HMS P222: Shipwreck Map, Location & Facts

Name	HMS P222	Wikidata label
Ship type	submarine	Wikidata P31 instance of
Cause of loss	War action	Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence
Nationality / flag	United Kingdom	Wikidata P137 operator → P17 country
Operator	Royal Navy	Wikidata P137 operator
Conflict	World War II	Wikidata P607 conflict
Sea / ocean	Tyrrhenian Sea	Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon
Nearest coast	Italy	Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 13 km from land
Position	40.4833, 14.3333	Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0)

About the wreck

HMS P222 was a third-batch S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Commissioned in 1942, the boat had an uneventful first war patrol in the Alboran Sea. She intercepted the Vichy French merchant ship SS Mitidja in July, then provided protection for an Allied convoy to Malta in Operation Pedestal the next month. The navy intended that she was to be sighted on the surface by enemy aircraft to discourage potential attacks by surface warships. Though P222 did not encounter enemy forces, the convoy arrived at its destination on 15 August after sustaining severe losses. She then reconnoitred along the coast of Algeria in advance of Operation Torch, and was attacked by a French patrol ship, but sustained no damage.

On 30 November, P222 departed Gibraltar to patrol off Naples, Italy, but failed to return at Algiers. The Italian torpedo boat Fortunale claimed to have sunk a submarine with depth charges on 12 December, south-east of Capri. This remains the most probable cause of her loss, although the sinking has never been confirmed.

Location

Recorded position: 40.4833, 14.3333 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
Sea / ocean: Tyrrhenian Sea
Nearest coast: Italy

Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.

OpenStreetMap

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMS P222 (revision 1376003920), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.