HMS United (P44)

HMS United underway in Plymouth Sound
History
Name:	HMS United
Builder:	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down:	25 February 1941
Launched:	18 December 1941
Commissioned:	2 April 1942
Fate:	scrapped February 1946
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & type:	U-class submarine
Displacement:	Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load Submerged - 730 tons
Length:	58.22 m (191 ft)
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:	4 bow internal 21 inch torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes 1 - 3 inch gun

HMS United (P44) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name United.

Career

She spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, where she sank the small Italian merchant Rostro, the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser V 39/Giovanna, the Italian destroyer Bombardiere, the French merchant Ste Marguerite (the former Norwegian Ringulv), and the Italian merchant Olbia. Whilst covering the Allied invasion of Sicily, United spotted the Italian transport submarine Remo on the surface. She launched four torpedoes, one of which hit the Remo amidships, sinking her within a few minutes. Only four survived, the three who were on the conning tower (amongst them the CO, Captain Vassallo), and Sergeant Dario Cortopassi who was able to come up from the control room. United also sank the Italian transport ship Rosolino Pilo, which had already been damaged in a previous attack by motor torpedo boats.

She also damaged the Italian tanker Petrarca, and further damaged the Italian merchant Ravenna. The Ravenna had been grounded after air attack and a fire on 29 September 1942. She also attacked the damaged Italian light cruiser Attilio Regolo, but missed her. The Attilio Regolo had lost her bow due to an attack the previous day by HMS Unruffled.

United survived the war and was scrapped at Troon from 12 February 1946.

References

• "HMS United (P 44)". uboat.net.
• "Undaunted to Unity". British submarines of World War II.
• 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. OCLC 67375475.
• 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.