Shipwreck Hunters Find Long-Lost WWII-Era Submarine

Shipwreck hunters have located a long-lost World War II submarine which sank off the coast of Greece 81 years ago, Live Science reported.

The HMS Trooper disappeared in October 1943 after running a covert mission to ferry three Greek resistance fighters to the island of Kalamos. The Trooper was then sent to patrol the Aegean Sea, in which German forces had planted naval mines. The submarine was reported missing on Oct. 17, 1943, when it didn’t arrive in Beirut as scheduled. All 64 of its crew members were presumed dead.

After nearly a century of searching, an underwater research team led by Kostas Thoctarides located the remains of the Trooper in the Icarian Sea, a region Thoctarides called “one of the most difficult seas with strong winds, waves, and strong underwater currents.”

The wreck was located with shipboard sonar, which maps a recreation of the ocean’s floor. Once located and explored using a remotely operated vehicle, the Trooper was identified by comparing it against the original shipbuilding plans.

Finding the Trooper was something of a passion project for Thoctarides, owner of an underwater recovery company. He’d headed 14 previous expeditions to find the submarine, but those searches were too far east. He and his team finally found the wreck on Oct. 3, 2024, 830 feet below the ocean’s surface. The Trooper was split into three sections—the bow, the midship, and the stern—which would indicate that it met its doom at the hand of a German naval mine.

"Constant and persistent research paid off,” Thoctarides said.

The discovery was significant for not just Thoctarides, but the many families who lost loved ones in the wreck. As the site is considered a war grave, it will not be disturbed or altered in any way.

"I have been aware for many years of the strenuous effort by the Greek research team to locate the wreck of the submarine and am now very pleased and excited that their endeavors have been rewarded," said British Royal Navy Captain Richard Wraith, the son of the Trooper's commander, Lt. John Wraith. "I hope that any family members of those lost with my father may be able to use the definitive location of Trooper as a focal point to help lay to rest any memories of their loved ones,” his statement concluded.