Malta & Gozo · Malta · Wreck
HMS Stubborn
An S-class submarine sitting upright on the seabed
Area photo: Michaela Yos Niki Loxa · CC BY 4.0
HMS Stubborn is a Royal Navy S-class submarine scuttled off Malta after the war to serve as a sonar target. She now sits upright on the seabed off Qawra Point, at a depth that puts her within reach of technical divers only.
Also known as Stubborn P238, P238.
Where it is and how deep
35.9827° N, 14.4462° EApproximate position — the dashed circle shows where the site lies; your operator's briefing has the mooring.
The dive
The submarine sits upright between 50 and 56 m, about 2 km off Qawra Point, with the seabed beneath her reaching 57 m. Her 66 m hull is the whole of the dive, and every part of it lies at a depth only technical divers can reach.
The wreck
- Vessel
- HMS Stubborn (P238)
- Type
- S-class submarine
- Length
- 66 m (217 ft)
- Built
- 1942
- Sunk
- 1946
- Cause
- Scuttled as an ASDIC sonar target
- Lies
- Upright, about 2 km off Qawra Point
HMS Stubborn was built by Cammell Laird and launched on 11 November 1942. After her war service she was sunk on 30 April 1946 as an ASDIC target off Malta, north-east of St Paul's Bay, and the 66 m submarine has rested upright on the seabed ever since.
Marine life and season
The sources we used don't single out particular species here.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair | Fair | Fair | Good | Good | Prime | Prime | Prime | Prime | Good | Good | Fair |
Season follows Malta & Gozo: Jun–Sep is the main season, with the sea averaging 21–26 °C; it never drops below 14 °C, so diving carries on through the winter.
Dive videos
HMS Stubborn P238 Submarine U-Dive Malta · U-Dive Malta, Abyss diving club on YouTube
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Stubborn_(P238) — en.wikipedia.org
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Diving_in_Malta — en.wikivoyage.org
- maltadives.com/sites — maltadives.com
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