attack was 100 miles northeast from Wanklyn's patrol area and he may have changed position to find more targets. It is also possible that the submarine was sunk by a mine on 11 April 1942 near Tripoli, when a submarine was reported close to a minefield. A third and less likely theory came from an alleged air and surface attack on a submarine contact by German aircraft and the escort of a convoy on 14 April off Misrata, but no official Axis record of this action was found after the end of World War II. More recent research carried out by Italian naval specialist Francesco Mattesini points to a German aerial patrol supporting the same convoy, comprising two Dornier Do 17 and two Messerschmitt Bf 110 aircraft, that attacked an underwater contact with bombs two hours before the Pegaso incident. The author also asserts that the seaplane crew was unsure if the target they pinpointed to Pegaso was a submarine or a school of dolphins. Mattesini admits the possibility that Pegaso could have finished off the submarine previously damaged by the German aircraft. Canadian naval researcher Platon Alexiades has concluded that the Pegaso and German aircraft claims can be dismissed outright. Close examinations of British records show that submarine could not have been in the positions where these attacks occurred. Following an ULTRA intercept and a signal from Captain S.10 (the 10th flotilla commander), it is most likely HMS Upholder was lost on a mine as she was proceeding to intercept the Monreale/Unione convoy on 13 April. Her likely route would have brought her close to an Italian minefield laid by the destroyers Alvise Da Mosto and Giovanni da Verrazzano on 1st May 1941 (section d AN of the "T" minefield) some 15 miles north of Tripoli. Tribute When, on 22 August 1942, the Admiralty announced her loss, the communiqué carried with it an unusual tribute to Wanklyn and his men: "It is seldom proper for Their Lordships to draw distinction between different services rendered in the course of naval duty, but they take this opportunity of singling out those of HMS Upholder, under the command of Lt.Cdr. David Wanklyn, for special mention. She was long employed against enemy communications in the Central Mediterranean, and she became noted for the uniformly high quality of her services in that arduous and dangerous duty. Such was the standard of skill and daring