During the 16 months that Upholder had operated in the Mediterranean, she completed 24 patrols and sank 119 000 tons of German and Italian shipping - three U-Boats, one destroyer, one armed trawler, 15 transport and supply ships, and probably another cruiser and another destroyer - before she herself failed to return from a patrol in April 1942.
Remembering that the Navy lost not only an outstanding submarine commander but also a very highly-trained and experienced team of officers and ratings, the Admiralty took the unprecedented step of publishing a special communique - praising Upholder and all her crew for their long and arduous duty in the Mediterranean - which ended with the words - 'The ship and her company are gone, but the example and the inspiration remain'.
