HMS Utmost
HMS Utmost
|
History |
United Kingdom |
Name | HMS Utmost |
Builder | Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness |
Laid down | 2 November 1939 |
Launched | 20 April 1940 |
Commissioned | 17 August 1940 |
Fate | Sunk 25 November 1942 |
Badge | |
General characteristics |
Displacement |
- Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load
- Submerged - 730 tons
|
Length | 58.22 m (191 feet) |
Beam | 4.90 m (16 ft 1 in) |
Draught | 4.62 m (15 ft 2 in) |
Propulsion |
- 2 shaft diesel-electric
- 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors
- 615 / 825 hp
|
Speed |
- 11.25 knots max surfaced
- 10 knots max submerged
|
Complement | 27-31 |
Armament | |
HMS Utmost was a British U class submarine, of the second group of that class, built by Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on 2 November 1939 and was commissioned on 17 August 1940. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Utmost.
Career
Utmost spent most of her career operating in the Mediterranean, where she sank the Italian merchants Capo Vita, Enrico Costa, and Frederico C., and the German tanker Languste and also damaged the Italian merchant Manfredo Camperio. Utmost also attacked a convoy of five German merchants and three Italian destroyers and torpedoed and sunk the German merchant Heraklea and torpedoed and damaged Ruhr. An attack on another convoy made up of the German merchant Tilly L.M. Russ and the Italian merchant Cadamosto, escorted by the Italian torpedo boats Pallade and Polluce, was less successful. All torpedoes fired missed their targets.
Crew of HMS Utmost with their "
Jolly Roger" success flag
Utmost went on to destroy the (already grounded and damaged) Italian merchant Marigola, and together with her sister, since transferred to the Poles, ORP Sokół, sank the Italian merchant Balilla. Utmost later unsuccessfully attacked the Italian merchants Fabio Filzi and Siculo, as well as the Italian auxiliary minelayer Barletta. She also torpedoed and damaged the Italian cruiser Trieste.
The Commanding Officer received a Distinguished Service Order for a mission, which is believed to have been the landing of agents behind enemy lines.
Sinking
Utmost left Malta for a patrol in the Mediterranean in November 1942. On the 23rd she sank an enemy ship, but on 25 November 1942, during her return journey to Malta, she was located, attacked and sunk south west off Sicily by depth charges from the Italian torpedo boat Groppo.
Citations
- ^ HMS Utmost, uboat.net
- ^ O'Connell, John F (2011). Submarine Operational Effectiveness in the 20th Century: Part One (1900 - 1939). United Kingdom: iUniverse. ISBN 9781462042616.
- ^ Submarine losses 1904 to present day Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport
References
38°31′0″N 12°01′0″E / 38.51667°N 12.01667°E / 38.51667; 12.01667
External links
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in November 1942 |
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Shipwrecks |
- 2 Nov: Empire Antelope, Empire Leopard, Gifu Maru
- 3 Nov: East Indian Ro-65
- 4 Nov: Hobbema, U-132
- 5 Nov: U-408
- 6 Nov: Chulmleigh, City of Cairo, Dekabrist
- 7 Nov: Donbass, Eveleen, Ha-11, USS Majaba
- 8 Nov: Actéon, Albatros, Amphitrite, Argonaute, Brestois, Boulonnais, Fougueux, Frondeur, HMS Hartland, La Psyché, La Surprise, Milan, Oréade, Primauguet, Tornade, Tramontane, HMS Walney, West Humhaw
- 9 Nov: Ariane, HMS Cromer, Danaé, Diane, USS Leedstown, Typhon
- 10 Nov: HMS Broke, I-15, HMS Ibis, Jean Bart, HMS Martin, Méduse
- 11 Nov: Hōkoku Maru, USS Joseph Hewes, Sidi Ferruch, HMS Unbeaten, Viceroy of India
- 12 Nov: USS Edward Rutledge, USS Erie, Hokkai Maru, USS Hugh L. Scott, USS Tasker H. Bliss, HMS Tynwald, U-272, U-660
- 13 Nov: Akatsuki, USS Atlanta, USS Barton, USS Cushing, Isaac Sweers, USS Juneau, Kinugasa, USS Laffey, Le Conquérant, USS Monssen, U-411, Yūdachi
- 14 Nov: Hiei, Scillin, Narkunda, U-595, U-605
- 15 Nov: HMS Algerine, HMS Avenger, Ayanami, USS Benham, Kirishima, Le Tonnant, USS Preston, U-98, U-259, USS Walke
- 16 Nov: Irish Pine, U-173
- 17 Nov: U-331
- 18 Nov: Krasnoye Znamya, Tower Grange
- 19 Nov: USS YP-26
- 20 Nov: Prins Harald, Pierce Butler
- 21 Nov: U-517
- 22 Nov: Sokrushitelny
- 23 Nov: Benlomond
- 24 Nov: Hayashio
- 25 Nov: HMS Utmost
- 27 Nov: Achéron, Aigle, Algérie, Aurore, Bordelais, Caïman, Casque, Cassard, Colbert, Commandant Teste, Diamant, D'Iberville, Dunkerque, Dupleix, Eurydice, Foch, Foudroyant, Fresnel, Galatée, Gerfaut, Guépard, Henri Poincaré, Jean de Vienne, Kersaint, L'Adroit, La Galissonnière, Lansquenet, L'Espoir, L'Indomptable, Lion, Lynx, Mameluk, Marseillaise, Mogador, Naïade, Panthère, Pascal, Provence, Sirène, Siroco, Strasbourg, Tartu, Thétis, Tigre, Trombe, Valmy, Vauban, Vauquelin, Vautour, Vengeur, Vénus, Verdun
- 28 Nov: Empire Cromwell, HMS Ithuriel, Nova Scotia, Thomas T. Tucker
- 29 Nov: Dunedin Star
- 30 Nov: USS Northampton, HMCS Quinte, Takanami, Thor, Uckermark
- Unknown date: Sibylle, Saint Edmond, U-184
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Other incidents |
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1941 1942 1943 October 1942 December 1942 |