View source for HMS Unruffled

{{short description|Submarine of the Royal Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Unruffled.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Unruffled'' returning to harbour in [[Malta]] after a patrol in the Mediterranean
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship badge=[[File:UNRUFFLED badge-1-.jpg|left|100px]]
|Ship name=HMS ''Unruffled''
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Vickers Armstrong]], [[Barrow-in-Furness]]
|Ship laid down= 25 February 1941
|Ship launched= 19 December 1941
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned= 9 April 1942
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship captured=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] P46
|Ship fate=Scrapped January 1946
|Ship homeport=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=[[British U-class submarine|U-class]] [[submarine]]
|Ship displacement=*Surfaced – 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load
* Submerged – 730 tons
|Ship length= {{convert|191|ft}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|16|ft|1|in}}
|Ship draught= {{convert|15|ft|2|in}}
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=*2 shaft diesel-electric
* 2 [[Paxman (engines)|Paxman]] [[Harry Ricardo|Ricardo]] diesel generators + electric motors
* {{convert|615|hp|kW|abbr=on}} / {{convert|825|hp|kW|abbr=on}}
|Ship speed=*{{convert|11.25|kn|km/h|1}} max surfaced
* {{convert|10|kn|km/h|0}} max submerged
|Ship range=
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|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=27–31
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*4 × bow internal [[British 21 inch torpedo|21 inch (533 mm)]] torpedo tubes; 8–10 torpedoes
* 1 × [[QF 3 inch 20 cwt|{{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}}]] gun
|Ship armour=
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}}
|}

'''HMS ''Unruffled''''' was a [[Royal Navy]] [[British U class submarine|U-class]] [[submarine]] built by [[Vickers|Vickers-Armstrong]] at [[Barrow-in-Furness]], and operated from April 1942 until being scrapped in January 1946. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name ''Unruffled''.

During the [[World War II|Second World War]] ''Unruffled'' served in the [[Battle of the Mediterranean]] from August 1942 to October 1943, operating primarily against [[Axis powers|Axis]] shipping; in all, she sank or severely damaged roughly 40,000 tons of shipping. She also severely damaged the Italian cruiser ''Attilio Regolo,'' and contributed to the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]]. 

After departing the Mediterranean, ''Unruffled'' spent the rest of the war being refitted and undergoing exercises. Following the close of hostilities, she was scrapped in January 1946. 

==Construction==
''Unruffled'' was ordered on 23 August 1940, as part of a batch of twelve [[British U-class submarine|U-class submarines]]<ref name="wal">{{cite book |last=Walters |first=Derek |title=The History of the British 'U' Class Submarine |year=2004 |publisher=Pen & Sword |location=Barnsley |isbn=9781844151318|oclc=854586358}}</ref>{{rp|p=9, 115-17, 200}} for construction by Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness.<ref name="coll">{{Cite Colledge2006|page=339}}</ref> The funds for her construction had been raised through the [[National Savings Movement|War Savings Campaign]] by the town of [[Colchester]] – a total of £435,233 being raised, against a target of £250,000.<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/things-to-do/21574457.cats-sixth-sense-help-keep-crew-submarine-paid-people-colchester-alive/|title=Did a cat's sixth-sense help keep the crew of a submarine paid for by the people of Colchester alive?|newspaper=East Anglian Daily Times|last=Russell|first=Steve|date=26 November 2016}}</ref> The town also provided the boat's Paxman engines,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.paxmanhistory.org.uk/unruffled.htm|last=Carr|first=Richard|title=HMS Unruffled (P46) - 'U' Class Submarine, Paxman History Pages|date=March 2012}}</ref> while locals sent the crew clothes and letters.<ref name="auto" />

The keel was laid down on 25 February 1941, and the submarine was launched on 19 December 1941.<ref name="coll"/> 

Initially the submarine was known as ''P46'', as Royal Navy submarines at the time did not have names; however, [[Winston Churchill]] changed this policy in late 1942 for reasons of morale, and the submarine was given the name HMS ''Unruffled''.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Alastair |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm54400405 |title=Who's who in naval history: from 1550 to the present |last2=Callo |first2=Joseph F. |date=2004 |publisher=New York : Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-30828-1 |series=The Routledge who's who series |location=London |pages=295 |oclc=ocm54400405}}</ref>

==Career==

=== Early service ===
''P46'' slipped her moorings for the first time on 8 April 1942, under the command of Lieutenant John Samuel Stevens, and transferred to [[Holy Loch]] for sea trials.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=HMS ''Unruffled'' (P 46) |url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3554.html |work=uboat.net}}</ref>

''P46'' departed Holy Loch on 13 May 1942, transferring to [[Lerwick]] where she began her first wartime patrol on 16 May, operating off of the [[North Sea]] coast of [[Norway]]. During this time, Royal Navy submarines were prohibited from surfacing to take navigational fixes during daylight hours; as a result, ''P46'' strayed {{convert|90|mi}} off station and encountered fellow U-class submarine [[HNoMS Uredd (P41)|HNoMS ''Uredd'']] (formerly ''P41'').<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=28}} The patrol proved otherwise uneventful, and ''P46'' returned to Lerwick on 1 June having encountered no hostile ships.<ref name=":0" /> 

''P46'' then departed for [[Gibraltar]], arriving on the morning of 25 June,<ref name=":0" /> one of four U-class submarines reassigned to [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] waters that month.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=76}} While in Gibraltar in July 1942, one of the crew was given a cat by a [[Women's Royal Naval Service|Wren]] as they were passing through the dockyard.<ref name=":1">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/submarinerslifei0000unse |last=Winton|first=John|title=The Submariners: Life in British Submarines 1901-1999|year=1999|publisher=Constable|pages=135–136|isbn=9780094788107|oclc=40838991}}</ref> The crew of ''P46'' adopted the cat to be the [[ship's cat]], and named him Timoshenko after the Russian general [[Semyon Timoshenko]].<ref name="auto" /> Timoshenko went on to join ''P46'' on all of her twenty wartime patrols in the Mediterranean in 1942-43. He was considered a good luck charm by the crew – so much so that, on one occasion, leaving port was delayed until he could be found.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |title=Story of Timoshenko as told by one of our members |url=https://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/SubmarinersAssociationLincolnBranch/section.asp?catId=22424 |website=community.lincolnshire.gov.uk |access-date=15 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005001854/http://community.lincolnshire.gov.uk/SubmarinersAssociationLincolnBranch/section.asp?catId=22424 |archive-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Battle of the Mediterranean ===
''P46'' left Gibraltar on 1 August 1942 to take part in [[Operation Pedestal]], an escort operation to convoy supplies to the besieged island of [[Malta]]. On 10 August ''P46'' sighted the Italian merchant ship ''Siculo'' off of [[Marettimo]] and fired three torpedoes, all of which missed the target.<ref name=":0" /> ''P46'' arrived at Malta on 15 August.<ref name=":0" />

''P46'''s first successful action would not come until her third Mediterranean war patrol, when she claimed three victories in just two days. The first of these came on 21 September when she engaged the [[Fascist Italy|Italian]] auxiliary minesweepers N10 / ''Aquila'' and ''S. Michele'' with her three-inch gun off the coast of Tunisia. Aquila was destroyed, while ''S. Michele'' escaped unscathed. A second victory was to come half an hour later, when ''P46'' sighted the [[Vichy French]] merchant ship ''Liberia'' and torpedoed her, causing her to sink.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=80-81}}<ref name=":0" />

The following day, ''P46'' engaged the Italian merchant ship SS ''Leonardo Palomba''. ''P46''{{'}}s first torpedoes missed, at which point she surfaced to engage with the three-inch gun, firing four shots before being forced to submerge by return fire from ''Leonardo Palomba''{{'s}} machine gun. ''P46'' shadowed ''Leonardo Palomba'' for just over an hour before engaging with torpedoes again, hitting the ship amidships and igniting her petrol stores.<ref name="wal"/> Following this engagement, ''P46'' returned to Malta.<ref name=":0" />

On her following patrol, ''P46'' surfaced off the coast of [[Calabria]] in the early hours of the morning on 9 October, and opened fire on a passing train; two hits were observed, but damage was very light. Two days later on 11 October, P46 encountered an Italian cargo ship, Una, near [[Capri]].<ref name=":0" /> ''P46'' first engaged with four torpedoes, however ''Una''{{'s}} captain sighted the torpedo tracks and slowed the engines, causing the torpedoes to pass harmlessly ahead of the ship. ''Una'' attempted to return to the safety of port in [[Naples]], however ''P46'' attacked again within a fifth torpedo, hitting ''Una'' amidships and igniting volatile cargo, causing her to sink within the hour.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=85}}  

''P46''{{'}}s next action came on 13 October, torpedoing and sinking the Italian cargo ship ''{{SS|Loreto|1912|2}}.'' Unbeknownst to the crew of ''P46'', ''Loreto'' had been carrying 350 [[prisoners of war]] from the [[British Indian Army]], 130 of whom died. British intelligence had been aware that ''Loreto'' was carrying prisoners of war since 9 October and had transmitted the information, but this was not known to the crew of ''P46''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book |last1=Greene |first1=Jack |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p1ejC-gHzAcC&q=Loreto+%22prisoners+of+war%22&pg=PA183 |title=Rommel's North Africa Campaign: September 1940–November 1942 |last2=Massignani |first2=Alessandro |publisher=[[Perseus Books Group]] |year=1994 |isbn=1-58097-018-4 |place=Cambridge, MA |page=183}}</ref>

On 2 November ''P46'' put to sea as part of [[Operation Torch]], the Allied invasion of [[French North Africa]], with orders to attack enemy warships that may have interfered with the landings; she was joined by three other U-class submarines, while a further four carried landing parties.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=86}} On 6 November ''P46'' sighted an Italian U-boat (most likely ''Bronzo'') and gave chase, firing four torpedoes with no success.<ref name=":0" />

On 8 November, ''P46'' encountered an Italian flotilla led by the cruiser [[French cruiser Châteaurenault (D 606)|''Attilio Regolo'']] and attacked with a torpedo that shattered the cruiser's bow. At this point ''P46'' was out of torpedoes, and forced to break off the attack.<ref name=":0" /> A follow-up attack was mounted by [[HMS United|HMS ''United'']], but she was unable to cause any damage, and ''Attilio Regolo'' was towed to dry dock, where she spent the rest of the war. ''P46'' returned to Malta, arriving on 11 November.<ref>{{Cite web |title=HMS United |url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3552.html |website=Uboat.net}}</ref>

''P46'' was back at sea on 16 November, and on 21 November unsuccessfully engaged an Italian tug with the three-inch gun;<ref name=":0" /> jamming was a recurrent problem among U-class submarines at the time.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=89-90}} ''P46'' returned to port on 29 November. Her next patrol began on 10 December. On 14 December, she encountered an Italian convoy, which was under attack by submarine {{HMS|Sahib|P212|6}}. ''P46'' joined the attack, sinking the tanker ''Castelverde'', while ''Sahib'' sank ''Honestas''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=93}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=HMS Sahib |url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3431.html |website=Uboat.net}}</ref> 

The following day ''P46'' sighted and sank another Italian merchant vessel, ''Sant'Antioco''. Following this she was attacked by an Italian aircraft dropping [[depth charge]]s, which caused minor damage to ''P46'', but ultimately she survived and returned to Malta on 18 December.<ref name=":0" />

In early January 1943 ''P46'' accompanied [[British commando frogmen#1943|Operation Principal]], a [[frogman]] attack on [[Palermo]], and recovered two crews after they deployed their [[Chariot manned torpedo]]es. Her next patrol saw her engage a schooner with her three-inch gun on 23 January, before being forced to submerge by shore guns.<ref name=":0" /> On 26 January she engaged and sank the Italian ''Z 90 / Redentore'' with her three-inch gun; the crew were forced to abandon ship, and a boarding party from ''Unruffled'' found it already awash and sinking. A further success came on 31 January against the German SS ''Lisbon'', which ''P46'' intercepted en-route to north Africa.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=99}}

The patrol concluded on 2 February, and while in port, ''P46'' was formally named HMS ''Unruffled''.<ref name=":0" /> The captain of the [[10th Submarine Flotilla]] commented that this was a name "well suited to her commanding officer [Stevens]," whose judgement in intercepting SS ''Lisbon'' he commended.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=99}}

[[File:Submarines and Submarine Officers. 4 February 1943, Malta. A14654.jpg|alt=Unruffled's Second Lieutenant Oliver Lascelles pictured in front of the boat on 4 February 1943; Lascelles would go on to command Unruffled later in his career|thumb|''Unruffled''{{'s}} Second Lieutenant Oliver Lascelles pictured in front of the boat on 4 February 1943; Lascelles would go on to command ''Unruffled'' later in his career]]
''Unruffled''{{'s}} first engagement since being named came on 18 February, when she fired on two schooners, hitting neither but forcing both crews to abandon ship. The schooners were wrecked on the shore,<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=102}} but as ''Unruffled'' had not damaged them, they were not added to her tally. On 21 February ''Unruffled'' sank the German merchant vessel ''Baalbek.'' She returned to Malta on 24 February.<ref name=":0" />

''Unruffled''{{'s}} next patrol saw two crew members board an abandoned lighter and sink it with a demolition charge on 16 March.<ref name=":0" /> Her next two patrols were reconnaissance patrols in advance of [[Operation Husky]], the Allied invasion of [[Sicily]], during which she also acted as a marker vessel for troop landings.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=200}} Her next combat patrol began on 25 May, and saw her sink the French tanker ''Henri Desprez'' on 3 June. An attempted counter-attack with depth charges proved unsuccessful, and ''Unruffled'' returned unharmed to Malta on 8 June.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=108}}

From 24 June to 10 July, ''Unruffled'' undertook another two reconnaissance patrols. Her next combat patrol began on 27 July, and saw the sinking of the Italian troopship ''Città di Catania'' as she entered [[Brindisi]] on 3 August,<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=105}} having first unsuccessfully engaged the ship two days earlier.<ref name=":0" />

''Unruffled'' was in Malta from 10 to 22 August, when she again took to sea. She had on board two [[Greece|Greek]] officers, who she delivered to [[Cephalonia]] on 25 August to undertake sabotage missions as part of Operation Seaman. Two days later she engaged and sank the Italian merchant vessel ''Città di Spezia'' with a full salvo of torpedoes.<ref name="wal"/>{{rp|p=116}} She returned to Malta on 5 September, in time for the crew to celebrate the [[Armistice of Cassibile]] (the formal surrender of Italy to the Allies), which was made public on 8 September.<ref name=":0" />

''Unruffled'' departed Malta for her twentieth and final patrol in the Mediterranean on 26 September, and docked in [[Algiers]] on 9 October. En-route, she attacked an unidentified German merchant vessel on 5 October, but did not record a hit.<ref name=":0" /> The RNSubs website identifies the ship as the German merchant ''Pommern'', and suggests that ''Unruffled'' successfully torpedoed her, however this is not recorded in other sources.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Unruffled (P46) |url=https://rnsubs.co.uk/boats/subs/u-class/unruffled.html |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=rnsubs.co.uk}}</ref> German-language sources record the loss of ''Pommern'' on this date in close proximity to the location recorded in ''Unruffled''{{'s}} logs, but attribute it to an Italian sea-mine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Seekrieg 1943, Oktober |url=https://www.wlb-stuttgart.de/seekrieg/43-10.htm |access-date=6 December 2024 |website=Württembergische Landesbibliothek}}</ref>

=== Post-Mediterranean service ===
In Algiers, the crew spent a week aboard {{HMS| Maidstone|1937|6}}, before departing for Britain on 17 October. ''Unruffled'' stopped in Gibraltar from 21 October to 4 November,<ref name=":0" /> where she parted company with ship's cat Timoshenko; the submarine's departure from Gibraltar came when the cat was ashore, and could not be delayed. The crew would later adopt two further cats, who they named Timoshenko II and Timoshenko III.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Timoshenko |url=http://www.lincolnsubmariners.co.uk/ditties/timoshenko/ |access-date=5 December 2024 |website=The Submariners Association, Lincoln Branch}}</ref> 

''Unruffled'' reached [[HMNB Portsmouth|Gosport]] on 18 November.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205152903|title=Unruffled arrives home with honours, 18 November 1943, Portsmouth (Photograph)|last=Pelman|first=Lt. L.|via=Imperial War Museum}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> This was to be the end of ''Unruffled''{{'s}} combat career. After undergoing a refit at [[Tilbury]], she spent the rest of the war participating in exercises from [[Bermuda]].<ref name=":0" /> Following the end of the war, she was scrapped at [[Troon]] in January 1946.<ref name="coll"/>

== Legacy ==
The town of Colchester, which had funded the construction of ''Unruffled'' and maintained a close association with her, was presented with a commemorative plaque by the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] in December 1942, bearing the words 'Burdened but Unruffled'.<ref name="auto"/> At some point in the post-war years, the plaque was lost, before being re-discovered and put back on display in [[Colchester Town Hall]] on 14 March 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Council Meeting |url=https://colchester.cmis.uk.com/colchester/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=P%2FvY0DTJe%2Fose%2B7J%2BY%2Bxjd5O5SjttFK7h5ZdFSKcamI1E29hkPLw1w%3D%3D&rUzwRPf%2BZ3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw%3D%3D=pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ%2FLUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ%3D%3D&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&kCx1AnS9%2FpWZQ40DXFvdEw%3D%3D=hFflUdN3100%3D&uJovDxwdjMPoYv%2BAJvYtyA%3D%3D=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&FgPlIEJYlotS%2BYGoBi5olA%3D%3D=NHdURQburHA%3D&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA%3D&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA%3D |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=Colchester Council}}</ref>

== Successes ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Ships sunk<ref group="Note">Military vessels are listed by [[Long ton|tons]] [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]].</ref>
! width="100px" |Date
! width="100px" |Ship
! width="120px" |Flag
! width="20px" |[[gross register tons|GRT]]
! |Notes
|-
|21 September 1942
|''Aquila''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|305
|Minesweeper
|-
|21 September 1942
|''Liberia''
|{{flag|Vichy France}}
|align="right"|3,890
|Merchant ship
|-
|22 September 1942
|''Leonardo Palomba''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|1,110
|Merchant ship
|-
|11 October 1942
|''Una''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|1395
|Merchant ship
|-
|13 October 1942
|''[[SS Loreto (1912)|Loreto]]''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|1395
|129 Indian prisoners of war killed
|-
|14 December 1942
|''Castelverde''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|6,958
|Transport
|-
|15 December 1942
|''Sant'Antioco''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|4,944
|Merchant ship
|-
|23 January 1943
|''Amabile Carolina''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|39
|Sailing vessel
|-
|25 January 1943
|''Teodolinda''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|361
|Tanker
|-
|26 January 1943
|''Z 90 / Redentore''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|46
|Naval auxiliary
|-
|31 January 1943
|''Lisboa''
|{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
|align="right"|1,799
|Merchant ship
|-
|21 February 1943
|''Baalbeck''
|{{flag|Nazi Germany}}
|align="right"|2,115
|Merchant ship
|-
|3 June 1943
|''Henry Desprez''
|{{flag|Vichy France}}
|align="right"|9,895
|Tanker; in German service
|-
|3 August 1943
|''Città di Catania''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|3,335
|Merchant ship
|-
|27 August 1943
|''Città di Spezia''
|{{flag|Fascist Italy}}
|align="right"|2,474
|Merchant ship
|}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=Note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009099 IWM Interview with John Stevens, who commanded HMS ''Unruffled'' from 1942 to 1944]
* {{cite web |url= http://home.cogeco.ca/~gchalcraft/sm/page28.html |title= Universal to Untamed |work= British submarines of World War II |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070711191533/http://home.cogeco.ca/~gchalcraft/sm/page28.html |archivedate= 11 July 2007 |df= dmy-all}}

{{British U class submarine}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Unruffled (P46)}}
[[Category:1941 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:British U-class submarines]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]