P39
Lt. N.Marriott, DSC
On her last mission she patrolled the area east of Tunisia.
Log of Patrols
| 6th March 1942 | Damaged in an air raid by Stuka dive bombers. The fuelling lighter moored nearby received a direct hit & burning oil was showered over the base. The lighter quickly sank. P39 had 172 battery cells cracked, warheads were knocked off torpedoes, bed plates of auxilliary machinery destroyed. Many welded brackets in the boat snapped. She was later towed to the dockyard for repairs. |
| 12th March | Near missed by a 2,000 lb bomb whilst berthed at Manoel Island & badly damaged. She was towed round to the dockyards but 2 weeks later she was bombed again |
| 26th March | In previous days P39 was in the dockyard for repairs but was moved to Store Wharf as a convoy was due in which would have meant heavy raids concentrated on this area. On the 26th in the same raid SS Talabot was hit. A bomb hit the water close by at a shallow trajectory & went under the boat exploding on the dock wall. This broke her back. No crew were onboard at this time so no casualties. |
| 1st April | Towed away & beached in Kalkara where stores & spares were stripped. During the April raids she was repeatedly hit by bombs & later sank in shallow water.Spares & stores were taken to the submarine base at Lazaretto. |
| Broken up for scrap in 1954. |
References
| The Cross & Ensign. A Naval History of Malta 1798-1979 | Book by Peter Elliot |
See also the page HMS Olympus