HMS Sportsman (P229)

HMS "Sportsman" was an S class submarine of the Royal Navy, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on April 17 1942. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name "Sportsman".

Career

She spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, where she sank the French passenger ship "Général Bonaparte", the Italian merchant "Bolzaneto", the Italian fishing vessels "Angiolina P" and "Maria Luisa B", the Italian sailing vessel "Angiolina", two Greek sailing vessels, the Bulgarian troop transport "Balkan", the small German tanker MT 3/"Vienna", the German sailing vessel "Grauer Ort" and the German merchant "Lüneburg" (the former Greek "Constantin Louloudis"). "Sportsman" also sank the German transport "Petrella" (the former French "Aveyron"). 2670 out of 3173 Italian Prisoners of War who were aboard the "Petrella" were killed. The German guards did not open the prisoner of war rooms and fired at them when they tried to break out. [ [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3447.html HMS Sportsman] , Uboat.net]

"Sportsman" also damaged the Greek sailing vessel "Spiridon" and attacked a landing craft with gunfire. The attack had to be broken off because the gun jammed. She also fired six torpedoes at the French tanker "Marguerite Finally". The torpedoes missed their target.

"Sportsman" survived the Second World War and was lent to the French navy in 1951, and renamed "Sibylle". She was lost off Toulon on September 24 1951. The entire crew of 47 officers and men went down with the ship.

References

*Colledge