Marine explorers find sunken British submarine

The submarine sank on April 10, 1940 with 53 men on board after it was hit by torpedoes from a German submarine – where exactly was still unclear. It was discovered in the spring as part of the MAREANO program, which uses a diving robot to map the biology and geology of the seabed. As part of another voyage it could now be determined which submarine it was.

At a depth of about 160 meters, the scientists discovered an elongated structure that, as the researchers soon realized, was not a natural formation, but a wreck. “After examining the wreckage more closely with a camera, we realized that it came from a submarine,” said MARENO research leader Kjell Bakkeplass. Although the submarine’s typical turret was destroyed, other features such as the side rudders at the stern and the shape of the hull indicated that it was a submarine.

Wreckage identified from documents
The researchers had already discovered four wrecks during their journey, all but one previously unknown. To clarify which submarine it could be, Bakkeplass showed images of the wreck to marine experts and looked for clues in historical naval documents from several countries.

In the fall, the researchers sent another diving robot to the wreck as part of a new mapping trip. “We now knew what features to look for so that we could identify the wreck as the ‘Thistle’,” the researcher explains. The British Navy has now also confirmed that the submarine is HMS Thistle (pictured above).

HMS Thistle was used in the Second World War and was sunk by the German submarine U 4 on April 10, 1940. It was the first combat loss for the British T-class submarines.