B a t t l
e H o n o u r s
None were awarded
Identified only by her Pennant Number the short career of
this submarine prevented her being named when this policy was
introduced in early 1943.
She was
nominated for service with the 10th Submarine Flotilla in Malta
which she joined in January 1942 after work-up in Home waters and
two patrols based at Gibraltar. During an interception patrol on
16th February that year with HM Submarines P34, P38 and UNA north of
Ras al Hamra the
Italian convoy from Taranto was delayed
and the patrol requirements were changed to a more northerly
position. Although the convoy evaded the submarines,
P339 made
an attack later but this failed. A second patrol from Malta was
fruitless and on entry to berth at Manoel
Island she was attacked by a single Messerschmitt fighter during
which some damage to the casing structure was sustained and required repair.
In a
subsequent air raid the submarine was hit by a bomb which damaged
the forward torpedo
compartment and damaged aft by a near miss. Whilst under repair in
the dockyard she was again hit by a bomb which fractured the
structure making repair impossible under the current circumstances
and she was beached at Kalkara beyond
economic repair. The Commanding Officer was Lieutenant N Marriott
RN, an ex Merchant Navy officer. Some of the ships company were lost
when taking passage to UK in HM Submarine OLYMPUS which sank after
hitting a mine off Malta. |