Diving in the off season assures you of smaller dive group sizes, but generally also means less opportunities as many operators shut up shop for the winter. I was lucky to have found a dive shop on Djerba that was willing to take me out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Using a GPS to navigate, Mohammed backed off the throttle as we neared the dive site. After a little manoeuvring in the choppy seas, Magid heaved the anchor overboard. It was time to put on our gear and prepare to descend to the Alga<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Alga<\/em> was an Italian steamship of 1851 gross registered tonnage. One of the hundreds of Italian cargo vessels tasked with the supply of materiel to Axis forces in North Africa, she was en route Palermo to Tripoli on the 9th of October, 1942.1<\/sup> In order to avoid the Allied forces stationed at Malta, her southward course tracked close to the coast of Tunisia.2<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n HMS Unbending<\/em> P-37 was a U Class submarine launched on the 12th of May, 1941. (Many of her peers were similarly named, including HMS Unbroken, Unrivalled, Unshaken <\/em>and Unswerving<\/em>.) From July 1942 until June 1943, she was under the command of Lieutenant Edward Alfred Stanley, DSC RN.3<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Alga<\/em> and Unbending <\/em>were fated to ‘cross paths’ on October the 9th, 1942, with Royal Navy Admiralty Document 199\/1826 describing how the day unfolded aboard Unbending<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1450 hours – Sighted a schooner on a southerly course. Closed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1500 – 1600 hours – Sighted 5 more schooners spread over about 5 nautical miles. One pair kept consistently together and one of them had a crowsnest on the foremast. In view of them being A\/S <\/em>(anti-submarine) schooners and the number of aircraft in the vicinity, it was decided not to attack until dark.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1858 hours – In position 34\u00b009’N, 11\u00b006’E engaged the schooner that was closest to the shore with the 12pdr gun. Fired four rounds of High Explosive. The schooner was abandoned. Proceeded alongside and set fire to the schooner. The schooner was about 150 feet long and loaded with large sacks whose contents were not examined.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1910 hours – Began a search for other schooners.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2205 hours – Sighted a darkened southbound merchant ship of about 2500 tons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2225 hours – In position 34\u00b002’N, 11\u00b005’E fired two torpedoes from 1500 yards. One hit was obtained and the ship blew up. HE was heard for 10 minutes, possibly an escort but none was seen. P 37 then retired to seaward.<\/em>4<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n Teetering on the edge of the lurching runabout, I held my mask in place and rolled backwards over the side. The rush of cold water was a shock, and I was breathing hard when I reached the anchor line. Trying to calm my breathing, I returned Mohammed’s ‘ok’ hand signal and released the air from my BCD. The anchor line whipped in our hands as we descended towards the wreck. The visibility wasn’t great due to the choppy sea, but soon the wreckage of the Alga appeared, lying 19 metres beneath the surface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reaching the wreck, Mohammed and I began exploring the Alga, starting with the remains of the hull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ghosts-of-war.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/HMS-Unbending-Malta.jpg\")