HMS Triumph (N18) was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness and launched in 1938. The ship was lost in transit in 1942, with a crew of 64, and its fate was unknown until the sunken ship was rediscovered in the Aegean Sea, in June 2023 at a depth of 666 feet, more than twice her deep dive test depth.
Built in Barrow, by Vickers Armstrong, HMS Triumph was a T-class submarine measuring 275 ft long. She had a beam of 26.5 ft, a draught of 16.3 ft and displaced 1090 tons on the surface and 1575 tons submerged. She had a top speed of 15.25 knots on the surface and 9 knots when dived. She was powered by two 2,500hp diesel engines and twin 1450 hp electric motors. HMS Triumph carried a complement of 64 officers and men, and was armed a total of ten forward facing torpedo tubes and a 4” deck gun. She was commissioned in May 1939
Triumph, based in Dundee, was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. Shortly after she commissioned, in December 1939, she hit a German mine in the North Sea, which blew her bow off and damaged the pressure hull, but fortunately her torpedoes did not detonate.
Following the subsequent repairs, she operated very successfully in the Mediterranean Sea from early 1941, sinking five Italian merchant ships, several auxiliary patrol vessels, including the Italian tug Dante de Lutti and salvage vessel Hercules, the German merchant Luvsee, and the Greek ships Panagiotis and Aghia Paraskevi. She also damaged the Italian merchant cruiser Ramb III, the Italian tankers Ardor and Poseidone, the Italian merchant Sidamo also including the German merchant Norburg. Finally in June 1941 she sank the Italian submarine Salpa near northern Egypt.
Later in the year Triumph was involved in covert operations, such as landing agents and special forces into enemy occupied areas. She was planned to be used as a rendezvous for commandos in Operation Colossus, but this had to be cancelled when the landing site became untenable. She undertook a mission in December 1941 in which she successfully landed agents at Antiparos, Greece on the 30th December. She failed to pick up the agents as scheduled on 9 January, and was lost probably to a collision with a mine. All sixty-four crew were lost.
In June 2023, Greek researchers, led by Kostas Thoktaridis discovered HMS Triumph in the Aegean Sea at a depth of 666 feet. The submarine now rests, listing 8 degrees to starboard, on the seabed, close to the shores of Cape Sounion.
The lowered periscopes and sealed hatches testify that HMS Triumph was dived during its final moments. The rudder and hydroplanes are in a straight position, indicating that she was at a steady depth
