HMS Shakespeare was an S class submarine

British S class submarine (1931)

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Vickers-Armstrongs and launched on 8 December 1941.

She served in the Mediterranean and later in the Eastern Fleet during the Second World War, from December 1944. Whilst serving in the Mediterranean, she sank the Italian sailing vessels Sant' Anna M. and Adelina, the Greek sailing vessel Aghios Konstantinos and two unidentified sailing vessels. She also sank the Italian submarine Velella, which was lost with all hands, and unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo what is identified as an Italian light cruiser. On transferral to the Far East, she sank the Japanese merchant cargo ship Unryu Maru.

She was damaged by gunfire and air attack in the Nankauri Strait, Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

 on 3 January 1945, whilst engaged with the Japanese auxiliary minesweeper Wa 1. Both ships were damaged. Shakespeare returned to port, but was written off as a constructive total loss.

She was sold on 14 July 1946 and was broken up by Ward, of Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. The town encompasses the electoral wards of Briton Ferry East and Briton Ferry West....

.