Allied Warships

HMS Unique (N 95)

Submarine of the U class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeSubmarine
ClassU 
PennantN 95 
Built byVickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) 
Ordered4 Sep 1939 
Laid down30 Oct 1939 
Launched6 Jun 1940 
Commissioned27 Sep 1940 
Lost24 Oct 1942 
Loss position
 
History

After a refit in the UK HMS Unique (Lt. Robert Evelyn Boddington, RN) left Holy loch on 7 October 1942. She was ordered to patrol in the Bay of Biscay while on passage from Britain to Gibraltar. She left her escorts off Lands End on the 9th and was not heard from again. The cause of her loss is unknown. She was reported overdue on 24 October 1942 when she failed to arrive at Gibraltar.

 

Commands listed for HMS Unique (N 95)

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CommanderFromTo
1Lt. Anthony Foster Collett, RN19 Sep 194018 Jun 1942
2Lt. Robert Evelyn Boddington, RN18 Jun 194224 Oct 1942

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Noteable events involving Unique include:


10 Mar 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. A.F. Collett, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian passenger/cargo ship Fenicia (2584 GRT) about 95 nautical miles north-west of Tripoli, Libya in position 34º19'N, 12º40'E. (see map)

3 Jun 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. F.D.G. Challis, RN) torpedoes and damages (total loss) the Italian cargo ship Arsia (736 GRT, built 1900) inside Lampedusa harbour.

At 1825 hours the previous day (time zone -2) HMS Unique spotted a small Italian convoy. The convoy entered Lampedusa harbour nearly an hour later.

The next day Unique closed the harbour submerged to investigate and found one of the ships in an exposed position, provided that the boom defences were not effective against torpedoes.

At 0753 hours a torpedo was fired that struck the shore just astern of the ship. Indeed the boom defences were not torpedo proof, so another torpedo was fired at 0822 hours. This was a hit amidships. A big column of water and debris was thrown in the air followed by white smoke.

20 Aug 1941
HMS Unique (Lt. A.R. Hezlet, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian troop tansport Esperia (11398 GRT) 11 nautical miles bearing 318 of the Tripoli lighthouse, Libya in position 33º03'N, 13º03'E. (see map)

5 Jan 1942
HMS Unique (Lt. A.R. Hezlet, DSC, RN) attacks the Italian battleship Littorio with torpedoes in the Gulf of Taranto in position 40º07'N, 17º07'E. All torpedoes fired missed their target. (see map)

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