HMS P39 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness. She had one of the shortest operational careers of any British submarine in the Mediterranean, serving only a few months before being destroyed during the Siege of Malta.
Construction
- Laid down: 14 October 1940
- Launched: 23 August 1941
- Commissioned: 16 November 1941
- Commanding Officer: Lieutenant Norman Marriott, DSC
Service
After working up in British waters, P39 conducted patrols from Gibraltar before joining the 10th Submarine Flotilla at Malta in early 1942. She operated against Axis shipping routes between Italy, Tunisia and North Africa.
Her operational career was largely uneventful in terms of sinkings, but she took part in patrols intended to intercept heavily escorted Italian convoys supplying Axis forces in North Africa.
Damage and Loss
P39's fate was closely tied to the intense Axis bombing campaign against Malta.
- During a patrol cycle from Malta she first suffered minor damage from an air attack while entering harbour.
- Subsequently, another air raid caused bomb and near-miss damage, including damage to her forward torpedo compartment.
- While undergoing repairs in Malta Dockyard, she was struck again during a major air raid on 26 March 1942.
A bomb exploded beneath the submarine and caused catastrophic structural damage, effectively breaking her back and making repair impossible.
The submarine was later:
- Raised from the harbour.
- Towed to Kalkara Creek and beached.
- Damaged again by further air attacks.
- Declared a total loss and eventually broken up in 1954.
