The first ship adopted by Bridgend, H.M.S. Urge, left Malta on her final mission on April 27, 1942, bound for Alexandria in Egypt. Aboard the submarine were not just her 32 crew, but 11 other naval personnel and a war correspondent.
She was armed with four torpedo tubes and commanded by Lieutenant Commander E.P. Tomkinson DSO RN. Sadly, H.M.S. Urge was lost shortly after setting sail. It is believed she struck a mine off the coast of Malta. But her story does not end there.
In October, 2019, Lieutenant Edward Tomkinson's grandson, Francis Dickinson, was determined to find out what happened to the Urge by locating the wreck. He was part of a marine archaeology project involving a search team from The University of Malta and a Canadian naval researcher. You can get more Bridgend news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
