HMS P48 (1942)

	HMS P48
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS P48
Builder:	Vickers Armstrong, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down:	21 August 1941
Launched:	15 April 1942
Commissioned:	18 June 1942
Fate:	Depth charged in the Gulf of Tunis on 25 December 1942
General characteristics
Class & type:	U-class
Displacement:	Surfaced - 540 tons standard, 630 tons full load; Submerged - 730 tons;
Length:	191 ft (58 m)
Beam:	16 ft 1 in (4.90 m)
Draught:	15 ft 2 in (4.62 m)
Propulsion:	Two shaft diesel-electric; two Paxman Ricardo diesel generators + electric motors; 615 / 825 hp;
Speed:	11.25 knots max surfaced; 10 knots max submerged;
Complement:	27-31
Armament:	Four bow internal 21 inch torpedo tubes; 8 - 10 torpedoes; One 3 inch gun;

HMS P48 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness.

The submarine departed from Malta on her last patrol, on 23 December 1942 under the command of Lieutenant M.E. Faber. She was sunk with the loss of her entire crew two days later whilst attacking an Italian convoy in the Gulf of Tunis heading towards Tunis. The submarine was depth charged by two Italian torpedo boats, Ardente and Ardito at position 37º15'N, 10º30'E, north-west of the island of Zembra. The submarine was officially declared overdue on 5 January 1943.^[1]

This vessel and her crew were honored and immortalized by the nephew of one of the lost sailors (Lt. Stephen E. Spring Rice, RNVR) in the song "One of Our Submarines" by Thomas Dolby.