Wreck of Missing WWII British Sub Found

The wreck of a British submarine that disappeared at the height of WWII has been discovered at the bottom of the sea off Malta, Reuters reported.

HMS Urge set sail April 27, 1942, carrying a 32-strong crew, 11 other naval personnel and a journalist, but never reached Alexandria — where it and other submarines at Malta were order to leave because of a German seige.

A team from the University of Malta, which has spent two decades surveying the local seas, said at the request of the grandson of Urge's commander, they combed an area this summer that had once been heavily mined by the Germans, Reuters reported.

A sonar image revealed a submarine-like shape at a depth of 425 feet about two miles off of the coast.

"The damage to the bow shows a very violent explosion . . . indicating that the ship would have sunk very fast giving no chance to anybody to survive from this tragedy," professor Timmy Gambin, who led the university mission, he told Maltese broadcaster PBS, Reuters reported.

"Besides the damage on the bow, the wreck is in absolutely fantastic condition. It is sitting upright on the seabed, very proud, in the direction that it was ordered to take on its way to Alexandria."

The university said the British defense ministry confirmed it was the Urge.

A ceremony is planned for April to declare the site an official war grave.

• Japanese Submarine Found: Historic WWII-Era I-400 Was Sunk Off Hawaii
• Submarine Search Ends for WWII Remains in Italy's Lake Garda