March 8th - On This Date - RN Submarine Service

1905	A9	Submarine HMS A9 launched
1905	A11	Submarine HMS A11 launched
1905	A12	Submarine HMS A12 launched
1915	J4	Submarine HMS J4 laid down
1935	Salmon	Submarine HMS Salmon completed
1940	Tarpon	Submarine HMS Tarpon completed
1943	Universal	Submarine HMS Universal completed
1944	Achates	Submarine HMS Achates laid down
1985	Torbay	Submarine HMS Torbay launched
1043	HMS Sidon	Sidon departed Lerwick to commence her working up patrol. This took place on the west coast of Norway on a known U-boat track. She had difficulty off the coast of Norway obtaining a land fix for the first 3 days. Sidon needed to take land fixes for navigational purposes. Heavy snow and rain storms had obscured all land marks. After 3 days however, the weather cleared and all landmarks could be seen clearly. No further navigational problems were encountered. No ships or U-boat patrols were sighted during this patrol. The only sighting of any enemy unit was a Luftwaffe JU-88 flying 2 miles away at a height of 200 feet. It commenced no attack against Sidon and presumably it had not sighted her. The heavy weather made the seas rough and Sidon was unable to maintain periscope depth. Visibility at times was reduced to zero by the snowstorms.
1942	HMS Uredd	Uredd is declared ready for combat, and joins the 9th Submarine flotilla in Dundee.
1944	HMS Sea Rover	HMS Sea Rover torpedoes and sinks the Japanese transport Shobu Maru in the Strait of Malacca.
1945	HMS Scythian	HMS Scythian sinks three Japanese sailing vessels with gunfire of the Mergui Archipel, Burma.

SAB