HMS ''Triumph'' (N18) was a T-class

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. She was laid down by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

and launched in 1938. The boat was lost in transit in 1942, with a crew of 64, and its fate was unknown until the sunken boat was rediscovered in June 2023.

Career

At the onset of the Second World War, ''Triumph'' was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

and Blyth.Rohwer, p.1

Home waters

On 26 December 1939, ''Triumph'' hit a German

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

in the North Sea. She lost of her

bow BOW as an acronym may refer to: * Bag of waters, amniotic sac * Bartow Municipal Airport (IATA:BOW), a public use airport near Bartow, Florida, United States * Basic operating weight of an aircraft * BOW counties, made of Brown, Outagamie, and Winn ...

when it was blown off. Her pressure hull was also damaged, but her torpedoes did not detonate. She managed to limp home under the protection of fighter aircraft and destroyers, and was under repair at Chatham Dockyard until 27 September 1940.

Mediterranean

Operating in the Mediterranean from early 1941, ''Triumph'' sank the Italian merchants ''Marzamemi'', ''Colomba Lofaro'', ''Ninfea'', ''Monrosa'', the Italian auxiliary patrol vessels V 136 / ''Tugnin F'', ''Valoroso'', V 190 / ''Frieda'' and V 137 / ''Trio Frassinetti'', the Italian tug ''Dante de Lutti'' and salvage vessel , the German merchant ''Luvsee'', and the Greek sailing vessels ''Panagiotis'' and ''Aghia Paraskevi''. She also damaged the Italian armed merchant cruiser , the Italian tankers ''Ardor'' and ''Poseidone'', the Italian merchant ''Sidamo'' and the German merchant ''Norburg'' In June 1941 she sank the Italian submarine near northern Egypt.

Sinking and discovery

''Triumph'' was also used for covert operations, such as landing agents in German-occupied areas. She was planned to be used as a rendezvous for commandos in

Operation Colossus Operation Colossus was the codename given to the first airborne operation undertaken by the British military, which occurred on 10 February 1941 during World War II. The British airborne establishment was formed in June 1940 by the order of th ...

, but this had to be cancelled when the landing site became untenable. She undertook one such mission in December 1941, in which she successfully landed agents at Antiparos, Greece on the 30th. She failed to pick up the agents as scheduled on 9 January, and was lost probably to a collision with a

. All sixty-four crew were lost. A memorial plaque to the boat and her lost crew members was placed in All Saints' Church,

Lindfield, West Sussex Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with li ...

. In June 2023 Greek researchers led by Kostas Thoktaridis discovered the lost submarine in the

Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans and Anatolia, and covers an area of some . In the north, the Aegean is connected to the Marmara Sea, which in turn con ...

at a depth of 203 metres. The submarine rests on the seabed of the open sea with an 8-degree starboard list, dozens of kilometres away from the shores of

Sounion Cape Sounion (Modern Greek: Aκρωτήριο Σούνιο ''Akrotírio Soúnio'' ; ''Άkron Soúnion'', latinized ''Sunium''; Venetian: ''Capo Colonne'' "Cape of Columns") is the promontory at the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula, ...

. The lowered periscopes and sealed hatches testify that the ''Triumph'' was in a deep dive during its final moments. The

diving plane Diving planes, also known as hydroplanes, are control surfaces found on a submarine which allow the vessel to Pitch (flight), pitch its bow and stern up or down to assist in the process of submerging or surfacing the boat, as well as controlling ...

s and rudder are in a straight position, indicating that it was at a steady depth.

References

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* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Triumph (N18) British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1938 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in December 1939 Ships sunk by mines World War II shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea Maritime incidents in December 1941 Maritime incidents in January 1942 Submarines lost with all hands