HMS Sibyl was an S-class

British S class submarine (1931)

The S-class submarines of the Royal Navy were originally designed and built during the modernisation of the submarine force in the early 1930s to meet the need for smaller boats to patrol the restricted waters of the North Sea and the Mediterranean Sea replacing the British H class submarines...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, and part of the Third Group built of that class. She was built by Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird

Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...

 and launched on 29 April 1942.

Mediterranean

Sibyl had a distinguished career, sinking numerous enemy ships, including the Italian merchant Pegli, the French (in German service) merchant St. Nazaire, the German auxiliary minesweeper M 7022/Hummer, five Greek sailing vessels and an unknown sailing vessel. She also unsuccessfully attacked the Italian merchant Fabriano, the German tanker Centaur and what is identified as 'a merchant of about 1500 tons' in a German convoy. Her commanding officer between June 1942 and 3 July 1944 was Lt. Ernest John Donaldson Turner, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

 on 23 June 1943. Turner was succeeded as commander by Lt. Huston (Tex) Roe Murray, who commanded her for the rest of the war. His First Lieutenant was Stephen Jenner, who later became the commander of the Canadian Submarine fleet

Royal Canadian Navy

The history of the Royal Canadian Navy goes back to 1910, when the naval force was created as the Naval Service of Canada and renamed a year later by King George V. The Royal Canadian Navy is one of the three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...

.

Far East

On being transferred to operate in the Pacific in early 1945, Sibyl continued to cause losses to enemy shipping. The first Far East patrol was spent around the Andaman Islands

Andaman Islands

The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...

 and south of Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 in the Malacca Strait. She sank a number of Japanese vessels with gunfire and scuttling charges in the Malacca Straits, and was strafed by aircraft and depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

d three times after these successful attacks.

Sibyl was the first British submarine to surface in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 harbour after the Japanese surrendered. She operated out of Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

, Ceylon from the depot ship .

After the atom bombs were dropped on Japan

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...

, Louis Mountbatten

Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

Admiral of the Fleet Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas George Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, KG, GCB, OM, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, DSO, PC, FRS , was a British statesman and naval officer, and an uncle of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...

, Supreme Commander in the Far East wanted the surrender signed in Singapore and called for the fleet to be there. HMS Sibyl had been in the harbour the longest so her men were invited to the ceremony, which was held on . The mainly British and Australian prisoners of war held in Changi jail by the Japanese were released and taken on board the British ships and fed corned beef sandwiches and hot tea, as they were in terrible condition. It was noted that the entire harbour smelled of freshly baked bread for several days as the numerous ship's galleys were put to the task of feeding the starving prisoners of war.

Post war

Sibyl survived the Second World War, and was sold off, arriving at Troon

Troon

Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...

in March 1948 for breaking up.