HMS Safari

Safari underway on the River Mersey
History
United Kingdom
NameSafari
Ordered23 January 1940
BuilderCammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down5 June 1940
Launched18 November 1941
Commissioned14 March 1942
Honours and
awards
Sicily 1943, Mediterranean 1943
Fate
  • Sold for scrap, 7 January 1946
  • Sank while under tow, 8 January 1946
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeS-class submarine
Displacement
  • 842 long tons (856 t) (surfaced)
  • 990 long tons (1,010 t) (submerged)
Length217 ft (66.1 m)
Beam23 ft 9 in (7.2 m)
Draught14 ft 8 in (4.5 m)
Installed power
  • 1,900 bhp (1,400 kW) (diesel)
  • 1,300 hp (970 kW) (electric)
Propulsion
Speed
  • 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) (surfaced)
  • 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (submerged)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced); 120 nmi (220 km; 140 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) (submerged)
Test depth300 ft (91.4 m)
Complement48
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament

HMS Safari was a third batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Commissioned in 1942, she was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean Sea. During the course of the war, Safari sank twenty-five ships, most of which were Italian.[1]

Laid down on 5 June 1940 at Birkenhead, Safari was launched on 18 November 1941 and commissioned on 14 March 1942 at Holy Loch. Between May and August 1942, Safari patrolled in the west Mediterranean, based in Gibraltar. After two failed attempts to attack enemy ships during a first patrol in the Alboran Sea, Safari conducted a second patrol, sinking her first ship, the Italian merchant Adda. In her next patrol, she escorted the Allied convoy in Operation Pedestal, then sank two additional ships and damaged another. On 12 September, Safari was reassigned to the 10th Submarine Flotilla in Malta, with which she conducted two patrols in the Adriatic Sea, sinking one ship and damaging several more. Safari then operated off Sicily, evading an attack by German aircraft then sinking two ships. On 18 November, Safari fired a torpedo at ships anchored at Ras Ali, Libya; but the torpedo passed under, striking and wrecking the port's mole along a length of 25 metres (82 ft), killing five men.

Safari went on to sink five ships, then was assigned to the 8th Submarine Flotilla in Algiers. During a patrol off Naples, she was mistakenly bombed by British aircraft but was not damaged; Safari went on to sink four boats, then carried out special operations, landing men in Sicily, then later in Sardinia. After an attack by an Italian destroyer in which she was not damaged, Safari conducted two patrols during the Allied landings in North Africa, sinking four ships. Safari returned to England on 8 September 1943, and conducted training operations with the 7th Submarine Flotilla, punctuated by a short patrol off Norway to guard against a potential sortie to Germany of the German battleship Tirpitz.

After the end of World War II, Safari was placed in reserve, then sold for scrap on 7 January 1946. However, she sank off Portland the next day while being towed to the shipbreaking yard.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference uboat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).