HMS Saracen (P247)

Saracen on the River Mersey in July 1942
History
United Kingdom
Name	Saracen
Ordered	23 January 1940
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down	16 July 1940
Launched	16 February 1942
Commissioned	27 June 1942
Identification	Pennant number: P247
Fate	Sunk, 14 August 1943
General characteristics
Class and type	S-class submarine
Displacement	865 long tons (879 t) (surfaced) 990 long tons (1,010 t) (submerged)
Length	217 ft (66.1 m)
Beam	23 ft 9 in (7.2 m)
Draught	14 ft 8 in (4.5 m)
Installed power	1,900 bhp (1,400 kW) (diesel) 1,300 hp (970 kW) (electric)
Propulsion	2 × diesel engines 2 × electric motors
Speed	15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) (surfaced) 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) (submerged)
Range	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) (surfaced) 120 nmi (220 km; 140 mi) at 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) (submerged)
Test depth	300 ft (91.4 m)
Complement	48
Sensors and processing systems	Type 129AR or 138 ASDIC Type 291 early-warning radar
Armament	7 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes (6 × bow, 1 × stern) 1 × 3 in (76 mm) deck gun

HMS Saracen was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1942, Saracen conducted a patrol in the North Sea where she sank a German U-boat. She was then assigned to the 10th Submarine Flotilla in Malta, from where she made three patrols; on her second, she sank an Italian submarine. Saracen was then reassigned to the 8th Submarine Flotilla, based in Algiers, French North Africa.

Operating from there, she conducted six patrols, sinking seven ships and landing agents in Corsica and Sardinia. On her twelfth patrol, Saracen was heavily damaged by two depth charge attacks from Italian destroyers. On 13 August 1943, Saracen was detected by two Italian corvettes and again attacked with depth charges. With several leaks in her pressure hull, the submarine surfaced and her crewmen abandoned ship. She was then scuttled and 46 out of 48 men were rescued by the Italian ships. Saracen's wreck was discovered in 2015 off Corsica.