Sickle (P224)
| Built By: | Cammell Laird (Mersey) |
| Fate: | Believed lost when she struck a mine in the Kythera Channel. Sickle was the last British submarine to be lost in the Mediterranean during WW2 |
Sickle
Ex P74(i)
HMS Sickle left for a patrol in the Northern Aegean on 31st May 1944. The Submarine was in action on 4th June when she fired on shipping in Mitylene Harbour.
She was later engaged in a gun battle with two German patrol vessels and, during the fight, one member of the crew (Able Seaman Richard Blake) was washed overboard. He was rescued by the patrol vessels and became a Prisoner of War – and the only survivor. HMS Sickle escaped the engagement by diving and continued on her patrol.
On 12th June the Commanding Officer spotted a convoy in the approaches to Steno Pass. The presence of a submarine was suspected by the convoy escort and dropped two depth charges. Soon afterwards all contact with HMS Sickle was lost.
It is assumed that HMS Sickle probably struck a mine in the Kythera Channel. The Submarine was lost with all hands.
Surface gun fatality
Twenty year old AB David Mackay (D/JX 304833) is reported to have died on 4th June 1944 from wounds received in a surface gun action in which two others were wounded and AB Richard Blake was lost overboard.
AB Blake was rescued by German Forces and, accidentally and very luckily, became the only survivor of HMS Sickle which was ‘sunk with all hands’ twelve days later on 16th June.
He did however spend the rest of the war as a Prisoner of War!
Roll of Honour
| Name | Rank | Number | Hons | Age |
| Bigglestone, Harry Dudley | Leading Telegraphist | C/SSX 21035 | 24 | |
| Bowen, Harry Wilfred | Stoker Petty Officer | P/KX 85960 | MID* | 31 |
| Brookes, George Owen | Leading Telegraphist | C/JX 233276 | 30 | |
| Cooke, John James | Stoker 1st Class | D/SKX 988 | 20 | |
| Crook, Frederick Charles | Able Seaman | P/JX 132095 | MID* | 31 |
| Crook, Frederick Charles P/JX 132095 DoB 01/11/1912 Age 31. CWGC has Age 36 | ||||
| Cuthbert, Alfred William Ernest | Leading Signalman | C/JX 157097 | 21 | |
| Davidson, Walter | Petty Officer Telegraphist | D/JX 141071 | MID | 26 |
| Davies, Edward William | Leading Stoker | C/KX 97357 | 26 | |
| Drummond, James Ralph | Lieutenant | DSO* | 26 | |
| Duncan, Alexander Durham McGregor | Stoker 1st Class | D/KX 101132 | 24 | |
| Dunstone, David Hughes | Telegraphist | C/JX 194734 | 20 | |
| Edwards, Ernest Ronald | Petty Officer | P/JX 149577 | 23 | |
| Evans, Alfred Edward | Leading Stoker | P/KX 97034 | 28 | |
| Francis, George | Warrant Engineer | 42 | ||
| Gilmore, Roy | Leading Stoker | P/SKX 278 | 22 | |
| Goodman, Percival David | Lieutenant (RNVR) | 25 | ||
| Green, Cyril Charles | Able Seaman | D/JX 27969 | 23 | |
| Grounds, Arthur Frank | D/JX 287352 | 22 | ||
| Hallett, Edward Ernest | Able Seaman | P/JX 388577 | MID | 19 |
| Hamilton, David | Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | P/MX 62015 | 27 | |
| Hancock, George Raymond | Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | C/MX 64427 | 25 | |
| Harratt, George Herbert | Able Seaman | P/JX 274024 | 23 | |
| Hockless, George William | Able Seaman | P/JX 235902 | 23 | |
| Jack, Thomas | Leading Seaman | P/JX 175589 | 26 | |
| Jakeman, Patrick Baddeley | Lieutenant (RNVR) | 28 | ||
| Jones, Leslie | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | P/MX 88530 | 22 | |
| Learmouth, Duncan Henry | Engine Room Artificer 4th Class | C/MX 102529 | 23 | |
| Lee, Cyril Thomas George | Leading Cook | P/MX 109654 | 31 | |
| MacKay, David | Able Seaman | D/JX 304833 | 20 | |
| Died on 4th June 1944 from wounds received in a surface gun action | ||||
| Marshall, Richard | Able Seaman | P/JX 350158 | 21 | |
| Martin, Sidney | Leading Stoker | P/KX 139537 | 20 | |
| McNeill, William Bonner | Able Seaman | D/JX 346302 | 20 | |
| Mitchell, Cecil John | Chief Petty Officer | P/J 114226 | 34 | |
| Mobbs, Stanley Norman | Leading Seaman | C/SSX 32208 | 22 | |
| Nettleton, John | Chief Engine Room Artificer | D/MX 54330 | DSM | 30 |
| Pearson, John Telfer | Stoker 1st Class | P/KX 138006 | 21 | |
| Pope, Frederick Ellis | Petty Officer | D/JX 152043 | 23 | |
| Rolph, David | Chief Petty Officer | C/JX 135449 | 28 | |
| Roose, Gordon Walter | Leading Seaman | D/JX 305124 | 22 | |
| Seymour, Raymond Norman George | Leading Stoker | D/SKX 1253 | 21 | |
| Sinclair, Anthony Douglas | Lieutenant | DSC | 21 | |
| Stark, Thomas Allenby | Engine Room Artificer 3rd Class | C/MX 77329 | 26 | |
| Stevens, Nicholas Charles | Able Seaman | P/JX 358538 | 20 | |
| Stewart, John Raymond | Able Seaman | P/JX 324209 | 22 | |
| Sturgess, Major Victor | Stoker 1st Class | P/KX 95156 | 27 | |
| Tugwell, Arthur Edward | Petty Officer | P/JX 152374 | 23 | |
| Walker, Victor Paul | Sub Lieutenant (RNVR) | 22 | ||
| Willcocks, Henry Alfred | Stoker 1st Class | C/KX 145585 | 22 | |
| Willcocks, Henry Alfred C/KX 145585 DoB 23/09/1921 Age 22. CWGC has Age 26 | ||||
| Woollatt, Arthur Albert | Stoker Petty Officer | P/KX 83280 | 30 | |
| Yielding, Harry Arthur | Able Seaman | C/JX 334182 | 32 | |
Events
| 08-05-1941 : | Laid Down |
| 27-08-1942 : | Launched |
| 01-12-1942 : | Completed |
| 23-04-1943 : | HMS Sickle fires two torpedoes against the Italian merchant Mauro Croce off Sagunto, Spain. The torpedoes ran under the target and Sickle fired 19 rounds with her deck gun but failed to hit the target. |
| 15-05-1943 : | HMS Sickle torpedoes and sinks the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ-2213/Heureux south of Nice, southern France. |
| 21-05-1943 : | HMS Sickle attacked U-755 but missed. Sickle then torpedoed & sank U-303 south of Toulon |
| 18-07-1943 : | HMS Sickle sinks the Italian auxiliary minesweepers No. 61/Costante Neri and No. 164/Rosa Madre with gunfire 7 miles north of the island of Gorgona, Italy. |
| 19-07-1943 : | HMS Sickle sinks the Italian auxiliary minesweeper V 131/Amgiola Maria C. with gunfire off Porto Vecchio, Italy. |
| 21-07-1943 : | HMS Sickle torpedoes and damages the Italian merchant Oriani 8 miles west-north-west of Elba. |
| 28-08-1943 : | HMS Sickle torpedoes and sinks the German escort vessel SG-10/Felix Henri east of Corsica, France. |
| 01-10-1943 : | HMS Sickle fires three torpedoes against the German auxiliary submarine chaser UJ 2210 off Portoferraio, Elba Island, Italy. The three torpedoes missed their target. |
| 18-11-1943 : | HMS Sickle sinks a sailing vessel with gunfire off Leros island, Greece. |
| 19-11-1943 : | HMS Sickle torpedoes and sinks the Italian merchant (in German service) Giovanni Boccaccio off Monemvasia, Greece. |
| 25-11-1943 : | HMS Sickle sinks two sailing vessels with gunfire near Milos island, Greece. |
| 26-12-1943 : | HMS Sickle sinks two Greek sailing vessel with gunfire east of Mykonos Island, Greece. |
| 08-05-1944 : | HMS Sickle sinks three sailing vessels, with gunfire scuttling charges and ramming, in the Doro Channel (between Euboea Island and Andros Island). |
| 12-05-1944 : | HMS Sickle sinks a sailing vessel with gunfire off Standia Island, Greece. |
| 14-05-1944 : | HMS Sickle claims the sinking of a sailing vessel with gunfire north of Rhetymon, Crete. |
| 31-05-1944 : | HMS Sickle left for a patrol in the northern Aegean |
| 04-06-1944 : | Sickle fired upon shipping in Mitylene Harbour and was engaged in gunfire with German patrol vessels GA76 and GA91 during which Able Seaman Richard Blake, a member of the submarines 3 inch gun crew who was blown over board. The submarine had to make an urgent dive to avoid further hits, and Blake was left in the water and picked up by the Germans to become a POW. Sickle escaped the engagement and continued on her patrol |
| 06-06-1944 : | HMS Sickle sinks the German merchant Reaumur with gunfire in the Aegean between Andros and Skyros islands. |
| 09-06-1944 : | HMS Sickle attacks the German transport Lola to the west of Lemnos, Greece. |
| 12-06-1944 : | Sickle signalled that she had spotted a convoy in the approach to Steno Pass. The convoy suspected the presence of a submarine and dropped two depth charges and, although it seems unlikely that this attack accounted for the loss of the submarine, no further contact was made with her. |
| 16-06-1944 : | Believed lost when she struck a mine in the Kythera Channel. Sickle was the last British submarine to be lost in the Mediterranean during WW2 |
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