The Final Campaign in the Aegean: 1944

References
Patrolgram 26 War patrols during final phase in Aegean Jan - Nov 1944 (1)(2)
Map 53 Final campaign in the Aegean Jan - Oct 1944
Appendix XV Organisation of Allied Submarines Sept 1944

AT THE BEGINNING OF 1944, the First Submarine Flotilla was still stationed in the ex-French shore base at Beirut. It consisted of nine submarines, which were the Torbay, Sibyl, Sportsman, Sickle, Unruly and Unsparing with the Polish Sokol and Dzik and the Netherlands Dolfijn. The last three were British built boats of the U-class. The Greek flotilla was also at Beirut, consisting of the depot ship Corinthia with the submarines Papanicolis, Nereus, Matrozos and Pipinos. Both flotillas were working in Greek waters and the Aegean but at the moment not one of the Greek boats was operational. Although Beirut, as a submarine base in the eastern Mediterranean, had filled the gap after the sinking of Medway, it was by no means ideal. It was now well off the beaten track for supplies, and if submarines required docking or large repairs, they had to be sent to Port Said. Beirut was, in fact, no closer to the Aegean than Malta, and Malta was much closer to the west coast of Greece or the Adriatic if submarines were to be required in those waters. The departure of the Tenth Flotilla for Maddalena left the shore submarine base in Malta vacant and it was clear that this was a better place for the First Flotilla than Beirut. The move was in fact already approved and was scheduled to take place in February.

The British had had their fingers badly burned when they had tried to seize the Dodecanese after the Italian surrender, and they still had no troops available to mount a new offensive in this area. Hitler had ordered his forces to hold on to Crete and the Aegean Islands as a screen against an Allied invasion of the Balkans, but his air strength in the area was now much reduced and his naval forces very weak. Axis communication with the northern Adriatic was now virtually cut. The Yugoslav partisans were strong on the Dalmatian coast and in the islands and, with British air and surface forces based in Italy, normal traffic was too hazardous to be attempted.

The Allies, however, could contest the control of the sea in the Aegean by using submarines, long-range aircraft and special raiding forces using local craft, both British and Greek. The Germans had not only to keep their garrisons supplied in Crete, the Dodecanese and the Greek Islands in the Aegean, but there was a pressing need for them to evacuate a large number of Italian prisoners to the mainland of Greece. To keep the German Army and Air Forces supplied it was important to supplement the land routes by using the sea route from the Black Sea through the Dardanelles to Salonika and Piraeus. To do this the Germans had some merchant ships for the protection of which they had a few ex-Italian destroyers in the area with auxiliary anti-submarine and minesweeping vessels converted from local craft. Auxiliary minelayers had also been converted from merchant ships and a sizeable minelaying programme had been in progress for some time. During this campaign, intelligence was good. Not only were all movements from the Black Sea reported by our consuls in neutral Turkey, but the cryptographers also provided a great deal of information. When, in the narrative, it is stated that 'intelligence indicated' or the enemy 'was known to be', cryptography was generally the source.

On 1st January, there were five submarines of the First Flotilla at sea. Dzik (Kapitan BS Romanowski) was in the northern Aegean south of Tenedos; Dolfijn (Luitenant ter zee 1e Kl HMLFE van Oostrom Soede) was in the southern Aegean; Sibyl (Lieutenant EJD Turner DSO DSC RN) was on patrol north of Rhodes while Torbay (Lieutenant RJ Clutterbuck RN) was to the south of the Island and Sickle (Lieutenant JR Drummond DSO DSC RN) was in the eastern Mediterranean on her way back to Beirut. Sportsman (Lieutenant R Gatehouse DSC RN), Unruly (Lieutenant JP Fyfe RN), and Sokol (Kapitan GC Koziolkowski) were resting and maintaining in Beirut between patrols and Unsparing (Lieutenant AD Piper DSC**RNR) was in dock at Port Said.

On 3rd January, Sibyl was sent to the Doro Channel and then on to join Dzik south of Tenedos. Unruly also sailed from Beirut on 3rd for the southern Aegean but Dolfijn developed engine defects while on patrol and had to set course back to base. As already told, intelligence of enemy shipping leaving the Dardanelles was good. On 5th January, information was received that the German tanker Bacchus was about to sail for Piraeus. Dzik was off Cape Eskinstambul and had been there a week without seeing anything. Sibyl was at once ordered to patrol off Cape Baba and Unruly was sent to the eastern approach to the Doro Channel with all despatch. When Bacchus emerged from the Dardanelles, the weather was misty with rainstorms. Sibyl sighted her but an attack was not possible due to bad visibility in heavy rain. It was, in any case, essential to identify the target as hostile and not to sink a Turkish ship². Dzik, to the south, sighted Bacchus too, and in spite of a heavy rainstorm, she fired four torpedoes at a range of 2300 yards. Dzik went deep on firing and thought she heard an explosion. She, in fact, missed and the tanker was unaware that she had been attacked. Shortly afterwards Bacchus was met by an escort of two destroyers. Unruly had just reached her position east of the Doro Channel, at nightfall, when she sighted Bacchus and her escorts. She at once began a surface attack but, at a range of 1500 yards, she was seen by TA15, the port wing escort, and forced to dive. TA15 did not gain submerged contact with Unruly however, and only dropped one depth charge, but this valuable target escaped although good intelligence had placed three submarines in her path.

Our submarines in the Aegean had not done very well in January. Although they had disposed of seventeen caiques and schooners, they had missed seven opportunities to torpedo merchant ships. Of the twelve torpedoes fired in January, not one had hit the target and all the damage was done by gunfire. Two of the attacks had been frustrated by the local German manned ex-Italian destroyers, which had also very nearly destroyed Sokol.

IN FEBRUARY,THE FIRST FLOTILLA BASE was moved from Beirut to Malta. The name Talbot, of the submarine base at Malta, had been taken with the Tenth Flotilla to Maddalena and so the First Flotilla brought the name Medway II to Malta from Beirut. The actual move took place between the 10th and 13th of the month. It was comparatively simple as the submarine base at Malta, after the move of the Tenth Flotilla to Maddalena, had not been closed down, and was kept speeding the procession of submarines through the Mediterranean on their way to the Far East. It was therefore mainly a question of transporting the base personnel to Malta and packing up the stores, spare gear and torpedoes to follow. Most of the submarines of the First Flotilla made patrols in the Aegean on their way from Beirut to Malta and these included Sibyl, Unruly, Unsparing, Ultimatum, Dzik, Sokol and Dolfijn. Sportsman returned via Beirut to Port Said for a short refit, and it was originally intended that she should go on to the Far East. Torbay sailed from Port Said where she had been in dock and patrolled on her way to Malta. Papanicolis and Nereus both made patrols in the Aegean from Beirut and returned to their depot ship Corinthia, which was still at the port.

The situation of the Germans in the Aegean in February was by no means a happy one. The only oil fuel available was at Piraeus and that had proved to be contaminated. There was no fuel left in Leros and the only tanker available, Centaur, could only make five knots. There was a great need to transfer Italian prisoners of war from Crete and the Dodecanese to the mainland, but there was a shortage of ships with which to do this. Many of the Italians had to be carried on deck in the open in the destroyers.

On 3rd February, Sportsman (Lieutenant R Gatehouse DSC RN) was off Suda Bay where the German ship Petrella was known, through cryptography, to be. She was expected to put to sea in the near future. Sportsman therefore did not attack a destroyer that left on 4th or some caiques that she encountered. Petrella was sighted leaving early on 8th escorted by a UJ-boat and two R-boats heading northwest. Sportsman was able to intercept and fired four torpedoes with CCR pistols at a range of 3000 yards and two of them exploded underneath the target. Petrella's back was broken and she stopped but did not sink immediately. The escorts made a mild counter attack and when Sportsman came to periscope depth an hour later, the target was 8000 yards away and still afloat. Sportsman closed to 4000 yards and fired another torpedo that was seen to hit. The RAF then bombed the ship, but when Sportsman again had a look, Petrella of 4585 tons, had sunk. Petrella was carrying over three thousand Italian prisoners of war of whom only seven hundred were saved.

Sibyl (Lieutenant PS Beale RN) was sent to the northern Aegean where she arrived on 5th. She saw nothing in the first few days and experienced much bad weather. On 8th she was ordered to the Steno Pass between Andros and Tinos where intelligence indicated that a convoy was about to pass. That night a convoy consisting of the German tanker Centaur, now repaired, and a ship named Tanais escorted by UJ2105 and UJ211O approached the pass on their way to Leros. They were sighted by Sibyl, who attempted a surface attack hoping she would not be seen against the land. However she was sighted in the bright moonlight by UJ2110 who opened fire and forced her to dive. Although she was counter attacked with depth charges, Sibyl returned to periscope depth and fired two torpedoes at a range of 3000 yards. The torpedoes missed and while Sibyl was trying again, she was again counter attacked and forced deep. Undeterred she again came to periscope depth but this time two patterns of depth charges were dropped close by causing some damage. She was unable to come up again for an hour by which time the convoy had gone and she withdrew to charge her depleted batteries. The persistence and courage of Lieutenant Beale, who was the flotilla's spare commanding officer, deserved better luck.

Later in the month, Unsparing (Lieutenant AD Piper DSC**RNR) was sent to the northern Aegean arriving in the Gulf of Salonika on 18th. Next morning early she contacted a convoy of two ships with two escorts approaching from the north. The escorts were disposed ahead and to seawards. It was a dark and cloudy night and Unsparing manoeuvred to attack from inshore. She fired and at once dived, but due to a drill failure only one torpedo was got away. Nevertheless it hit at a range of about a thousand yards on a rather late track. Unsparing dived deep and was counter attacked three times by the minelayer Drache and R105, forcing her down to 325 feet and causing some damage and putting all her compasses out of action. Nevertheless she was able to shake the enemy off but was forced to navigate by an army pocket compass owned by one of her officers. The ship, which was the tanker Peter of 3754 tons, was only damaged and was got into Volo and beached. Nevertheless the disabling of this ship was a severe blow to the enemy at this time. Unsparing, on her way back to Malta, sank no less than four caiques with her gun.

The last two submarines that sailed in March to patrol in the Aegean were Ultimatum and Ultor again, both borrowed from the Tenth Flotilla. Ultimatum (Lieutenant WH Kett DSC RNR) went to Suda Bay and on 5th April sank a 40-ton caique by gunfire and later another caique off Andikithira. Ultor (Lieutenant GE Hunt DSC* RN) went to the east coast of Morea. On 3rd April she sank two caiques, each of 80 tons, by gunfire, followed by another of 3 tons, all in Port St Nikolo in Kithera. Here she also destroyed a 60-ton caique on the building slip. Next day another caique of 40 tons was sunk and on 6th, two more, one of which blew up violently. Finally on 7th she sank a large caique of 200 tons flying the German ensign. She was at anchor off Monemvasia and was sunk with a single torpedo fired at a range of 950 yards. Ultor got back to Malta on 12th April having sunk eight caiques totalling some 580 tons with one torpedo and seventy-seven rounds of ammunition. Ultor then returned to the Tenth Flotilla at Maddalena.

On 7th-8th April serious disaffection, in some cases amounting to open mutiny, broke out in the Greek submarine flotilla at Malta. This was not so much due to low morale, battle fatigue, conditions of service or separation from their families in Greece for three years, as for political issues. The trouble really stemmed from the factions, mainly Communist, who hoped to seize power when Greece was liberated by the Allies. It was not confined to the Greek submarine flotilla but was generally throughout the Royal Hellenic Navy in Port Said and Alexandria. Fortunately there was little violence except that Ypoploiarkhos Roussen, the Captain of Papanicolis at Alexandria, was killed when boarding a disaffected Greek destroyer. The Greeks dealt with the problem themselves without British assistance, and a number of the troublemakers were arrested and sent to Egypt. Commander HLS Baker RN (Retd), the British instructor to the Greek submarine branch, who was much respected by them, did a great deal to calm matters. The Greek Captain(S) of the flotilla was relieved and new trustworthy recruits obtained and trained. Except for the British built and trained Pipinos, which was on patrol at the time, however, the Greek submarines were of little value for the months of April and May.

On 2nd April, Unsparing (Lieutenant AD Piper DSC**RNR) left Malta for patrol in the Aegean but was routed south and east of Crete to enter by the Kaso Strait. She saw nothing off Scarpanto and on 8th was moved to Kandeliusa to intercept the Anita that was expected to sail from Rhodes shortly. On 12th, she sighted three destroyers arriving at Rhodes, which were obviously her escort. Later the same day the RAF reported that Anita with the three destroyers had sailed. Unsparing sighted them an hour later and got into a good position in ideal conditions. She fired a full salvo of four torpedoes at a range of 2500 yards at Anita and one of the destroyers that formed an overlapping target. Unsparing then went deep. An Arado seaplane of the escort, however, saw the torpedo tracks and was able to give the alarm. One torpedo just missed the destroyer TA16; and Anita made an emergency turn away avoiding two other torpedoes, which passed close ahead of her. The fourth torpedo was a surface runner, which was evaded by the destroyer TA19. A few depth charges were dropped but no effective counter attack developed and the convoy continued on its way to Leros. Unsparing was ordered to patrol west of Nikaria and later in the Doro Channel in the hope of intercepting Anita on her way back to Piraeus but she saw nothing. Unsparing returned to Malta using the Andikithira Channel. This channel, although over 300 fathoms deep, was thought to be mined. Post war records show that in fact no mines were laid, but British and Allied submarines always took the precaution of diving deep through this channel at 200 feet hoping to pass under the minefield. Pipinos (Ypoploiarkhos A Rallis) left Malta on 7th April just before the troubles broke out in the Greek flotilla and went to patrol northwest of Crete. On 13th she sighted a convoy twenty miles north of Suda Bay but was unable to get within range. She sank a small caique but her patrol was otherwise uneventful and she was back in Malta by 25th.

Unruly (Lieutenant JP Fyfe RN) was the next on patrol and she left Malta on 9th. She spent two days northeast of Crete and was then moved to the Doro Channel to relieve Unsparing on the lookout for Anita. On the night of 16th/ 17th however, she sighted the German tanker Berte escorted by two destroyers approaching from the northeast. The convoy, which had come from the Dardanelles, had passed north of Samothrace as it was thought, wrongly, that a submarine was to the south. It was dark and the enemy was difficult to see against the land and the convoy got past Unruly before she could attack. She succeeded in firing four torpedoes, however, from fine on the enemy's quarter at a range of 3000 yards. The torpedoes had CCR pistols and were set to non-contact. TA17 astern of the convoy sighted Unruly on the surface just before she dived after firing her torpedoes. Two torpedoes just missed TA19 leading the convoy and the others exploded ahead, but there were no hits and there was no counter attack. Unruly was then moved to the Gulf of Izmir and sank three caiques, one of which was flying the Red Cross flag while carrying oil in drums. Unruly got back to Malta on 30th April having been at sea for twenty-one days.

It was clear from the experiences of Sportsman, Unswerving and Ultimatum that the German anti-submarine vessels were no amateurs. Captain(S), First Submarine Flotilla felt that some guidance in this matter was required of him. He remarked that recent operations showed that they had become increasingly efficient, especially the UJ-boats, in detecting and counter attacking, and that lookouts were good both by day and by night. He thought that Commanding Officers should be careful in attacking them especially when they were in pairs.

With the return of Sportsman to the United Kingdom and Ultimatum to the Tenth Flotilla, the First Flotilla was reduced to Sickle, Unsparing, Unruly Unswerving. Reinforcements soon began to arrive from home in the form of new boats of the V-class. The V-class were, in fact, exactly the same as the U-class although the later ones had all-welded hulls and a slightly deeper diving depth.

Vampire (Lieutenant CW Taylor RNR), first of the new V-class to arrive, sailed from Malta for patrol on 6th May. She was sent to intercept shipping and caiques between Piraeus and Crete. On 12th she rammed and sank a small caique off Monemvasia and on 20th she was informed that a convoy was about to leave Piraeus. She did not sight it, however, and returned to Malta after a twenty-four day patrol. Unsparing (Lieutenant AD Piper DSC** RNR) set out on 9th May for the north coast of Crete and on 18th was moved to the Kos area and was told to make her presence known there. This she did by bombarding Kandaluisa and Kamara Bay in Kos. On 20th she was moved to a position near Ananes to cut off the same convoy as Vampire but saw nothing. Unruly (Lieutenant JP Fyfe RN) left Malta on 15th May and had on board a party equipped with folbots and limpet mines to attack shipping in Candia harbour. On 19th May, she found Candia empty but there was considerable anti-submarine activity. She managed to sink a small caique before returning to Malta.

Early in June, as has been recorded already, the Allies landed in Normandy, but this momentous event had little effect in the Aegean. More important to this area was what was happening on the eastern front. Here during May, the Red Army had recaptured Sevastopol and the Germans had evacuated the Crimea. As a result the Germans wished to use the ships no longer required to supply the forces in the Crimea, in the Aegean, where they would now be of more use to them. On 26th May, a transport and five trawlers passed through the Dardanelles followed by fifteen ships totalling some 7000 tons which more than made up for the losses during 1943 by the enemy from all causes in the Aegean. At the time there were no submarines on patrol off the Dardanelles or in the northern Aegean and all the German ships reached Greek ports safely. The Germans lost no time in using them to re-supply their garrisons in Crete and the Aegean.

Pipinos (Plotarkhis A Rallis), who had been least affected of all the Greek submarines by the disaffection in their navy, had sailed for patrol in the southwest Aegean on 23rd May. On 28th, she met a merchant ship and fired four torpedoes at a range of 3600 yards. Fortunately they missed, as this was a Swedish relief ship about which she had been warned and should have had no doubt as to her identity. On 1st June she was moved to intercept an important convoy consisting of the ships just arrived from the Black Sea. and on their way from Piraeus to Crete. Vox (Lieutenant JM Michell RN), the second of the V-class to arrive at Malta, left for patrol on 27th May, and had also been sent to intercept traffic from Piraeus to Crete. Both Pipinos and Vox were well placed to intercept but it was considered so important to stop this convoy that a heavy air strike by the RAF was sent from Cyrenaica and it got there first. Both Pipinos and Vox sighted a ship disabled by the RAF but before they could close in, it sank. The RAF bombed the remainder of the convoy in Heraklion, sinking another ship and also the destroyer TA16. Before returning from this patrol, Pipinos entered Port Kyparisi and, having ascertained from a local boat that no Germans were about she made contact with the inhabitants, some of whom came on board and she brought away a recruit for the Greek Navy. On the same day, after dark off Standia Island, Vox sighted three UJ-boats and a destroyer, which she somewhat rashly closed to attack. She was seen by the destroyer who fired starshell and forced her to dive. She then fired four torpedoes at a range of 2500 yards and not surprisingly they missed. This brought down an accurate but fortunately short counter attack in which she sustained minor damage. After a few days on the Piraeus-Rhodes route, Vox, on her way home, dived into Santorini Harbour at night in search of targets. The only target was screened by the land, so she surfaced to use her gun but was forced to dive and withdraw by shore batteries.

Sickle (Lieutenant JR Drummond DSO DSC RN) sailed on 31st May, somewhat belatedly, for the northern Aegean. On 4th June she surfaced to bombard shore installations at Mitylene. After only firing two rounds, she was attacked by the two patrol boats, GA75 and GA91 and was hit and one of the gun's crew was killed. She then dived, but in such haste that another man was left swimming and subsequently taken prisoner. Sickle then withdrew with damage to her bridge and gun mounting. On 6th, she fired three torpedoes, two of which hit and sank the German Reamur of 550 tons in the Doro Channel. On 9th she missed a small escorted ship off Lemnos which was probably Lolo, bound for the Black Sea escorted by R195 and another anti-submarine vessel. On 12th June Sickle reported four merchant ships escorted by three destroyers in the Steno Pass. This was a convoy from Piraeus to Leros escorted by the destroyers TA14, TA17 and TA19 with two R-boats. It does not seem that Sickle was able to attack. On 14th June she bombarded the caique-building yard at Plomarion and was recalled the same day but was never heard of again. During 1944 the Germans had laid twenty-three small minefields in the channels between the islands dividing the northern from the southern Aegean. About half of these fields were deep ones to catch submarines laid at depths of 45, 60 and 120 feet. The most probable cause of the loss of Sickle was that she struck one of these mines on her way home. Post war research indicates that it is most likely that she was mined in one of two of these fields laid east of Levithia in March 1944. She was lost with all hands including her successful Commanding Officer, Lieutenant JR Drummond DSO DSC RN, five other officers and 42 men.

At the end of June the First Flotilla consisted of seven boats of the U and V-classes, which were Unruly, Unsparing, Unswerving, Vampire, Vox, Vivid and Vigorous. Unruly had completed her last patrol and was due for refit. She left for Home after completing fourteen patrols and had no defects at all when she sailed. Unsparing had one more patrol to do. Virtue and Visigoth were on their way out from the United Kingdom to relieve them.

During the rest of July, the general campaign against German sea communications in the Aegean continued unabated. Ten more submarines sailed from Malta for patrol, Vivid (Lieutenant JC Varley RN) on 8th, Unsparing (Lieutenant AD Piper DSO DSC** RNR) on 9th, Unswerving (Lieutenant MD Tattersall RNVR) on 13th, Nereus (Ypoploiarkhos A Panagiotou) on 15th, Vampire (Lieutenant CW Taylor RNR) on 17th, the newcomer Virtue (Lieutenant RD Cairns DSC RN) on 21st, Vigorous (Lieutenant JC Ogle RN) on 22nd, Pipinos (Ypoploiarkhos C Loundras) on 28th, Vox (Lieutenant JM Michell RN) on 29th and Unswerving again on 31st. All these submarines patrolled in the southern Aegean to prevent the garrisons of Crete and the Dodecanese from being supplied. Vivid patrolled off Nisero, Unsparing off Milo, Unswerving north of Suda bay and Nereus south of Santorini. Vivid had instructions to watch Livadia Bay in Piscopi daily and on 14th, she found Suzanne of 550 tons there, protected by a UJ-boat. As Vivid closed in the UJ-boat put to sea but Vivid succeeded in firing two torpedoes at Suzanne at 1800 yards and sinking her while the UJ-boat was only 1000 yards away. The UJ-boat counter attacked but soon lost contact. Suzanne was a valuable refrigeration ship and the only one left in the Aegean to supply the German Army. On the night of 14th/15th, British light forces raided Symi, north of Rhodes, and Vivid guarded their northern flank. Unsparing, after an uneventful week in the Milos area, was moved to the northern approach to Suda Bay where Unswerving was also on patrol. Attempts to communicate by asdic failed and, after dark on 18th, Unsparing sighted two caiques escorted by two R-boats but she was illuminated by starshell and could not attack. On the night of 19th July, after dark, Vampire, who had arrived to patrol off Milos, sighted a KT ship but could not see any escort. The enemy was too fast for her to get into a good position but Vampire fired four torpedoes at a range of 4500 yards on a broad track angle and it is not surprising that she missed. She made an enemy report by wireless and this was received by Unsparing and Unswerving to the south off Suda Bay. Early next morning Unsparing sighted the KT ship escorted by a destroyer and manoeuvred to make a surface attack as the night was dark. She was seen by the destroyer, however, and forced to break off the attack and dive. Unswerving dived at dawn and shortly afterwards sighted the KT ship and destroyer approaching. Unswerving had a noisy shaft and did not wish to risk detection by getting too close. She fired three torpedoes at a range of 3200 yards but there were no hits and no reaction from the enemy. The same evening, Unsparing, now with only one torpedo left, again sighted the lucky KT ship and her escort leaving Suda Bay, but was unable to get into a firing position.

On 19th, Vivid, now patrolling on the Santorini-Candia route, sank a caique of 80 tons only expending eleven rounds in doing so. In the morning of 21st she fell in with a convoy of four caiques escorted by a patrol vessel approaching Candia. Vivid engaged again with her gun and drove off the escort and then turned her attention to the largest caique, which was over 100 tons and was straggling. She hit her with four rounds out of fourteen at a range of between 7000 and 8000 yards and she blew up and sank. Meanwhile the escort saved the rest of the convoy by ushering them behind the cover of Standia Island. On 22nd off Suda Bay, Vampire sighted a large caique of 250 tons approaching and decided to attack with her gun. While she was examining the enemy with her periscope, however, it was seen, and she was heavily depth charged. She only shook the enemy off by diving below a density layer at 200 feet. This was clearly an auxiliary antisubmarine vessel and an efficient one at that. Next day the same vessel again hunted Vampire for five hours. On 22nd Vivid met another caique convoy off Suda Bay but this was escorted by a UJ-boat and an aircraft. She again attacked the escort first but this time with torpedoes, firing a full salvo of four at a range of 1100 yards. She then dived to 300 feet and retired north-eastwards. She was counter attacked with fourteen depth charges by the UJ-boat, which she had missed. Nereus off Santorini on 23rd July was seen and depth charged by an R-boat but otherwise had a blank patrol. On 26th, Virtue, north of Suda Bay, who had been out of position for four days because of a mistake in a signal, sighted a southbound convoy at night in the light of flares dropped by the RAF. She closed in at full speed on the surface and gained radar contact and then sighted a 300-ton caique. She fired four torpedoes with CCR pistols at 1700 yards on a rather late track. She was also yawing as it was quite rough, and she missed. Vigorous, who had also arrived off Suda Bay, was depth charged by an aircraft on 26th when attacking a caique convoy. She also sighted the large caique missed by Virtue the day before. She surfaced and engaged with her gun and the caique abandoned ship. Vigorous suffered damage to her aerials when trying to board her and had to haul off. She left the caique, which was Doxa of 300 tons, on fire and sinking. Virtue, at dawn on 30th when close east of Ananes, sighted the small tanker Dresden, of 120 tons, escorted by an R-boat and northbound. Virtue had only one torpedo left which she fired at a range of 1200 yards but the speed of the enemy was under-estimated and she failed to score a hit.

Visigoth (Lieutenant JRH Haddow DSC RN) passed through the Andikithira Channel at night on the surface and was engaged by a battery on Cape Spada at a range of 20,000 yards and had to dive. Vivid (Lieutenant JC Varley RN) met a small tanker north of Suda Bay on 11th but it put up a spirited defence and she had to dive. Later she surfaced and gave chase, opening fire but an R-boat came to the rescue and again forced her to dive and counter attacked with depth charges. On the night of 16th, Visigoth was west of Kandeluisa and sighted a KT ship. She attempted to attack but was put deep and had to let her go.

On 13th, Vivid was ordered to the north Aegean to intercept ships known to be in Mudros and she took up a position on the route to Salonika. Three ships sailed as expected but they took a route east and north of Lemnos and Vivid missed them. Vivid then moved west to Cape Drepano and sighted a Bulgarian ship inshore. Vivid surfaced to close but was driven off by shore batteries before she could get within range. Virtue (Lieutenant RD Cairns DSC RN) patrolled for eleven days on the route from the Piraeus to Crete and succeeded in sinking six caiques amounting to 150 tons and all in German service. Three were disposed of by ramming and three by gunfire. Another action with a caique had to be broken off as her gun jammed. Her total ammunition expenditure in this patrol was only 25 rounds. Vampire (Lieutenant CW Taylor RNR) reached the Tinos-Nikaria area on 23rd and two days later sank three armed caiques off Mykoni. On her way back to Malta just west of Andikithira Vampire heard propeller noises on asdic but was unable to make firm contact. Post war research indicates that this was a German U-boat on passage from Pola to Salamis, no doubt sent to help in the evacuation of the Aegean. Vigorous (Lieutenant JC Ogle RN) arrived to patrol the Santorini- Candia route on 24th but saw nothing until 30th when a southbound ship was pursued unsuccessfully at night and contact was lost. Vox (Lieutenant JM Michell RN) arrived on patrol on 26th and spent two days off Santorini and then went to Kos returning to Santorini on 30th. On 31st she sighted a KT ship bound northeast from Candia at night. She was about to fire torpedoes when the enemy saw her and turned back towards Candia. After chasing for two hours, Vox got into position again and fired four torpedoes at a range of 1400 yards but the enemy's speed was under-estimated and she missed, one of the torpedoes firing prematurely. The KT ship then entered Candia and Vox vented her wrath on a 25-ton caique, which she sank by gunfire in the face of shore batteries off Candia.

Early in September, the Germans began their evacuation of the area by thinning out their garrisons in southern Greece, in Crete and in the Aegean Islands. This did not escape the notice of Allied intelligence and a plan was made to interfere. Although insufficient forces were available to invade the area and throw the enemy out, there were enough to impose serious casualties as they left and to follow up and occupy the territory vacated. Most important was the formation of a naval air and surface striking force under Admiral Troubridge which had become available after the successful landings in the south of France. This consisted of two cruisers, seven escort carriers and nine destroyers. The submarine operations in the Aegean were to continue hand in hand with their naval air and surface colleagues. The First Submarine Flotilla now consisted of eight U and V-class, which were Unswerving, Vigorous, Vox, Vampire, Virtue and Vivid and they had recently been joined by Voracious and Visigoth from the United Kingdom. The Greeks had Pipinos and Nereus operational but Matrozos had had to be sent to Taranto with defects, which it was hoped that the Italians, who had built her, would be able to remedy. Papanicolis was at Gibraltar for anti-submarine training.

On 1st September there were three Allied submarines at sea. Vigorous (Lieutenant JC Ogle DSC RN) was north of Candia; Vox (Lieutenant JM Michell RN) was south of Santorini and Pipinos (Ypoploiarkhos C Loundras) had just left Malta and was heading for Melos. Unswerving (Lieutenant MD Tattersall RNVR) left Malta on 1st September to patrol off Suda Bay. Soon after midnight on 1st September, both Vox and Vigorous received aircraft reports of a KT ship southbound from Melos. Vox at once took station north of Candia to intercept but the KT ship headed for Suda Bay. Vigorous missed her too. Later on the same day, the KT ship left Suda for Candia escorted by a destroyer and two R-boats and was intercepted by Vox who fired four torpedoes at a range of 1000 yards when close north-west of Cape Stavros. The sea was calm and the splash of discharge and torpedo tracks were seen and avoiding action taken. Vox later surfaced and made a report of the enemy's position and that she had expended all her torpedoes. She remained off Candia in case she should be required for reconnaissance but was later recalled to Malta and routed north from Candia. Pipinos then arrived on the scene and, after dark, sighted a KT ship and attacked. However she was seen and was fired upon and had to break off the attack and dive. Just before midnight on the same day, Vigorous was about thirty-five miles northwest of Standia Island steering towards Candia. Vox, by now nearing Santorini, sighted another KT ship, which was southbound. She reported it and shadowed it for some hours. Unfortunately there was some confusion about the air reports and an important signal from Vox was not picked up by Vigorous. At dawn Vigorous dived off Cape Stavros but the KT ship passed to the east of Standia Island and she could not get close enough to attack although she saw her entering Candia. Vox left the Aegean through the Kaso Strait and gave vent to her frustration by bombarding San Nicolo in Mirabella Gulf before she did so.

Pipinos, on the 3rd off Candia, encountered a small ship and fired three torpedoes at a range of 2000 yards but they missed. Next day a destroyer was seen but passed at too great a range to attack. On 6th at night, she sighted another KT ship and fired four torpedoes at a range of 2500 yards. At the time she believed that she had hit, but air reconnaissance found the ship undamaged in Candia next day. Pipinos now had only one torpedo left and reported the fact by wireless. She was then moved to a position south of Santorini. Here, after dark on 7th September, she came upon a large 200-ton caique and decided to use her last torpedo on her. As she turned in to fire, the caique sighted her and opened fire, a 3" projectile hitting and exploding in Pipinos' conning tower. It not only holed the conning tower but split the lower conning tower hatch so she was unable to dive. She disengaged at full speed on the surface and when she had shaken off her opponent, set about making repairs. Before dawn, the hole was plugged and the lower hatch patched and a trial dive showed that she could submerge to 60 feet. This was just as well for as soon as it was light she was attacked by three fighters and had to make a crash dive. Pipinos then reported her plight and was recalled to Malta by the Kaso Strait. Unswerving arrived off Suda Bay on 4th and early next morning had a night encounter with a U-boat ten miles northwest of Cape Stavros. The U-boat dived before Unswerving could attack. Another U-boat sighting was made close northeast of Suda Bay the next night too. Again the U-boat dived before torpedoes could be fired⁴.

The next batch of submarines that left Malta for the Aegean were Visigoth (Lieutenant JRH Haddow DSC RN), Vox (Lieutenant JM Michell RN), Upstart (Lieutenant PC Chapman DSC* RN) and Vigorous (Lieutenant JC Ogle DSC RN) and they sailed between 15th and 19th September. All were escorted across the Ionian Sea and south of Crete and entered independently by the Scarpanto Strait. The crew of the Visigoth, the first of the batch to arrive in the northern Aegean, was suffering from sand-fly fever and she was ordered into Khios for them to recover. Khios was now in use as an advanced base for light forces and the Anglo Hellenic Schooner Flotilla and Visigoth was there for three days. While there she investigated the use of the base for submarines with the Senior Naval Officer and it was ascertained that there were supplies of fuel and provisions as well as medical facilities. Visigoth then went on to patrol west of Lemnos; meanwhile Vox was making for Cape Kassandra, Upstart for the Steno Pass and Vigorous for Cape Drepano. Vox was in action before reaching her area and, after dark on 21st, she engaged a 200-ton coaster and an armed caique off Nikaria and caused some damage. On 24th and 25th off Cape Kassandra, she sank two 80-ton caiques. Vigorous on her way north sighted the burning wreck of a ship damaged by the RAF at Denusa Island but decided it was too far gone to need a coup de grace. Next day she sank an 80-ton caique off Cape Drepano. On 24th, Visigoth attacked a number of caiques at dusk in Strati harbour southwest of Lemnos and also caused some damage. In the evening of 25th, Visigoth sighted a convoy approaching from the direction of Mudros. The only way to intercept was to surface and make a high-speed dash. This she did but was seen and the convoy turned back. She took the opportunity to make an enemy report. The convoy, however, sailed again after dark and was attacked by Visigoth submerged in the moonlight. The convoy consisted of Salomea of 750 tons and two caiques escorted by three auxiliary minesweepers. She fired four torpedoes at a range of 2000 yards but all missed, probably due to an error in estimation of speed. Both Vox and Vigorous, however, were in positions to intercept and had received Visigoth's enemy report. Vigorous, off Cape Drepano just before midnight on 26th, made contact and attacked on the surface from the landward side with the convoy silhouetted by the moon. She fired four torpedoes at 1000 yards, and Salomea blew up with a heavy explosion. Visigoth dived with debris falling all around her and was not counter attacked. Vox, waiting to the westwards, saw the explosion. This convoy was evacuating stores and troops from Mudros to Salonika and the sinking of Salomea was a substantial success.

Meanwhile Upstart had moved north of the Skiathos Channel and ran into intense anti-submarine activity. On 24th she was about to attack a UJ-boat when the target altered sharply away. She went deep and was depth charged closely. At dawn on 26th, the same UJ-boat was attacked again but Upstart was detected just before firing and was again subjected to accurate depth charging. Next day she was again harried by anti-submarine craft. On 28th, Vox and Vigorous were on patrol on the Skiathos- Salonika route and sighted more anti-submarine vessels, two of which were seen to be in action but what with is not known. That night, Vox encountered a southbound convoy of small craft in the moonlight and dived to attack. Three torpedoes were fired at a range of 1000 yards and one hit a 500-ton lighter. This was followed by a counter attack lasting an hour in which she was undamaged. After surfacing, the lighter was found awash and derelict and was finished off by gunfire. Vox then detected another convoy by radar and closed on the surface and fired three torpedoes at 2500 yards. One torpedo exploded prematurely and the others missed the target, which was a Danube barge. Vox disengaged successfully on the surface pursued for a while by an R-boat of the escort. On 27th after dark, Vigorous closed an escorted convoy of six F-lighters in moonlight and fired two torpedoes at 1500 yards with CCR pistols set to non-contact. One exploded under a lighter, which sank immediately. The convoy scattered and Vigorous, after withdrawing on the surface, closed in again but was driven off by gunfire from the F-lighters and an R-boat of the escort. On 29th, Vigorous fired her last two torpedoes at a large escorted barge at a range of 3500 yards but missed. On 30th, Visigoth moved to the approaches to the Gulf of Salonika and met two destroyers, which passed right over her off Cape Kassandra.

By the end of September the four submarines of this batch had all left patrol. Vigorous had fired all her torpedoes and Vox had only one left. On 1st October, Visigoth, on her way home, met an escorted lighter off Nikaria and in a night snap attack fired three torpedoes at a range of 500 yards but they missed although set to run on the surface. The R-boat escorting made no counter attack. This left Visigoth with only one torpedo. Upstart, on the other hand, still had a full outfit of eight torpedoes. She was therefore ordered to land them at Khios as a reserve stock for submarines in the northern Aegean and to make arrangements for their storage and maintenance. A suitable warehouse was found but the transport of the torpedoes was difficult after a mule cart had been found unsatisfactory. The problem was later solved by using sheer legs and a building trolley. By the end of her patrol, Vox was short of fuel and, on her way back, was diverted to Kastelorizo to embark some more.

There was still some work for the First Submarine Flotilla. Untiring, however, west of Mudros, sighted a small merchant ship in company with an F-lighter and closed to attack but became a spectator as the RAF sank the merchant ship and left her to deal with the F-lighter which had stopped to pick up survivors. Untiring fired a single torpedo at 1000 yards but it missed. She then surfaced and engaged with her gun obtaining a number of hits before the gathering darkness and smoke allowed the enemy to escape.

Vivid (Lieutenant JC Varley RN) and Matrozos (Ypoploiarkhos J Massouridis) had already left Malta on 3rd October and Virtue (Lieutenant RD Cairns DSC RN) followed next day. All were escorted south of Crete and entered the Aegean by the Kaso Strait. Vivid and Matrozos went north to an area west of Khios. On 8th, Matrozos engaged a convoy of small westbound ships but was driven off by return fire. Vivid closed the same convoy submerged but did not consider any of the craft in it worth a torpedo. She therefore surfaced and made an enemy report, which enabled coastal forces from Khios to intercept and sink a small ship and two caiques. Both submarines were then instructed to visit Mitylene, which was now in Allied hands, before being withdrawn to Malta. Virtue was ordered to patrol off Candia to prevent any evacuation of the German garrison in that area. In a period of five days, she sank four caiques and a water tanker all engaged in evacuation and totalling 475 tons. She was then sent north to the Skiathos Channel but sighted nothing and was recalled to Malta after landing her torpedoes at Khios to augment the stock there.

On 22nd October, the Greek depot ship Corinthia with Pipinos, Nereus and Matrozos in company, sailed from Malta for Piraeus. The flotilla was followed a few days later by Papanicolis, who had been changing her battery in Malta Dockyard. The Greek submarine flotilla now came under national command and ceased to be operated by the British First Flotilla and so is no longer a part of our story. Four more British submarines were despatched to the Aegean; Voracious (Lieutenant FDG Challis DSC RN) sailing on 11th October, Vampire (Lieutenant Commander CW Taylor RNR) on 14th, Vigorous (Lieutenant JC Ogle DSC RN) on 24th, and finally Unswerving (Lieutenant MD Tattersall RNVR) on 25th. Voracious arrived, by the usual route, at Mitylene on 16th. There was little left to do. She was used to search for mines by asdic in the Imbros area on 17th and spent three blank days north of Skiathos. On 25th, she was sent to investigate the use of German hospital ships in and out of Salonika, which were suspected of evacuating fit soldiers. On 26th she let the German hospital ship Gradisca proceed as she had reported her movements and appeared to be genuine. Voracious was relieved of this duty on 28th. Vampire had arrived at Khios on 22nd having put in to Kastelorizo on the way with engine defects. She searched for mines on 24th between Thaso and Samothrace and then relieved Voracious off Cape Paliuri to monitor hospital ship movements. Gradisca was sent to Khios for inspection after which Vampire remained at short notice in Khios for a week. Vigorous relieved Vampire in the Gulf of Salonika and Unswerving went to Khios to await orders. On 8th November, the C-in-C Mediterranean directed that no more submarines were to be sent on patrol. Voracious was already back in Malta and Vampire was on her way there. Vigorous and Unswerving left the Aegean straight away and were back in Malta by 14th November.

During November, orders came for the dispersal of the submarines of the First Flotilla and for its disbandment. Of the remains of the Tenth Flotilla, now attached, Upstart had already left for the United Kingdom to refit and she was followed by Untiring. Curie was to return to France and the others were to be used for anti-submarine training in various parts of the world. Vivid and Virtue sailed for Bombay; Vigorous for Kilindini; Vox and Voracious for Colombo and Vampire for Gibraltar. Unswerving and Visigoth were under repair in Malta Dockyard. The submarine shore base at Lazaretto in Sliema harbour was to be reduced to a care and maintenance basis⁸.So ended the four and a half year long campaign by the British submarines in the Mediterranean during the Second World War.

The most remarkable fact about this final part of the campaign was that only one submarine was lost during the first ten months of 1944. Our submarines had to face four types of opposition. First there was the Luftwaffe, that had been mainly responsible for defeating the attempts to take Kos, Leros and Samos after the Italian surrender. It was the Luftwaffe that kept British surface forces out of the Aegean until Rear Admiral Troubridge arrived with his seven escort carriers and their air groups. Our submarines, however, were able to operate practically unimpeded for the whole period against the Luftwaffe and this was in spite of the fact that they could be seen down to sixty feet. The reason for this immunity was that they always operated submerged by day and could see aircraft through their periscopes in time to go deep if necessary. The small handy U-class could also porpoise to sixty feet or so in between periscope observations during attacks when aircraft were about and could use the same tactic on patrol to ensure they were not caught at periscope depth in between looks. When they had to surface by day for gun action, to take a navigational sight or to transmit a wireless report, their type 291 radar and their lookouts were able to ensure the detection of approaching aircraft in time to dive, generally without being seen. The second type of opposition were the surface forces. These were small and there were not very many of them. Nevertheless they were fitted with a form of asdic and were an efficient and dangerous anti-submarine force. The core of the German surface force was the flotilla of six ex-Italian destroyers and the rest were local craft and trawlers, which were the UJ-boats. These were always able to make unpleasant counter attacks after submarines had fired torpedoes, and sometimes held contact for hours. On a number of occasions they detected our submarines before they had fired and so frustrated their attacks. Although they did not sink any of our boats, they caused some damage. The third form of opposition was the mine. These were of German manufacture and came by rail, generally to Salonika. They were of the moored contact type and could only be used in water of less than 100 fathoms deep. About half of the Aegean is over 100 fathoms including the entrances by the Andikithira Channel and the Kaso and Scarpanto Straits and also the passage north of Rhodes. The sea round the main group of Aegean Islands, the Cyclades, is, however mineable although there are two deep passages, the Doro Channel and the channel west of Nikaria, and these lead from the southern to the northern Aegean. The sea area off the Dardanelles, on the Bulgarian coast, off Salonika and round Leros and Samos is also shallow enough to be mined. The main German mining campaign in the Aegean began in October 1943 after the Italian surrender. A number of trap minefields were laid in the Gulfs of Athens and Salonika and some to the east of Samos. These fields, as we saw in Chapter XXIII, accounted for the loss of Simoom and Trooper. In the first five months of 1944, they laid a number of trap minefields between the islands of the Cyclades group, right across from the Greek mainland to Leros. It is probable that it was one of these fields that sank Sickle. About half of these fields were laid to catch ships or submarines on the surface and the rest were laid deep to catch submerged submarines. In the last months before the German withdrawal, they continued their mining campaign off the north of Salonika and also laid a second set of trap fields across from Skiathos to Khios. The minelaying was carried out by converted auxiliary minelayers such as Drache and Zeus as well as by the ex-Italian destroyers. The exact number of mines laid is not known but probably amounted to several thousand. The fourth opposition encountered by our submarines were the shore batteries which on a number of occasions forced them to break off gun attacks and submerge. It can only be remarked that, effective though such batteries were, they must have required a very large effort to mount and man them.

So ended the last phase of the British submarine campaign in the Mediterranean. It had been fought with young but skilful Commanding Officers, whose courage had, if anything, to be restrained. They seemed oblivious to the appalling casualties sustained during the three years of the main campaign. The U class submarines proved almost ideal for this area. They were handy with a small silhouette and their small salvo of four torpedo tubes was no disadvantage while their 3" gun proved a useful weapon. Their endurance was just sufficient for them to work from Malta in the northern Aegean. It was sad for the flotilla to be disbanded with little operational future. Most of the submarines were fated to be used only for anti-submarine training, a function that admittedly was very important, but did not satisfy the offensive spirit of their crews.

Captain DC Ingram OBE RN, who had commanded the First Flotilla during this period, was promoted to substantive Captain (he had to date been an Acting Captain) and was appointed to command the Seventh Submarine Flotilla in Home Waters. He was awarded the CBE in 1945. Only one DSO was awarded to a submarine Commanding Officer in this period and that was to Lieutenant Piper of Unsparing. It covered all his exploits in the Mediterranean during 1943-4 including those outside the Aegean. It particularly singled out his sinking of UJ2106. Bars to the DSC were bestowed on Lieutenant Gatehouse of Sportsman and Kapitan Koziolkowski of the Polish Sokol and both of these awards also covered patrols before arrival in the Aegean. The Distinguished Service Cross was also given to Lieutenant Fyfe of Unruly, Lieutenant Tattersall of Unswerving, Lieutenant Taylor of Vampire, Lieutenant Varley of Vivid, Lieutenant Michell of Vox and Ypoploiarkhos Loudras of the Greek Pipinos. Lieutenant Ogle of Vigorous was Mentioned in Despatches. Finally Commander Baker, a retired Officer on loan to the submarines of the Royal Hellenic Navy was awarded the OBE in the New Year's Honours List of 1944.