The Royal Navy's history stretches back to 1546 when it was established by Henry VIII. Since then, many illustrious names have served in what was once the world's most powerful navy. One name that has served the Royal Navy famously over the years is the HMS Triumph. In total, there have been ten ships bearing the illustrious "Triumph" title, and all have served honorably with the fleet. The first HMS Triumph was a 68-gun galleon launched in 1562, and the latest is a Trafalgar-class nuclear submarine
launched in 1991. We're focusing on the eighth HMS Triumph, a submarine launched in 1938 and tragically lost in the Mediterranean Sea in 1942, a few years after the U.K.'s mysterious aircraft carrier loss in 1940.
HMS Triumph and her 64 crew were lost during WWII, and like many others, her ultimate fate remained a mystery for decades. It took a twenty-five-year search before a Greek diver called Kostas Thoctarides finally located the submarine in June 2023, resting 670 feet below the surface of the Aegean Sea. Kostas Thoctarides has a history of discovering lost submarines, discovering five off the Greek coast. He described the discovery of the HMS Triumph as the hardest mission of his life. The submarine's fore section showed damage consistent with an explosion, but it's unclear whether the damage was caused by a mine or an onboard explosion. To understand how the Triumph met her end, it's worth exploring her wartime service and what we know about her disappearance.
Read more: 10 Of The Largest Navies In The World, Ranked By Self-Reported Total Naval Assets
The HMS Triumph's Short And Glorious Career
If a mine sealed the fate of the HMS Triumph, it wasn't her first encounter with such a weapon. The submarine sustained damage earlier in the war when she hit a German mine in the North Sea on Boxing Day 1939. Protected by RAF fighter aircraft, she limped home and was ready for action again in September 1940. She remained in the Mediterranean until her tragic end. Throughout her operations in the Mediterranean, she racked up an impressive war record. She was involved in sinking or damaging 22 enemy ships, including the Italian submarine Salpa.
HMS Triumph was also heavily involved in covert operations, and it was on one such mission that contact with HMS Triumph was lost. In December 1941, HMS Triumph successfully landed British agents and Greek resistance fighters behind enemy lines on the Greek island of Antiparos. She failed to turn up to extract the agents as arranged on January 9, 1942. We don't know when or exactly what happened to the submarine, but we do know that the submarine met its end between those two dates, either from a mine or an onboard explosion. The state of the submarine's control surfaces, periscope, and hatches also suggests it was in a steady deep dive when disaster struck. It may not be the worst military submarine disaster, but this small patch of the Aegean Sea is now a maritime war grave for 64 brave soldiers.
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