HMS Umbra
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Umbra
Builder	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down	19 July 1940
Launched	15 March 1941
Commissioned	2 September 1941
Fate	Sold for scrap on 9 July 1946, broken up at Blyth
General characteristics
Class and type	U-class submarine
Displacement	Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load Submerged - 730 tons
Length	58.22 m (191 feet)
Beam	4.90 m (16 ft 1 in)
Draught	4.62 m (15 ft 2 in)
Propulsion	2 shaft diesel-electric 2 Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors 615 / 825 hp
Speed	11.25 knots max surfaced 10 knots max submerged
Complement	27-31
Armament	4 bow internal 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes - 8 - 10 torpedoes 1 - 3-inch (76 mm) gun

HMS Umbra (P35) was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Umbra.

Career

HMS Umbra's crew displaying the Jolly Roger

She spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, where she sank the Italian cargo ships Assunta De Gregori, Francesco Barbaro, Sacro Cuore, Emilio Morandi, the Italian transport ship Manfredo Campiero, and the German cargo ship Süllberg. She also sank the Italian salvage vessel Rampino, and picked up her sole survivor, and torpedoed and sank the damaged Italian cruiser Trento on 15 June 1942. Trento had already been damaged by a torpedo from a British Beaufort aircraft (No. 217 Squadron RAF based at Malta). She also attacked the Italian battleship Littorio, but her torpedoes missed their target.

Umbra also torpedoed and destroyed the grounded Italian supply ship Amsterdam on 23 October 1942, and sank the Italian tug Pronta that was trying to salvage the Amsterdam. The Amsterdam had been grounded after being hit by a torpedo in an air attack. Umbra also damaged the 15,186 GRT Italian troop ship Piemonte and the Italian cargo ship Napoli. The ship was beached and later destroyed by aircraft. She later attacked and damaged the German troop ship Macedonia north of Sousse, Tunisia. The damaged German ship was beached and abandoned. She also launched an attack on the Italian cargo ship Nino Bixio, but missed her.

One of her last actions was to attack the Italian sailing vessels Nuovo Domenico and Concetta Falco by gunfire in the Gulf of Hammamet on 11 January 1943. Nuovo Domenico was damaged in the attack.

She survived the war, was sold for scrap on 9 July 1946, and was broken up at Blyth.

References

• Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Umbra (P 35)". uboat.net. Retrieved 25 February 2007.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.

• Media related to HMS Umbra (P35) at Wikimedia Commons