HMS United (P44) was a 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...

 U-class

British U class submarine

The British U class submarines were a class of 49 small submarines built just before and during the Second World War...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 built by Vickers-Armstrong

Vickers

Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 1999.-Early history:Vickers was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by the miller Edward Vickers and his father-in-law George Naylor in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor &...

 at Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness

Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...

. So far she has been the only ship 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...

 to bear the name United.

Career

She spent most of the war in the Mediterranean, where she sank the small Italian merchant Rostro, the Italian auxiliary submarine chaser V 39/Giovanna, the Italian destroyer Bombardiere

Soldati class destroyer

The Soldati class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy during World War II. The ships were named after military professions...

, the French merchant Ste Marguerite (the former Norwegian Ringulv), and the Italian merchant Olbia. Whilst covering the Allied invasion of Sicily

Allied invasion of Sicily

The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...

, United spotted the Italian transport submarine Remo

Italian R class submarine

The R-class or Romolo-class were a group of submarines built for the Italian Royal Navy during World War II. These submarines were designed as blockade running transport submarines for transporting high-value cargo from Europe to Japan and from Japan to Europe...

 on the surface. She launched four torpedoes, one of which hit the Remo amidships, sinking her within a few minutes. Only four survived, the three who were on the conning tower (amongst them the CO, Captain Vassallo), and Sergeant Dario Cortopassi who was able to come up from the control room. United also sank the Italian transport ship Rosolino Pilo, which had already been damaged in a previous attack by motor torpedo boats.

She also damaged the Italian tanker Petrarca, and further damaged the Italian merchant Ravenna. The Ravenna had been grounded after air attack and a fire on 29 September 1942. She also attacked the damaged Italian light cruiser Attilio Regolo, but missed her. The Attilio Regolo had lost her bow due to an attack the previous day by HMS Unruffled

HMS Unruffled (P46)

HMS Unruffled was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Unruffled.-Career:...

.

United survived the war and was scrapped at Troon from 12 February 1946.