At 0445 on 27 April 1942 HMS Urge slipped her lines at HMS Talbot, the submarine base in Lazzaretto Creek, Malta, and headed out of Marsamxett Harbour to begin her passage to Alexandria. That was the last that was known of her.
She failed to reach her destination on the scheduled date of 6 May, and as further days passed hopes for the submarine faded. On 16 May the Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean, reported that Urge was now considered lost and there was no information to show the cause of her loss, adding, ‘Loss of this outstanding submarine and commanding officer is much to be regretted.’
Her commanding officer, Lt Cdr Edward Tomkinson, was one of the most respected officers in the submarine service and was revered by his crew, and and her ship’s company had a distinguished record of war service. Captain George ‘Shrimp’ Simpson, commanding officer of the famous 10th Submarine Flotilla, lamented: ‘The four survivors [submarines] of our small flotilla felt the loss acutely; it was natural that we all felt that if such Olympian exponents of skill and judgement fall, then the odds against survival were small.’ Tomkinson had joined the Navy at Dartmouth, aged 14, in 1925. Promoted to lieutenant in 1933, he took command of on 19 took 12 passengers on the voyage from Malta to Alexandria: 11 submariners from the Malta flotilla and a war correspondent, who was intending to cover the desert war.
