View source for HMS Triumph (N18)

{{short description|T-class submarine of the British Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Triumph}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
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|Ship image=HMS Triumph.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Triumph''
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name=''Triumph''
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|Ship builder=[[Vickers Armstrong]], [[Barrow-in-Furness|Barrow]]
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|Ship laid down=19 March 1937
|Ship launched=16 February 1938
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|Ship commissioned=2 May 1939
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|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]] N18
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|Ship fate=Sank December 1941–January 1942
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|Ship badge=[[File:TRIUMPH badge-1-.jpg|left|100px]]
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=[[British T class submarine]]
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|Ship displacement=*1,090 [[long ton|ton]]s surfaced
*1,575 tons submerged
|Ship length={{convert|275|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|26|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship draught={{convert|16.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship propulsion=*Two shafts
*Twin diesel engines 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) each
*Twin electric motors 1,450 hp (1.08 MW) each
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|Ship speed=*15.25 knots (28.7&nbsp;km/h) surfaced
*9 knots (16.6 km/h) submerged
|Ship range=4,500 nautical miles at 11 knots (8,330 km at 20&nbsp;km/h) surfaced
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|Ship test depth={{convert|300|ft|m|abbr=on}} max
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|Ship complement=64
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*6 internal forward-facing [[British 21 inch torpedo|{{convert|21|in|mm|adj=on|0}}]] [[torpedo tube]]s
*4 external forward-facing torpedo tubes
*6 reload torpedoes
*1 x [[QF 4 inch naval gun Mk IV, XII, XXII|{{convert|4|inch|mm|adj=on|0}} deck gun]]
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'''HMS ''Triumph'' (N18)''' was a [[British T class submarine|T-class]] [[submarine]] of the [[Royal Navy]]. She was laid down by [[Vickers]] at [[Barrow-in-Furness]] and launched in 1938. The boat was lost in transit in 1942, with a crew of 64, and its fate was unknown until the sunken boat was rediscovered in June 2023.

==Career==
At the onset of the Second World War, ''Triumph'' was a member of the 2nd Submarine Flotilla. From 26–29 August 1939, the flotilla deployed to its war bases at [[Dundee]] and Blyth.<ref name=rohwer1>Rohwer, p.1</ref>

===Home waters===

[[File:Triumph mine damage.jpg|thumb|right|HMS ''Triumph''{{'}}s bow displaying mine damage from December 1939]]

On 26 December 1939, ''Triumph'' hit a German [[Naval mine|mine]] in the North Sea. She lost {{convert|18|ft|m}} of her [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] when it was blown off. Her pressure hull was also damaged, but her torpedoes did not detonate. She managed to limp home under the protection of fighter aircraft and destroyers, and was under repair at Chatham Dockyard until 27 September 1940.

===Mediterranean===
Operating in the Mediterranean from early 1941, ''Triumph'' sank the Italian merchants ''Marzamemi'', ''Colomba Lofaro'', ''Ninfea'', ''Monrosa'', the Italian auxiliary patrol vessels V 136 / ''Tugnin F'', ''Valoroso'', V 190 / ''Frieda'' and V 137 / ''Trio Frassinetti'', the Italian tug ''Dante de Lutti'' and salvage vessel {{SS|Hercules|1910|2}}, the German merchant ''Luvsee'', and the Greek sailing vessels ''Panagiotis'' and ''Aghia Paraskevi''.  She also damaged the Italian armed merchant cruiser {{ship|Italian ship|Ramb III||2}}, the Italian tankers ''Ardor'' and ''Poseidone'', the Italian merchant ''Sidamo'' and the German merchant ''Norburg''

In June 1941 she sank the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Salpa|1932|2}} near northern Egypt.

==Sinking and discovery==

''Triumph'' was also used for covert operations, such as landing agents in German-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 one such mission in December 1941, in which she successfully landed agents at Antiparos, Greece on the 30th. She failed to pick up the agents as scheduled on 9 January, and was lost probably to a collision with a [[Naval mine|mine]]. All sixty-four crew were lost.<ref>[http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm Submarine losses 1904 to present day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808171910/http://www.rnsubmus.co.uk/general/losses.htm |date=8 August 2007 }}, RN Submarine Museum, Gosport</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?16102 |title=HMS Triumph (+1942) |publisher=Wrecksite |access-date=12 May 2023}}</ref> A memorial plaque to the boat and her lost crew members was placed in All Saints' Church, [[Lindfield, West Sussex]].

In June 2023 Greek researchers led by Kostas Thoktaridis discovered the lost submarine in the [[Aegean Sea]] at a depth of 203 metres. The submarine rests on the seabed of the open sea with an 8-degree starboard list, dozens of kilometres away from the shores of [[Sounion]]. The lowered periscopes and sealed hatches testify that the ''Triumph'' was in a deep dive during its final moments. The [[diving plane]]s and rudder are in a straight position, indicating that it was at a steady depth.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-08 |title=Greek diver discovers long-lost British World War II submarine {{!}} eKathimerini.com |url=https://www.ekathimerini.com/culture/1212769/greek-diver-discovers-long-lost-british-world-war-ii-submarine/ |access-date=2023-06-08 |website=www.ekathimerini.com |language=English}}</ref>

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{Cite Colledge2006}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Frampton |first1=Viktor|last2=Domenico|first2=Francesco de|title=Question 13/51: British Submarine Actions of WW II |journal=Warship International |date=2015 |volume=LII |issue=2 |pages=116–118 |issn=0043-0374|name-list-style=amp}}
* {{cite book | last = Hutchinson | first = Robert | title = Jane's Submarines: War Beneath the Waves from 1776 to the Present Day | url = https://archive.org/details/janessubmarinesw0000hutc | url-access = registration | year = 2001 | location = [[London]] | publisher = [[HarperCollins]] | isbn = 978-0-00-710558-8 | oclc = 53783010}}
* {{cite book |last=Rohwer |first=Jürgen |date=2005 |title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two |edition=Revised & Expanded |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, Maryland |isbn=1-59114-119-2}}

{{T class submarine}}
{{December 1939 shipwrecks}}
{{December 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{January 1942 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Mediterranean}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triumph (N18)}}
[[Category:British T-class submarines of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:1938 ships]]
[[Category:World War II submarines of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1939]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by mines]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1941]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in January 1942]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]