A British submarine lost during World War Two has been discovered at the bottom of the sea off the coast of Malta.

Led by a marine archaeology survey team from the University of Malta, divers located the wrecked HMS Urge which went missing on 27th April 1942, believed to be struck a German mine during the height of the siege of Malta.

The Urge was carrying a 32-strong crew, 11 other naval personnel and a journalist to Alexandria. It was meant to land on 6th May, but its fate became a mystery.

A sonar image revealed that the wreck of the submarine currently stands upright at a depth of 108m on the seabed, her deck gun facing forward while a large chunk of its bow is missing.

Speaking to TVM, Prof. Timothy Gambin said that “the damage to the bow shows a very violent explosion where the entire bow section is detached from the rest of the submarine, indicating that the ship would have sunk very fast giving no chance to anybody to survive from this tragedy.”

A ceremony is planned for April to declare the site an official war grave, with the researchers hoping the daughter-of the Urge’s captain, Lieutenant-Commander E.P. Tomkinson, will be present.

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