📍 HMS P33 Submarine Memorial
Location Map Coordinates 35.902231, 14.519625
Royal Navy U-class Submarine (1940–1941)
Introduction
HMS P33 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine, one of the small but highly effective submarines that operated from Malta during the Second World War. Designed for operations in the confined waters of the Mediterranean, the U-class became one of Britain's most successful submarine classes, attacking Axis convoys supplying North Africa.
Commissioned in 1940, HMS P33 joined the Tenth Submarine Flotilla based at Malta. From Grand Harbour she undertook patrols against Italian shipping routes linking Sicily with Libya, helping to disrupt supplies reaching Axis forces fighting in North Africa.
Unlike the older named submarines such as Grampus or Odin, HMS P33 served throughout her career under her numerical designation. She is one of several numbered U-class submarines commemorated on Malta's Submarine Roll of Honour.
Technical Specifications
| Class | U-class submarine |
|---|---|
| Builder | Vickers-Armstrongs, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Launched | 18 August 1940 |
| Commissioned | 30 October 1940 |
| Length | 191 ft (58.2 m) |
| Beam | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Displacement | 540 tons surfaced / 730 tons submerged |
| Speed | 11.25 knots surfaced / 10 knots submerged |
| Complement | 33 officers and men |
| Armament | 4 bow torpedo tubes, 8 torpedoes, 3-inch deck gun |
Service from Malta
During 1941 HMS P33 operated from Malta as part of Britain's submarine offensive against Axis shipping in the central Mediterranean. The submarine carried out patrols in dangerous waters heavily defended by mines, aircraft and anti-submarine vessels.
Although her operational career was brief, HMS P33 achieved success against enemy merchant shipping before undertaking her final patrol during the summer of 1941.
Loss of HMS P33
HMS P33 sailed from Malta on her final patrol during August 1941 under the command of Lieutenant R. D. Whiteway-Wilkinson, DSC. Her assigned patrol area lay off the coast of Sicily, where British submarines sought to intercept Axis merchant convoys supplying German and Italian forces in North Africa.
After leaving Grand Harbour she failed to make her scheduled wireless reports and never returned to Malta. No distress signal was received and no survivors were ever found.
The exact circumstances of her loss remain uncertain. Contemporary Royal Navy assessments concluded that HMS P33 most probably struck an Italian defensive minefield laid off Sicily. Other wartime reports suggested she may have been destroyed by Italian anti-submarine forces, but no conclusive evidence has ever emerged.
The submarine was officially declared lost with all hands, one of several Royal Navy submarines that disappeared while operating from Malta during the critical convoy battles of 1941.
Roll of Honour – Crew Lost
All thirty-three officers and ratings aboard HMS P33 were lost when the submarine disappeared during her final patrol in August 1941.
The Roll of Honour below is reproduced from Malta Defiant & Triumphant – Rolls of Honour 1940–1943.
| Name | Rank / Rating |
|---|---|
| WHITEWAY-WILKINSON, R D, DSC | Lieut. - CO |
| ALLEN, J H | Ldg Sto |
| ASKEW, V C | PO |
| BARNES, R H | Ldg Sea |
| BILTON, R C | AB |
| BRIGGS, E W R | Ldg Sea |
| BYGOTT, R H | Lieut |
| CUNNINGHAM, R L | Lieut |
| DORAN, L H | ERA 2 |
| DOWLER, C G | AB |
| FAZACKERLEY, J | ERA 4 |
| FROST, R S | Lieut RNR |
| GAMBOLD, J O | Ldg Sto |
| GRUBB, E G | Ldg Sto |
| GURDY, C S | OD |
| HANKEY, K | AB |
| HARMS, J | AB |
| HOWLETT, G L | PO |
| JAGO, T E | Ldg Sig |
| JEHU, T L | AB |
| McMAHON, J | Ldg Tel |
| McNEILAGE, C | Sto PO |
| MEDLEY, J | Sto 1 |
| MORCOMB, T | Sto 1 |
| MORRIS, C B | Tel |
| MORRISON, W | AB |
| MOULDER, E T | OD |
| SMITH, A H | Tel |
| SMITH, S T | Sto PO |
| SPARROW, W J | Ch ERA |
| WARNER, A | OD |
| WOLVERSON, J T, DSM | PO Tel |
Legacy
Although HMS P33 served for less than a year, she formed part of the remarkable submarine campaign based at Malta that severely disrupted Axis supply lines across the Mediterranean. The risks faced by the submarine crews operating from the island were immense, with mines proving one of the greatest dangers.
Today HMS P33 is remembered on the Submarine Roll of Honour at Fort St Elmo, Valletta, alongside the other Royal Navy, Free French and Greek submarines lost while operating from Malta during the Second World War.