HMS P48 (1942)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS P48.

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 torpedo tubes; 8 - 10 torpedoes One 3 inch 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, north-west of the island of Zembra. The submarine was officially declared overdue on 5 January 1943.

This vessel and her crew were honored and immortalized by the nephew of one of the lost sailors (Lt. Stephen E. Spring Rice, RNVR) in the song "One of Our Submarines" by Thomas Dolby.

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.
• 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.