HMS
Shalimar was a third-batch S-class submarine and was ordered by the
British Admiralty on 3 August 1941. She was
laid down in the
Chatham Dockyard in
Kent on 17 April 1942 and was
launched on 22 April 1943. On 22 April 1944,
Shalimar, under the command of
Lieutenant William G. Meeke, was
commissioned into the Royal Navy in
Holy Loch. The submarine was named after
Shalimar Bagh, a
mughal garden in India; thus far, she has been the only ship to bear the name "Shalimar". After going through speed, gunnery, and torpedo firing exercises,
Shalimar departed Holy Loch on 8 July 1944 for her first war patrol, east of the
Orkney Islands on an anti-submarine patrol. She returned on 27 July, without having sighted any targets. The boat was then assigned to the
Pacific theater, fighting against
Imperial Japan. Passing through
Gibraltar and
Suez, she arrived in
Trincomalee on 28 September. On 15 October,
Shalimar departed port to patrol south of the
Nicobar Islands; on the 26th, she attempted to torpedo a merchant ship leaving
Port Blair, but was spotted,
depth charged, and forced to dive. Three days later, the submarine fired six torpedoes at another merchant, but again missed. On 2 November, she met better luck and destroyed five Japanese landing craft, several small vessels, and a
jetty with gunfire from her main
3-inch (76mm) deck gun. She then ended her patrol on the 6th. The boat commenced her next patrol on 29 November 1944, this time in the
Strait of Malacca; on 4 December she sank a sailing vessel with gunfire, then sank three more the following day. On 6 December, the boat fired three torpedoes at a
coaster and a landing craft; they were observed to run under the targets, so she surfaced to use her deck gun. However, radar soon picked up an enemy aircraft, and
Shalimar was forced to disengage. On the 10th and 11th, she sank two sailing vessels with gunfire, then on 14 December torpedoed and sank the Japanese minesweeper
Choun Maru No.7. The next day, she sank a Japanese tugboat and two
lighters, then returned to Trincomalee six day later. On 12 January 1945,
Shalimar left port, again tasked with patrolling the Strait of Malacca; on the 17th, she destroyed five Japanese landing craft with gunfire. The next day, she sank three sailing vessels, then two days later sank a coaster with gunfire. On the 21st the boat attacked a Japanese submarine with a full volley of six torpedoes, plus the rear one, but one torpedo detonated prematurely and the target turned away. Having expended all her ammo,
Shalimar sank another coaster with
star shells and
Oerlikon 20mm fire on the 27th and on the 31st damaged a coaster with her 20mm and
Vickers machine gun, after which the submarine fired two torpedoes, but both hit the bottom and the attack was abandoned. The submarine ended her patrol on 5 February, then sailed to
Colombo for repairs and refitting. On 18 July 1945, the submarine departed on another patrol in the Strait of Malacca, together with
HMS Seadog. On 27 July they sank a Japanese tank landing craft, then on 1 August,
Shalimar sank a sailing vessel with demolition charges and a
lugger with gunfire. The following day, the pair sank a tug and a lighter, then went on to sink another tug and a barge the next day, after which the submarine was bombed by an aircraft but sustained only light damage. On 5 August,
Shalimar and
Seadog sank a coaster, then separated to deal with different targets;
Shalimar sank two sailing vessels, then sank a coaster two days later. The submarine ended her last war patrol on 12 August, then departed for Britain, arriving in
Portsmouth on 23 October. The boat was placed in reserve at
Harwich a week later, then was sold in July 1950 to be
broken up at
Troon, Scotland. ==Notes==