HMS Stubborn (P238)

HMS "Stubborn" was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird and launched on November 11 1942. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Stubborn".

Career

"Stubborn" spent the war in home waters, operating off the Scandinavian coast, and in the Pacific Far East.

Home waters

While on patrol in the Bay of Biscay, she fired torpedoes at a group of three German submarines escorted by two destroyers. The torpedoes however missed their targets and the attack was not observed by the Germans. The submarines were "U-180", "U-518", "U-530". The two escorts were indentified by "Stubborn" as 'Narvik-class' destroyers. The German submarines were returning from patrol and were bound for Bordeaux.

"Stubborn" also made an unsuccessful attack on a German convoy off the Follafjord, west of Namsos, Norway, and on the 11 February, 1944, she sank the German merchant "Makki Faulbaum" and torpedoed and damaged the German merchant "Felix D." some 25 miles north-west of Namsos, Norway. She later made an unsuccessful attack on a German convoy of five ships off the Folda Fjord, Norway. "Stubborn" fired six torpedoes but none found their target. "Stubborn" was heavily damaged by the German escort ships and had to be towed home, with her crew acting as human "balance weights" to maintain the submarine on an even keel when her after hydroplanes were jammed "Hard Adive".

Pacific Far East

"Stubborn" was transferred, arriving in mid 1945, but had a distinguished career there before the war ended. She sank the Japanese patrol vessel "Patrol Boat No.2" (the former destroyer "Nadakaze") in the Java Sea. The survivors were shot in the water. She went on to sink a Japanese sailing vessel and an unidentified small Japanese vessel. [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3455.html HMS Stubborn] , Uboat.net]

Post war

"Stubborn" survived the Second World War and was sunk on April 30 1946 as an ASDIC target off Malta.

References

*Colledge