| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Submarine |
| Class | S-1 |
| Pennant | P 552 |
| Built by | Fore River Shipbuilding Co. (Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.A.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | 11 Dec 1917 |
| Launched | 26 Oct 1918 |
| Commissioned | 20 Apr 1942 |
| End service | 16 Oct 1944 |
| History | USS S-1 was transferred to the Royal Navy at New London on 20 April 1942. In July 1942 she arrived in the UK. She went to the South Atlantic as an anti-submarine warfare training vessel. She arrived in South Africa, via Gibraltar and Freetown, in December 1942. She was not in good material condition, and spent much of her time in dockyard hands. She was declared unseaworthy following a collision in Durban harbour in January 1944, and paid off into care and maintenance on 11 August 1944. She was returned to the United States Navy on 16 October 1944. Sold for scrap locally at Durban on 20 June 1946. Scrapped at Durban on 14 September 1946. |
| Former name | S-1 |
Commands listed for HMS P 552 (P 552)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Lt. Anthony Robert Daniell, DSC, RN | Mar 1942 | 6 Aug 1942 |
| 2 | Lt. Laurence Edward Herrick, RN | 6 Aug 1942 | Sep 1942 |
| 3 | Lt. Kenneth Hugh Joy, RNR | Sep 1942 | 11 Aug 1944 |
You can help improve our commands section
Click here to Submit events/comments/updates for this vessel.
Please use this if you spot mistakes or want to improve this ships page.
Notable events involving P 552 include:
30 Apr 1942
P 552 (Lt. A.R. Daniell, DSC, RN) departed New London, Connecticut for St. John's, Canada.
1 May 1942
P 552 (Lt. A.R. Daniell, DSC, RN) picks up 3 survivors from the Norwegian merchant Taborfjell that was torpedoed and sunk the previous day by German U-boat U-576 about 95 nautical miles east of Cape Cod in position 41°52'N, 67°43'W.
2 Oct 1942
At 1600A/2, reconnaissance aircraft reported a medium sized ship, about 4000 tons, thought to be the Italian blockade breaker Pietro Orseolo (6338 GRT, built 1939) in position 44°08'N, 06°39'W, course 250°, speed 10 knots.
The submarine P 552 (Lt. K.H. Joy, RNR) was ordered by to patrol in the vicinity of position 43°11'N, 12°20'W and the cruiser HMS Charybdis (Capt. G.A.W. Voelcker, RN) was instructed to endeavour to intercept, but stated that she was able to do so until dark on 3 July due to lack of fuel.
The following day the were informed that an enemy ship had been sighted in position 43°10'N, 09°50'W, course 090°, speed 15 knots. (1)
Sources
- ADM 53/115579 + ADM 173/17506 + ADM 199/662
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.