| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | U |
| Pennant | P 38 |
| Built by | Vickers Armstrong (Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 2 Sep 1940 |
| Launched | 9 Jul 1941 |
| Commissioned | 17 Oct 1941 |
| Lost | 23 Feb 1942 |
| Loss position | 32.48N, 14.58E (See a map) |
| History | HMS P 38 (Lt. Rowland John Hemingway, DSC, RN) left Malta on 16 February 1942 to intercept a convoy off Tripoli. By the 23rd she was in position as the convoy hove into view. Amongst the convoy was the Italian torpedo boat Circe. At 0800 the Circe reported a contact with a submarine and that she turned in to attack. A periscope was sighted but was quickly replaced by bubbles as the submarine dived realising it had been spotted. At 1050 after a flurry of attacks P 38 rose stern first out of the water, her propellers turning wildly, before crashing back beneath the waves. A large patch of oil appeared on the surface as well as debris, clear evidence of the submarine’s destruction. P 38 was sunk some 90 nautical miles east of Tripoli, Libya in position 32º48'N, 14º58'E. There were no survivors.
Commanding Officer: |
Commands listed for HMS P 38 (P 38)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. Rowland John Hemingway, DSC, RN | 15 Sep 1941 | 23 Feb 1942 (+) |
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Noteable events involving P 38 include:
14 Feb 1942
HMS P 38 (Lt. R.J. Hemingway, DSC, RN) torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant Ariosto (4116 GRT) off Tunisia. 138 Allied POW's aboard are lost.