HMS ''P36'' was a

British U class submarine The British U-class submarines (officially "War Emergency 1940 and 1941 programmes, short hull") were a class of 49 small submarines built just before and during the Second World War. The class is sometimes known as the ''Undine'' class, after ...

, a member of the third group of that class to be built. She was sunk at the quayside in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in 1942, and some of her survivors were

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

ed again in another submarine less than six weeks later.

Service history

On 26 November 1941 on patrol in the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

, ''P36'' attacked a German submarine with torpedoes south-west of Belle-Ile island. The torpedoes missed their target which may have been one of ''U-133'', ''U-552'', ''U-567'' or ''U-577''. On 13 February 1942 ''P36'' fired four torpedoes against the Italian

heavy cruiser A heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in calibre, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Treat ...

s ''Gorizia'' and ''Trento'' in the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

about east of Capo Spartivento, Calabria, Italy. None of the torpedoes hit. Two days later, ''P36'' torpedoed and damaged the off

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

. On 1 April 1942 ''P36'' was lying alongside a jetty at Sliema Harbour in Malta when the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

attacked the harbour. A large bomb from a

Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 ''Sturzkampfgeschwader 3'' (StG 3—Dive Bomber Wing 3) was a Dive bomber wing in the German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II and operated the Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka''. The wing was activated on 9 July 1940 using personnel from German medium bo ...

aircraft landed sufficiently near to the submarine to hole her and she began to sink. Despite desperate efforts to save the submarine she rolled over and sank. She was not raised until 7 August 1958 and then scuttled off Malta on 22 August 1958. Following the loss of ''P36'' in 1942, some surviving crew members embarked on board another submarine HMS ''Olympus'' bound for

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. Shortly after leaving Malta on 8 May 1942, ''Olympus'' struck a mine and sank. The nine survivors of the 98 passengers and crew swam back to the Maltese coast.Uboat.net: HMS Olympus
/ref>

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:P036 British U-class submarines Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1941 ships World War II submarines of the United Kingdom Submarines sunk by aircraft Lost submarines of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Maritime incidents in April 1942 Ships sunk by German aircraft