Found! British WWII sub sunk off the Libyan coast
FOR more than 70 years, the whereabouts of a British submarine which vanished in the Mediterranean during the Second World War has remained a mystery.
But now a 76-year- old scuba diver has discovered its wreck 160ft below the waves off the Libyan coast.
Researchers now believe the Royal Navy submarine sank along with its 29 crew and ten passengers after being dive-bombed by an Italian bi-plane.
HMS Urge was paid for by the town of Bridgend, South Wales, after residents raised money by organising dances and whist drives.
It disappeared while sailing from Malta to the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 1942 and families of those on board never knew what happened to their loved ones.
But Belgian diver and dive archaeologist Jean-Pierre Misson discovered the wreck using sonar while diving off Libya at Marsa el Hilal, near Tobruk in 2012. However, as
‘Totally out of bounds now’
the security situation in the country deteriorated after the downfall of Colonel Gaddafi he had to give up his plans to dive on the site.
He analysed the sonar pictures earlier this year and has finally identified the wreck as HMS Urge from the distinctive shape of Britain’s U-class submarines and corroborating German naval reports from the time.
Mr Mission, who is now helping to trace the family of those who died, said: ‘I really do not know how the relatives of the captain and crew of HMS Urge will take it – they might have been content knowing their loved ones were somewhere in the huge ocean rather than being too close to fanatics in Libya.
‘Mind you, there is no chance the wreck will be the target of any desecration as it is just too deep and difficult to find.’
Mr Mission said due to the collapse of law and order in war-torn Libya, it was unlikely anybody else would be able to venture to the wreckage in the coming months.
Mr Misson said: ‘I regret it does not seem anyone can reach this place in Libya any time soon. Marsa el Hilal is totally out of bounds and at 76 my only hope is to reach HMS Urge in another lifetime.’
He added: ‘My hope is that one day Europe or Nato will organize a visit to the submarine in the bay, to remember and honour all those men as their sacrifice has brought the longtime peace under the European flag.’
HMS Urge cost £300,000 in 1941 – more than £12million today – and was built thanks to the townspeople of Bridgend’s efforts during a National Warship Week where cities and towns across the country raised money to fund the building of ships and weapons.
They raised the money through a series of ‘grand dances’, whist drives, art exhibitions and a football match. The people of Bridgend adopted the submarine and its 29 crew after it was completed and regularly sent them parcels of food and luxuries – until they vanished without trace on April 29, 1942.
The submarine had been attacking and sinking Italian shipping from its base in Malta throughout 1941 and 1942 in an attempt to prevent them resupplying their German allies in North Africa – Field Marshal Rommel and his Afrika Korps.
On 27 April 1942 Captain EP Tomkinson, his 29 crew and ten passengers left Malta for their new base in Egypt. They failed to arrive at Alexandria on 6 May 1942. Official sources attributed her loss to a mine outside Malta but another theory based on German naval reports holds that on 29 April HMS Urge attacked the Italian sailing vessel San Giusto off the Libyan coast.
In the immediate area was a convoy of three German barges, escorted by an Italian CR.42 biplane. As the Urge attacked San Giusto, the biplane dive-bombed and sank it with the loss of all hands.
After the discovery of the wreck in the same area as the sinking reported by the German navy it is now believed to be the most likely cause of Urge’s demise.
Mr Misson said he had submitted a statement of identification to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and Submariners Associations UK. He added: ‘I hope I have fulfilled all my obligations to the families of the crew.’