Maritime History

HMS Sickle

HMS Sickle was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1942, she made her initial war patrol off the Norwegian coast. Sickle then sailed to Gibraltar, from where she conducted one patrol, then to Algiers, French North Africa. From 10 May to 10 October, the boat patrolled the Gulf of Genoa five times and sank a German submarine as well as three minesweepers and an escort ship. She then moved to Beirut, French Lebanon, and conducted two patrols in the Aegean Sea, sinking three caïques and a merchant ship, in addition to landing resistance operatives in Greece. On her second patrol from Beirut, Sickle's electric motors were damaged during an attack by two destroyers, so she sailed to Gibraltar for repairs. Several months later, the boat returned to service and conducted two patrols in the Aegean, sinking another three caïques, a sailing vessel, and a merchant ship. On 31 May 1944, Sickle departed Malta for a patrol in the Aegean and did not return. It is considered probable that she hit mines on her way back to Malta around 16–18 June 1944.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Infant Jesus Cathedral
• ▸Ball gown
• ▸Angelo Emo

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.