Ultimatum to UnbrokenPage last Updated:
3-Jan-2008
| Name | Class | Pennant | Crew | Built | Builder
| Disposal Date | Method |
Ultimatum | U2 | P34 | 33 | 11-Feb-41 | Vickers Armstrong Barrow |
01-Feb-50 | Scrap |
 Lt P.R.H. Harrison DSO DSC. 10th Flotilla, Malta.
25 Jan 42, torpedoed and sank
Italian passenger ship Dalmatia L (3352 tons) south-west of Capo dell'Armi in position 37º45'N, 15º30'E.
23 Feb 42 attacked, but missed, two Italian merchant ships, Ravello (6142 GRT) and Unione (6070 GRT) about 80 nautical miles
east of Tripoli, Libya in position 32º48'N, 14º50'E.
14 Mar 42, torpedoed and sank the Italian s/m
Ammiraglio Enrico Millo off
Cape Stilo, Calabria, Ionian Sea, in position 38º27'N, 16º37'E.
Operations Harpoon/Vigorous,
off Taranto, June 42.
24 Jun, 1942 made an unsuccessful torpedo attack on an Italian submarine
(possibly Zaffiro) south of Crete in position 34º22'N, 24º08'E. 7 Sep 42, attacked but missed the Italian
merchant Luciano Manara (6060 GRT) in the central
Mediterranean about 45 nautical miles south-west of Schiza Island, Greece in position 36º17'N, 21º03'E.
30 Oct 43, (Lt. W.H. Kett, DSC, RNR) attacked a German U-boat the Mediterranean southeast of Toulon, France,
in position 43º04'N, 05º57'E. This attack was against U-73 but it inflicted no damage. HMS
Ultimatum is often
credited to have sunk U-431 in this attack. However U-431 was sunk with all hands on 21 October 1943 in the
Mediterranean off Algiers in position 37º23'N, 00º35'E, by depth charges from a British
Wellington aircraft (Sqdn. 179/Z). U-431's fate was revised in November 1987 by the Foreign Documents
Section of the British Ministry of Defence.
5 Apr 44, sank a German sailing vessel with gunfire off Suda Bay, Crete, Greece.
2 May 44, shelled the harour of Kalamata, Greece. Two sailing vessels were sunk, five were destroyed on the slips and one was damaged.
3 Jul 44, fired two torpedoes at the German auxilary patrol vessel Uj6073/Nimeth Allah off Toulon,
southern France. but missed.
27 Jul 44, fired torpedoes against a group of small German vessels. The German barge F811 was hit and sunk off southern France
in position 43º03'N, 05º34'E.
Broken up at Port Glasgow 1950. |
Ultor | U3 | P53 | 33 | 12-Oct-42 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 01-Jan-46 | Scrap |
 For one patrol in the Med, Lieutenant George
Hunt was awarded the DSO to go with his DSC and bar.
14 April 43 - Sank the French Penerf (2151BRT) off Southern France, 43º32'N, 07º12'E.
15 June 43 - Sunk Italian auxiliary minesweeper Tullio off Cape Vaticano.
Sent to the
Strait of Messina around the time of the invasion of Sicily, on 8th July 43, Hunt sank the Italian merchant Valfiorita (6200BRT)
off Rasocomolo, Sicily, Italy in position 38º18'N, 15º27'E.
28 August 43 - Sunk Italian torpedo boat Lince in Gulf of Taranto in position 39º24'N, 17º09'E.
24 Sep 43, torpedoed and damaged the German (former French) tanker Champagne (9946 GRT) 11 nautical
miles east of Bastia, Corsica, France. The damaged tanker is beached and torpedoed again on the 27th by HMS Uproar.
19 Oct 43, sunk German merchant Aversa (formerly Greek Kakoulima)
3723 BRT off Civitavecchia.
8 Feb 44, attacked but missed the German auxiliary minelayer Niedersachsen
(1794 GRT, former French Guyane) off St.Raphaël, southern France.
15 Feb 44, sank the German sailing vessel Paule (27 GRT, former French) with gunfire off Hyeres, southern France.
3 Apr 44, claimed the destruction of four sailing vessels off Kythira Island, Greece.
4 Apr 44, claimed the destruction of a sailing vessel with gunfire in the Aegean north-east of Monemvasia, Greece, 36º49'N, 23º17'E.
6 Apr 44, claimed the destruction of three sailing vessels in the Aegean east of Paralia, Greece.
7 Apr 44, torpedoed and sank a large sailing vessel off Monemvassia, Greece in position 36º40'N, 23º02'E.
15 May 44, attacked and damaged a French fishing vessel with gunfire off Cape Camarat, southern France.
30 May 44, attacked but missed the German netlayer NT38 off Cap Camarat in position 43º10'N, 06º41'E, southern France.
She does sink the German auxiliary patrol vessel Vinotra III.
31 May 44, sank the German guardvessel FCi 01 (45 GRT) with gunfire off Cassis, southern France.
2 Jun 44, sank the German patrol vessel SG-11 (former French Alice Robert) (2588 GRT) north of Port Vendres,
southern France in position 42º30'N, 03º07'E.
20 Jun 44, torpedoed and sank the German tug Cebre south of Cannes, southern France in position 43º30'N, 07º20'E.
27 Jun 44, while on patrol off Nizza, southern France, torpedoed and sank the German tankers Felix1 (3316 GRT,
former French Cap Blanc) at 0504 hours in position 43º38'N, 07º19E, and Tempo3 (5259 GRT, former Greek Pallas)
at 0831 hours in position 43º34'N, 07º15'E.
21 Jul 44, torpedoed and sank the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ2211/Hardy (916 GRT) 6 nm west of Genoa, Italy.
Sixty eight torpedoes had been fired of which thirty two were hits (47%). This was the highest proportion
of hits made by any submarine Commander up to that time.
The nearest approach to Hunt's figures was Ben Bryant in Safari with 45.1%. George is still
patron of the Submarine Association of Australia, Queensland Branch. (Input from Derek Lilliman in Australia). Returned to Dolphin, Gosport,
and after brief refit joined 6th Flotilla at Blyth. When Blyth was closed the Ultor went around to Rothesay, with the depot ship
Cyclops. ASDIC training target, then reserve at Londonderry. Broken up at Briton Ferry, Jan 1946.pictured right - Lt George Hunt DSO* DSC* RN
|
Umbra | U2 | P35 | 33 | 15-Mar-41 | Vickers Armstrong Barrow |
09-Jul-46 | Scrap |  Lt
S.L.C. (Lynch) Maydon. and Lt. J.D. Martin as spare C.O.
10th Flotilla.
Attacked Italian battle fleet 15-Jun-42. (Operations Harpoon/Vigorous)
Coincided with a RAF attack. Scored a hit on battleship Littorio. Saw that the cruiser Trento had stopped due to bomb damage
and so finished her off with torpedoes.
23 Oct 42, torpedoed and destroyed the grounded German supply ship Amsterdam , and also sank the Italian tug Pronta that
was trying to salvage the Amsterdam. The Amsterdam had been grounded after being hit by a torpedo during an air attack.
Also damaged the Italian troop transport Piemonte and the Italian merchant
Napoli. The ship was beached and later destroyed by aircraft.
She later attacked and damaged the German troop transport Macedonia north of Sousse, Tunisia. The damaged German ship was beached and
abandoned. She also launched an attack on the Italian merchant Nino Bixio, but missed her.
11 Nov 42, during Operation Torch, Umbra was
ordered to intercept three Littorio-class Italian battleships which had left
their base at Taranto. Maydon sighted the battlewagons, pursued them, and
watched with frustration as they turned to starboard and passed the very
spot just vacated by his submarine. He persisted, however, and at 1619 fired
one salvo at the trio from 4000 yards. "For some inexplicable
reason," Captain Simpson, Capt 10th SM Flotilla at Malta, wrote,
"Lieutenant Maydon allowed the enemy 29 knots and all torpedoes missed.
A P.R.U. (photographic reconnaissance) pilot later sighted the battleships
and estimated their speed at 15 knots."
One of her last actions was to attack the Italian sailing vessels Nuovo Domenico and Concetta Falco with gunfire in the
Gulf of Hammamet on 11 January 1943. The Nuovo Domenico was damaged during the attack.
Broken up at Blyth.
Lt Maydon at the periscope in Umbra.
|
Umpire | U1 | 82N | 33 | 30
Dec 40 | HMDY Chatham | 19-Jul-41 | War Loss | |
19-Jul-41, Sunk whilst en-route from Chatham to join
the 3rd Flotilla at
Dunoon, under the command of Lieutenant Mervyn
Wingfield.
From Dunoon she was to carry out a single working-up patrol
in the North Sea before heading to the Mediterranean.
She stopped overnight at Sheerness and joined a convoy headed North. The
submarine developed an engine fault and fell behind. The
convoy passed a Southbound convoy around midnight whilst
about 12 nautical miles off Blakeney, Norfolk, with the two convoys passing port to
port. This was unusual since ships would normally pass
starboard to starboard. No ships showed any lights because
of the risk from German E-boats. However, an armed escort trawler, Peter Hendriks in
the southbound convoy accidentally struck Umpire and
sunk her in 18 metres of water.
Four crew members were on the bridge when the submarine sank
- Wingfield, the navigator and two lookouts. However only
Wingfield survived in the cold water to be picked up by the
trawler. Several other personnel also survived, escaping
from the sunken wreck using the conning tower or the engine
room escape hatch, the majority wearing DSEA. ERA Killen received a British
Empire Medal for leaving the submarine wearing
DSEA to check for obstructions around the engine room hatch
and then returning to the engine room to assist the other
crew members in escaping. He remained in the engine room
until everyone else there had escaped.
One of the survivors was Lt Edward Young, first RNVR officer to command a submarine.
Details in his book 'One of Our Submarines' (See also Storm)
|
Una | U2 | 87N | 33 | 10-Jun-41 | HMDY Chatham |
11-Apr-49 | Scrap |
 Lt D.S.R. Martin, Lt C.P. Norman. 10th Flotilla, Malta.
Operations Harpoon/Vigorous, off Taranto, June
1942. Sank 1 supply ship, 1 tanker, 1 schooner, totalling 15,355 tons. Carried and used an old (Boer War) 12-pounder gun.
Refitted April to August 1943 and then used solely for training, mainly from
Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada. Decommissioned 1945. Scrapped at Llanelli 1949. |
Unbeaten | U1 | 93N, P33 | 33 |
|
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 11-Nov-42 | War Loss |
 Lt Cdr Harrison.
Lt. E.A. Woodward DSO. 10th Flotilla, Malta. On Unbeaten's first patrol, off the coast
of North Africa in May 1941, Woodward fired three torpedoes at a large passenger-type merchant vessel, escorted by an Italian
destroyer. Two torpedoes exploded on the sea bottom, and Unbeaten was blown upwards and her stern broke surface. The destroyer
counter-attacked with depth-charges. Each time a pump was started, the destroyer detected the sound and attacked again. At
midnight Unbeaten surfaced; there was nothing in sight and Unbeaten cleared the area. Unbeaten carried
out 12 war patrols, for which Woodward was awarded the DSO. This was added to when Woodward sighted the conning tower of an
approaching submarine and, in an attack lasting only 12 minutes, closed to 1,300 yards and fired four torpedoes, two of which hit and sank
the German Type VIIC submarine U-374, in position 37.50N,16.00E. Woodward was awarded a Bar to his DSO. Although only four
miles from an enemy coast, Woodward surfaced to try to pick up survivors, of which there was only one. On sick leave, Woodward
missed two patrols in February 1942 but returned in March for Unbeaten's 17th and last patrol from Malta. At dawn on 17 March,
Woodward sighted another submarine. He fired a salvo of four torpedoes to sink the Italian submarine Guglielmotti.
Altogether sunk 2 submarines, 2 supply ships, 1 tanker, 1 collier, 2 schooners, totalling 30,616 tons.
Sunk in Bay of Biscay 11-Nov-42 (47-00'N, 7-00'W), while on patrol for German raiders, supply ships and U-boats on passage.
Attacked in error by RAF Wellington of No.172 Squadron, Coastal Command. All hands lost. Unbeaten pictured alongside at Malta. |
Unbending | U2 | P37 | 33 | 12-May-41 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 01-May-50 | Scrap | | Lt.
Stanley - 8 October 42 sinks the Italian LupaII (379BRT) NE of
Djerba, Tunisia. 9 October 42 sinks Italian Giuseppe Magliulo
(846BRT) and Alga (1851BRT) off Djerba, Tunisia. 19-Oct-42 attacked an Axis convoy bound for Tripoli, sinking a transport,
Beppe (4459 BRT) and Italian destroyer Giovanni Da Verazzano, south of Pantelleria.
23 Jan 43 damaged Italian ship Viminale and sinks the Italian tug Luni
(337BRT) off Sicily 37.52N, 15.45E. 9 Feb 43 sinks the Italian minelayer Eritrea
(2517BRT) east of Monopoli, Italy. 14 mar 43, sinks the Italian merchants Citta
di Bergamo (2165BRT) and Cosenze (1471BRT) off Cape
Spartivento, Italy. Broken up at Gateshead. The successful commanding
officer of Unbending, Lt Edward Stanley, died in 2004 - obituary. |
Unbroken | U2 | P42 | 33 | 04-Nov-41 |
Vickers Armstrong Barrow | 09-May-50 | Scrap | |
(Lt.Cdr. Alistair C.G. Mars DSO DSC & Bar, RN - pictured below). Commissioned at Barrow late
'41, after work up trials in Holy Loch, went out to join the 10th Flotilla at
Malta, with a work-up patrol from Gibraltar; saboteurs under the command of
Captain Peter Churchill were landed at Antibes in the south of France. A short
patrol off Capri resulted in the sinking of a 5000 ton merchant ship.
Proceeded to Malta to reform the 10th Flotilla, June 42, the only submarine
operating from Malta until United, Unruffled and Unrivalled
joined and Captain "Shrimp" Simpson returned from Alexandria to resume
as Captain 'S'.
 July 42, attacked main west coast railway line on the Italian mainland. Blocked line for 24 hours.
Was counter-attacked and sustained a hit on the battery. Returned to Malta. Operations Harpoon/Vigorous,
June 42. Crew Picture. Torpedoed and damaged the
Italian cruisers Bolzano and Muzio Attendolo 13-Aug-42, during
Operation Pedestal. Badly damaged in Oct 42, by a counter attack after hitting a
tanker. Repaired at Malta. Sunk the Edda Ciano, the last Axis ship to
leave Tripoli, loaded with troops. Returned to UK in Dec 43. More here.
Became Soviet V2 44-49. Broken up at Gateshead. |
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Undaunted to Unity