The majority of the 49 commissioned U boats (all but two of which were built by Vickers) served with the Second Flotilla based at Malta, and achieved notable successes against warships and merchantmen. Two U boats, stationed in the Sicilian Channel, sank several major Italian merchant ships which were transporting troops and supplies to Africa. Like other British boats, the U Class was particularly successful against submarines. In the Mediterranean alone, five Barrow-boats (Upholder, Ultimatum, Unbeaten, Unruly and United) sank a total of eight submarines: six Italian and two German.
During the war, 19 boats of the class were lost on active service - 13 in the Mediterranean and six in the Atlantic and North Sea. Another submarine, Untamed, sank in May 1943, but was salvaged two months later and returned to service as HMS Vitality. From 1941, numerous boats were ceded to Poland, the USSR, Holland, Norway and Free France, and of these several were lost in action.
One U Class submarine that is famous for the part it played during the Second World War was the Vickers-built Upholder, which probably had the finest fighting record of any Allied submarine of the period.
HMS UPHOLDER
Commissioned in August 1940, and under the command of Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn VC, HMS Upholder sailed to her Maltese base on 10th December. During this passage, Lieut-Cdr. Wanklyn demonstrated that he was a man of many talents when a bulkhead door almost severed the tops of three fingers of Chief Engine Room Artificer Baker.
