HMS P48 (1942)

HMS P48
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS P48
Builder:	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down:	21 August 1941
Launched:	15 April 1942
Commissioned:	18 June 1942
Fate:	Depth charged in the Gulf of Tunis on 25 December 1942
General characteristics
Class and type:	U-class
Displacement:	Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load Submerged - 730 tons
Length:	191 ft (58 m)
Beam:	16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Draught:	15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Propulsion:	Two shaft diesel-electric two Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors 615 / 825 hp
Speed:	11.25 knots max surfaced 10 knots max submerged
Complement:	27-31
Armament:	Four bow internal 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes; 8 - 10 torpedoes One 3-inch (76 mm) gun

HMS P48 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness.

The submarine departed from Malta on her last patrol, on 23 December 1942 under the command of Lieutenant M.E. Faber. She was sunk with the loss of her entire crew two days later whilst attacking an Italian convoy in the Gulf of Tunis heading towards Tunis. The submarine was depth charged by two Italian torpedo boats, Ardente and Ardito, at position 37º15'N, 10º30'E, northwest of the island of Zembra. The submarine was officially declared overdue on 5 January 1943.^[1]

This vessel and her crew were honored 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".

References

• "HMS P48 (P 48)". uboat.net. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.

Coordinates: 37°15′N 10°30′E / 37.250°N 10.500°E / 37.250; 10.500