HMS ''Olympus'' was an
''Odin''-class submarine
A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
, a class originally designed for the
Royal Australian Navy to cope with long distance patrolling in Pacific waters.
''Olympus'' was built to the same design for the
Royal Navy.
She served from 1931 to 1939 on the
China Station and 1939-1940 out of
Colombo.
In 1940 she went to the
Mediterranean. She was sunk by a mine off
Malta in May 1942 killing 89 crew. 9 survivors: Herbert Rawlings,
Service
From 1931 to 1939 ''Olympus'' was part of the 4th Flotilla on the
China Station. From 1939 to 1940 she was with the 8th Flotilla,
Colombo,
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
In 1940 she was redeployed to the
Mediterranean. She was damaged on 7 July 1940 when bombed by Italian aircraft while in dock in Malta. Repairs and refit were completed on 29 November 1940. On 9 November 1941 ''Olympus'' attacked the Italian merchant ship ''Mauro Croce'' (1,049 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire in the
Gulf of Genoa. The target escaped without damage.
On 8 May 1942 ''Olympus'' struck a mine and sank off Malta in approximate position 35°55'N, 14°35'E. She had just left Malta on passage to
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
with personnel including many of the crews of the submarines
''Pandora'',
''P36'' and
''P39'' which had been sunk in air raids. There were only 9 survivors out of 98 aboard.
Survivors:
Herbert Rawlings
They had to swim back to Malta. 89 crew and passengers were lost with the ship.
During the War ''Olympus'' was adopted by the Town of
Peterborough as part of
Warship Week. The plaque from this adoption is held by the
National Museum of the Royal Navy
The National Museum of the Royal Navy was created in early 2009 to act as a single non-departmental public body for the museums of the Royal Navy. With venues across the United Kingdom, the museums detail the history of the Royal Navy operating o ...
in Portsmouth.
Discovery
Although a team of divers from the United Kingdom and Malta had claimed discovery of the wreck in 2008, its identity was not confirmed until a team from the Aurora Trust was able to re-locate the wreck in 2011 and capture images with a
ROV later in the year. The wreck sits upright in 115m of water and is largely intact.
Malta authorities gave the trust permission to announce the confirmation on 10 January 2012.
References
Bibliography
* D.K. Brown - Nelson to Vanguard, Chatham Maritime Press
*
External links
Battleships-cruisers.co.uk: Odin ClassUS diving crew finds wreck of British submarine used in second world war
Retrieved 12 January 2012.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olympus (N35)
Odin-class submarines of the Royal Navy
Ships built on the River Clyde
1928 ships
World War II submarines of the United Kingdom
Lost submarines of the United Kingdom
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
Maritime incidents in May 1942
Ships sunk by mines
Shipwrecks of Malta