member of the 6th Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at Dundee and Blyth.Rohwer, p.1 ''Ursula'' started the war operating in home waters. On 9 September 1939, she fired the first British submarine torpedoes of the war when attacking the German submarine . The

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...

escaped, but was sunk about two months later.

Attacking ''Leipzig''

On 14 December 1939 ''Ursula'' was on patrol off the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Rep ...

estuary when she sighted the German

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

, escorted by six destroyers. ''Leipzig'' was returning to

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

to undergo repairs, having been torpedoed and damaged by the submarine . In spite of the shallow waters, Ursula dived deep enough to remain undetected and close the distance to the cruiser. Upon surfacing, Ursula launched a close-range attack on Leipzig and her escorts, before diving again to escape. ''Ursula''s commander, Lt.Cdr. G.C. Phillips, was awarded the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typi ...

and promoted. ''Leipzig'' had in fact been missed and the torpedoes had instead hit ''F9''. ''Leipzig'' reached port and underwent repair.

Service in the North Sea and Mediterranean

''Ursula'' continued to harass enemy shipping in the North Sea, sinking the German merchant ''Heddernheim'', before being reassigned to operate in the Mediterranean. There she sank the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser V 135 / ''Togo'' and the German merchants ''Sainte Marguerite II'' (a former French vessel) and ''Odysseus'' (the former Norwegian ''Gran''). She also damaged the Italian merchant ''Sabbia'', but was herself damaged by depth charges during a counter-attack by the Italian torpedo boat . She also launched unsuccessful attacks against the German transport ships ''Brook'' and ''Tilly L.M. Russ'', the Italian troop transport ''Vulcania'' and the . She also attacked and damaged the Italian tanker ''Beppe'', which had to be towed to

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...

The 'Ursula suit'

Early in the war Philips and his crew had become dissatisfied with the conventional garb of oilskins and designed a special form of clothing more suitable for submarines. Ursula's navigating officer, Lt Lakin, was a keen motorcyclist and wore a one-piece

waxed cotton Waxed cotton is cotton impregnated with a paraffin or natural beeswax based wax, woven into or applied to the cloth. Popular from the 1920s to the mid-1950s, the product, which developed from the sailing industry in England and Scotland, became ...

motorcycling suit made by Barbour. Philips asked the company to adapt the suit, splitting it into jacket and trousers and adding a hood. The suit became standard watch-keeping clothing in Royal Navy submarines.

Soviet service

''Ursula'' was transferred on loan to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

on 26 June 1944. She was renamed ''V-4 "Soviet

Svanetia Svaneti or Svanetia (Suania in ancient sources; ka, სვანეთი ) is a historic province in the northwestern part of Georgia. It is inhabited by the Svans, an ethnic subgroup of Georgians. Geography Situated on the southern slo ...

"'' by the Soviets after a mountainous province in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

where the submarine's new commander

Yaroslav Iosseliani Yaroslav Iosseliani ( ka, იაროსლავ იოსელიანი; russian: Ярослав Константинович Иосселиани) (1912–1978) was a Soviet Navy submarine commander of Georgian ethnicity. He was awarded ...

came from. On 20 October 1944 she sank the German submarine chaser ''UJ-1219''. She survived the war, was returned to Britain in early 1950, and scrapped at

Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk ...

in May 1950.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ursula (N59) British U-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1938 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom British U-class submarines of the Soviet Navy World War II submarines of the Soviet Union Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations