Stoker 1st Class Robert Reginald Gunn of Belfast died as a result of a depth charge attack from an Italian corvette in the Gulf of Tunisia in December 1942.
Stoker 1st Class
D/KX 133727
Stoker 1st Class Robert Reginald Gunn (D/KX 133727) served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. He was the son of the late Robert Reginald Gunn and Margaret D. Gunn of Ligoniel, Belfast. Robert followed in his father’s footsteps, enlisting in the Royal Navy in 1940 aged 16 years old.
Stoker 1st Class Gunn’s recorded date of death is 5th January 1943 aged 18 years old while serving on H.M. Submarine P48. It was on this date authorities declared the vessel overdue. Gunn’s likely actual date of death was Christmas Day, 25th December 1942 when the British submarine came under attack.
Depth charges fired from the Italian corvette Ardente sank H.M. Submarine P48 northwest of Zembra in the Gulf of Tunis on 25th December 1942. The submarine had departed from Malta two days earlier to intercept Ardente and Ardito as they escorted a convoy bound for Tunisia.
Stoker 1st Class Gunn has no known grave and his name is on Panel 82, Column 1 of the Plymouth Naval Memorial, Devon, England.