HMS Saracen (P247)
S-class submarine of the Royal Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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HMS Saracen was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1942, Saracen conducted a patrol in the North Sea where she sank a German U-boat. She was then assigned to the 10th Submarine Flotilla in Malta, from where she made three patrols; on her second, she sank an Italian submarine. Saracen was then reassigned to the 8th Submarine Flotilla, based in Algiers, French North Africa.
Saracen on the River Mersey in July 1942 | |
History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Saracen |
Ordered | 23 January 1940 |
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
Laid down | 16 July 1940 |
Launched | 16 February 1942 |
Commissioned | 27 June 1942 |
Identification | Pennant number: P247 |
Fate | Sunk, 14 August 1943 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | S-class submarine |
Displacement |
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Length | 217 ft (66.1 m) |
Beam | 23 ft 9 in (7.2 m) |
Draught | 14 ft 8 in (4.5 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed |
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Range |
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Test depth | 300 ft (91.4 m) |
Complement | 48 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Operating from there, she conducted six patrols, sinking seven ships and landing agents in Corsica and Sardinia. On her twelfth patrol, Saracen was heavily damaged by two depth charge attacks from Italian destroyers. On 13 August 1943, Saracen was detected by two Italian corvettes and again attacked with depth charges. With several leaks in her pressure hull, the submarine surfaced and her crewmen abandoned ship. She was then scuttled and 46 out of 48 men were rescued by the Italian ships. Saracen's wreck was discovered in 2015 off Corsica.