HMS Untiring (P59) 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 &...

. So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name Untiring. After the war, she was loaned to the Greek Navy and renamed Xifias II (Y-10).

Wartime career

After a work up patrol off the Norwegian coast, where she sank the Norwegian fishing vessel Havbis II whilst she was fishing for halibut, Untiring was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean. Here, she went on to sink the German netlayer Netztender 44/Prudente, the German barge F 296, the German ships Jean Suzon/FP 352 and St. Antoine/FP 358, the German auxiliary minesweeper M 6022/Enseigne, the German merchants Diana and Siena (the former French Astrée), the German auxiliary submarine chasers UJ 6075 / Clairvoyant and UJ 6078/La Havraise, and also claimed to have sunk a sailing vessel with gunfire.

She also unsuccessfully attacked the German submarine U-616, the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ 6073/Nimeth Allah, the German torpedo boat TA 18 (the former Italian Solferino), the German merchant Burgas and an unidentified German auxiliary patrol vessel.

Postwar

Untiring survived the war and was loaned to the Greek Navy in July 1946, where she was renamed Xifias. She served with the Greek Navy for seven years, and was returned to the Royal Navy in 1952. She was subsequently sunk as an ASDIC target on 25 July 1957. The wreck sits upright in 53 meters of water in an area of generally reasonable visibility and is easily reached from Salcombe or Plymouth. She is still in very good condition with little sign of collapse over the 46 years since she was sunk. The boat lists slightly to port and the propellers are still both visible above the loose gravel of the bottom. It is regularly dived by local and visitors. The boat has a good collection of growth on her and is home to numerous species of fish.