Background

Commander Jeremy Nash DSC, RN, died on 23 November 2018, aged 98. During Operation CRUSADER he was weapons officer on HMS/M Proteus, a Parthian-class submarine, assigned to the 1st Submarine Flotilla in Alexandria.

HMSM Proteus underway in the Mediterranean, unknown date (Courtesy IWM)

Collision with R.N. Sagittario

After the end of CRUSADER, HMS/M Proteus, under command of Lt.Cdr. Francis, had an encounter with a Regia Marina escort vessel, the Spica class corvette RN Sagittario, which led to her being rammed and damaged. The commander of Sagittario presumed her to be sunk. Fortunately enough for Proteus, for some reason Sagittario did not follow up on the ramming with a depth charge attack. She was equipped both with the German ASDIC echolocation system, the S-Geraet (see this link) and also with the more effective German depth charge launch system, which would be used to devastating effect two weeks later by RN Circe in the sinking of HMS/M P.38 (see this link).

Torpediniera Sagittario, 1941 (Courtesy Wikipedia)

Sagittario had a small detachment of German sailors on board, led by a senior NCO (Oberbootsmaat – Royal Navy Petty Officer), who reported to the German command about the incident. The report is below – it also notes that the Italian crew members operating the S-Geraet were trained at the Kriegsmarine school in Gotenhafen, and did good work.

Report about the Sinking of an enemy Submarine by T-Boat Sagittario on 8 February 1942 0450 hours north of Cephalonia.

(as related by Oberbootsmaat Merkel)

Following the release of a convoy Sagittario was on the march from Patras to Argostoli. Sea state 3-4. Speed 14 knots. Ranges were registered at around 1,600m (good echos) up to 2300 hours, when sea state was 1. At 0430 hours the S-Geraet reported a strong noise signal at 320 degrees, which moved out fast. Whether the boat immediately turned was not transmitted to the listening room, but in any case shortly after the report speed was increased to 17 knots. A few minutes later the collision occurred. The enemy submarine was rammed at an acute angle, and went down with a heavy list.

Both vessels suffered damage, HMS/M Proteus to her dive plane, which broke off, and Sagittario to her hull. Interestingly, Lt.Cdr. Francis considered his target a submarine, and attacked with torpedoes, which were not observed at all on Sagittario. In turn, Francis believed that the torpedoes were what gave Proteus away, and did not consider ASDIC detection.

HMS/M Proteus was standing out in two regards, she was the first Royal Navy submarine to be equipped with Radar, and the only Parthian-class submarine to survive the war. Proteus’ 1st Officer met the CO of Sagittario after the war, abusing him of the notion that he had sunk Proteus that night.

An account by Nash himself of the ramming can be found in this book. Lt.Cdr. Francis, DSO and Bar, RN recounts the incident at this link. Commodore Nash retired from the Royal Navy in 1970.

Commander Nash, DSC, OBE, RN during the war, (Courtesy, unknown)

Lt R L Alexander RN, who now commands the Proteus and (right) Lt Cdr P S Francis, DSO, RN, her former commanding officer. (Courtesy IWM)