HMS Traveller (N48)

Traveller spent most of her career serving in the Mediterranean. She was unsuccessful in most of her attacks, sinking the Italian merchantman Albachiara, but launching failed attacks against the Italian merchant ship Ezilda Croce, the Italian 'small light cruiser' Cattaro (the former Yugoslavian Dalmacija), the Italian tanker Proserpina (the former French Beauce) and the Italian torpedo boats Castore and Ciclone. She also claimed to have attacked two so far unidentified submarines.^[1]

Traveller left Malta on 28 November 1942 for a patrol in the Gulf of Taranto. She carried out a reconnaissance of Taranto harbour for a Chariot human torpedo attack (Operation Principal). The submarine did not return from the operation and was reported overdue on 12 December. She probably struck an Italian mine on or about 4 December.^[2]

During the war, Traveller was adopted by the Borough of Leyton in London as part of Warship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth.^[3]

• Caruana, Joseph (2012). "Emergency Victualling of Malta During WWII". Warship International. LXIX (4): 357–364. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of All Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present (3rd Rev ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475.
• Hutchinson, Robert (2001). Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-710558-8. OCLC 53783010.