HMS Untamed

HMS Vitality moving away from the quayside with some of the crew on deck
History
Name	HMS Untamed
Builder	Vickers-Armstrongs, Newcastle upon Tyne
Laid down	9 October 1941
Launched	8 December 1942
Commissioned	14 April 1943
Recommissioned	July 1944
Renamed	Salvaged on 5 July 1943, refitted and renamed HMS Vitality
Fate	Sunk on 30 May 1943 Salvaged and recommissioned Sold for scrapping on 13 February 1946
Badge	left|100px
Badge	left|100px
General characteristics
Displacement	Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load Submerged - 730 tons
Length	191 ft (58.2 m)
Beam	16 ft 1 in (4.9 m)
Draught	15 ft 2 in (4.6 m)
Propulsion	2 shaft diesel-electric 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors 615 / 825 hp
Speed	11.25 knots (20.84 km/h) max surfaced 10 knots (19 km/h) max submerged
Complement	27-31
Armament	4 bow internal 21 inch torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes 1 - 3 inch gun

HMS Untamed (P58) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrongs. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Untamed. She sank during an exercise, was subsequently salvaged and renamed HMS Vitality, another unique name.

Sinking

Untamed was on a training exercise with the 8th Escort Group in the Firth of Clyde on 30 May 1943 acting as a target. In the second exercise that day, Untamed was used as a target for anti-submarine mortar practice by the yacht Shemara. When the submarine did not respond to attempts to contacther nor surface, assistance was summoned. Shemara located Untamed with sonar and heard the sounds of her engines being run and tanks being blown. HMS Thrasher arrived but no more was heard from Untamed after 17:45 – nearly three hours from the first indication of a problem. Weather prevented divers inspecting the submarine until the 1st June. There was no outward sign of damage and it was not until after Untamed was salvaged on 5 July 1943 that it was found that she had been flooded through a sluice valve.

Untamed was salvaged, refitted and named Vitality, returning to service in July 1944. As Vitality, she had an uneventful but short career and was sold to be broken up for scrap on 13 February 1946. She was broken up at Troon.

References

• "HMS Untamed (P 58)". uboat.net.
• "Universal to Untamed". British submarines of World War II.
• "Submarine losses 1904 to the present day". RN Submarine museum.
• 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.
• 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.