:HMS P222

The S-class submarines were intended to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. The third batch were slightly enlarged and improved over the preceding second batch of the S class. The submarines had a length of {{convert|217|ft|m|1}} overall, a beam of {{convert|23|ft|9|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|14|ft|8|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|865|LT|t}} on the surface and {{convert|990|LT|t}} submerged.Akermann, p. 341 The S-class submarines had a crew of 48 officers and ratings. They had a diving depth of {{convert|300|ft|1}}.McCartney, p. 7

For surface running, the boats were powered by two {{convert|950|bhp|lk=in|0|adj=on}} diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a {{convert|650|hp|0|adj=on}} electric motor. They could reach {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} on the surface and {{convert|10|kn}} underwater.Bagnasco, p. 110 On the surface, the third-batch boats had a range of {{convert|6000|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|10|kn}} and {{convert|120|nmi|abbr=on}} at {{convert|3|kn}} submerged.

P222 was armed with six 21-inch torpedo tubes in the bow. She carried six reload torpedoes for the bow tubes for a grand total of a dozen torpedoes. Twelve mines could be carried in lieu of the torpedoes. The boat was also equipped with a 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun.Chesneau, pp. 51–52 The third-batch S-class boats were fitted with either a Type 129AR or 138 ASDIC system and a Type 291 or 291W early-warning radar.Akermann, pp. 341, 345

Ordered on 4 April 1940 as part of the 1940 Naval Programme, P222 was laid down on 10 August by Vickers Armstrong at their shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness. She was launched on 20 September 1941. On 2 May 1942, she shifted from the builder's yard to Holy Loch, where she was commissioned two days later. The submarine was lost before a name could be given to her, she is known as "P222", her pennant number.Akermann, p. 347 After undergoing training, P222 arrived at Elderslie on 25 May, then sailed for Kames Bay on 1 June. From 2 to 12 June, she conducted exercises off the Clyde River area, then sailed to Gibraltar along with {{HMS|Unruffled}}, arriving there on 23 June.{{cite web |last1=Helgason |first1=Guðmundur |title=HMS P222 of the Royal Navy |url=https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3440.html |website=uboat.net |access-date=12 December 2018}}

On 29 and 30 June, she conducted training exercises off Gibraltar with several other British ships. P222 then departed on 2 July for her first war patrol, in the Alboran Sea. She returned to port on 10 July, having sighted no enemy ships. After additional exercises, she departed Gibraltar again on 18 July with orders to patrol off the west coast of Sardinia. Her orders were changed on 23 July to intercept the Vichy French merchant ship {{SS|Mitidja}} off Cape Palos, Spain. Three days later, P222 successfully intercepted and boarded her target, which was then escorted to Gibraltar by {{HMS|Wrestler|D35|6}}. On 28 July, the boat returned to port, ending her second war patrol.

P222 departed Gibraltar on 2 August for a patrol in the Sicilian Channel, with additional orders to provide cover for Operation Pedestal, a British convoy to carry supplies to Malta. On 13 August, along with seven other Royal Navy submarines, she accompanied the convoy on the surface; the intent was that the submarines would be sighted by enemy aircraft and discourage potential attacks from enemy warships. Though the boat did not encounter enemy forces, the convoy operation was a British strategic success, and P222 returned to Gibraltar on 22 August.

After an uneventful patrol from 1 to 19 September, the boat was ordered to conduct reconnaissance along landing beaches east of Oran, in preparation for the Allied landings in North Africa. On 8 November, she was attacked by a Vichy French {{sclass|Élan|sloop|1}}, which dropped several depth charges but caused no damage. P222 returned to port on 19 November 1942.

P222 left Gibraltar to patrol off Naples on 30 November. She sent a number of messages on 7 December, but after that date no further communication was received. She failed to arrive at Algiers on her due date and was reported overdue on 21 December. The {{ship|Italian torpedo boat|Fortunale||6}} claimed to have sunk a submarine with depth charges on 12 December, south-east of Capri. This remains the most probable cause of the submarine's loss, but there has been no confirmation. Her wreck was claimed to have been found off Cape Negro, Tunisia, by a Belgian amateur diver, but that has not been confirmed.{{cite news |title=Diver discovers Royal Navy Submarine Graveyard off Tabarka, Tunisia|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/diver-discovers-royal-navy-submarine-graveyard-off-tabarka-tunisia-zsc6hxqsl|website=thetimes.uk|access-date=13 December 2018|last1=Humphries |first1=Will }} This last claim can be dismissed as signals to and from the submarine clearly show she was following a route that skirted the coast of southern Sardinia and thus could not have strayed in Tunisian waters.ADM199/2252 and ADM199/2253, TNA

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Akermann|first=Paul|title=Encyclopaedia of British Submarines 1901–1955|edition=reprint of the 1989|year=2002|publisher=Periscope Publishing|location=Penzance, Cornwall|isbn=1-904381-05-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Bagnasco |first=Erminio |title=Submarines of World War Two |year=1977 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=0-87021-962-6}}
• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946|editor1-last=Chesneau|editor1-first=Roger|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich, UK|year=1980|isbn=0-85177-146-7}}
• {{Cite Colledge2006}}
• {{cite book|last=McCartney|first=Innes|location=Oxford, UK|title=British Submarines 1939–1945|series=New Vanguard|volume=129|year=2006|publisher=Osprey|isbn=1-84603-007-2}}

• [http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3440.html HMS P222 at Uboat.net]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070808171910/http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm SUBMARINE LOSSES 1904 TO PRESENT DAY]

{{British S class submarine}}

{{December 1942 shipwrecks}}

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Category:British S-class submarines (1931)

Category:Royal Navy ship names

Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness

Category:1941 ships

Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom

Category:Lost submarines of the United Kingdom

Category:Warships lost in combat with all hands

Category:Missing submarines of World War II

Category:Maritime incidents in December 1942

Category:Submarines sunk by Italian warships