The wreck of a British submarine that helped pioneer special forces operations has been discovered off the coast of Greece, where it sank during World War II.
Veteran Greek diver Kostas Thoctarides announced on social media he found the wreck of HMS Triumph at an undisclosed location beneath the Aegean Sea, the AFP news agency reports.
It marked the culmination of his search for the missing Royal Navy vessel that spanned more than 20 years.
Thoctarides, who began exploring for the submarine in 1998, said in a Facebook post earlier this month it was “the hardest mission I have ever undertaken in my life”.
He also posted video and photos of the wreck site at 200m below the sea, showing the submarine’s compass, deck gun and steering wheel.
Researchers in Germany, Britain, Italy and Greece helped identify the vessel’s final resting place, Thoctarides said.
HMS Triumph was officially declared missing with its 64 crew in January 1942 as it carried out a secret mission off Greece, Live Science reports.
It was scheduled to rescue about 30 British troops who had escaped their German guards from a small Aegean Island.
But the submarine never turned up and the escapees were recaptured.
The fateful mission was the last for HMS Triumph after it helped pioneer special operations during the war.
These included the rescue of several Allied soldiers trapped in North Africa and an infiltration into Nazi-occupied Greece of British spies to help resistance groups.
The discovery of HMS Triumph comes after explorers announced in April they found a sunken Japanese ship that was torpedoed off the coast of the Philippines in 1942, resulting in Australia’s largest maritime wartime loss with a total of 1080 lives.