Syrtis in April 1943
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History | |
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United Kingdom | |
Name | Syrtis |
Namesake | Syrtis Major Planum |
Ordered | 25 January 1941 |
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
Laid down | 14 October 1941 |
Launched | 4 February 1943 |
Commissioned | 23 April 1943 |
Fate | Sunk, March 1944 |
Badge | |
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 | 6,000 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 depth | 300 ft (91.4 m) |
Complement | 48 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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HMS Syrtis was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1943, Syrtis spent most of her career in the Arctic, off Norway, other than a single patrol in the Bay of Biscay,
On her first patrol, she sighted a German submarine, but could not attack it. Her second patrol saw the submarine board a Vichy French fishing vessel. Syrtis was then assigned to take part in Operation Source, an attack on the German battleships based in Norway, using midget submarines. The boat was to tow the submarine X9 to her target, then release it to perform its mission. However, the tow line between the two submarines parted en route, and X9 was lost with all hands.
Syrtis went on to conduct three patrols off Norway, but these were uneventful. On 16 March, the submarine started another patrol in the Arctic, and sank one Norwegian merchant ship. She never returned, and was most probably sunk by mines.