March 12th - On This Date - RN Submarine Service

1915	G10	Submarine HMS G10 laid down
1918	H28	Submarine HMS H28 launched
1918	L8	Submarine HMS L8 completed
1936	Sea Wolf	Submarine HMS Sea Wolf completed
1914	HMS A7	Burial held at sea.
1917	HMS E49	On leaving Balta Sound for patrol, E49 hit a mine laid by UC76 on the 10th, off the entrance. There were no survivors. She lies in 16 fathoms with bows blown off.
1918	HMS D3	D3 was sunk in error in Channel by a French airship D3 left Gosport on 7th March 1918 for an anti-submarine patrol in the English Channel. Little is known of her patrol movements but it is believed that a submarine spotted by a Royal Naval Air Service airship on the 11th was D3. On the 12th March the French airship AT-0 was patrolling when at 1420 a vessel was spotted to her north east. The airship drew close for recognition purposes and according to her commander, the submarine fired rockets at her. Four 52-kilo bombs were dropped by the airship. The submarine disappeared but several minutes later men were seen in the water. Attempts were made by the airship to rescue the men but it proved too difficult. The airship withdrew to seek help but all the men had drowned by the time it arrived. It is clear that D3 was the victim of a serious identification error on the part of the French airship, with identification rockets being mistaken for aggressive gunfire.
1943	HMS Thunderbolt	Torpedoed the Italian merchant ship Esterel two miles north of Capo San Vito.
1943	HMS Unruly	HMS Unruly torpedoes and sinks the French merchant St Lucien off Port Vendres, southern France.
1944	HMS Storm	HMS Storm sinks a small Japanese vessel with gunfire in the Malacca Strait.

SAB