HMS Olympus (N35) was an Odin class

Odin class submarine

The Odin class submarine was a class of nine submarines developed and built for the Royal Navy in the 1920s. The prototype was followed by two ships originally ordered for the Royal Australian Navy, but transferred to the RN in 1931 because of the poor economic situation in Australia, and six...

 submarine

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

, a class originally designed for the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 to cope with long distance patrolling in Pacific waters.
Olympus was built to the same design for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

.
She served from 1931-1939 on the China Station

China Station

The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....

 and 1939-1940 out of Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

. In 1940 she went to the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

. She was sunk by a mine off Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 in May 1942.

Service

From 1931 to 1939 Olympus was part of the 4th Flotilla on the China Station

China Station

The China Station was a historical formation of the British Royal Navy. It was formally the units and establishments responsible to the Commander-in-Chief, China....

. From 1939-1940 she was with the 8th Flotilla, Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

, Ceylon

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. In 1940 she was redeployed to the Mediterranean

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

.

On 7 July 1940 HMS Olympus (under the command of Lt.Cdr. Herbert George Dymott, RN) was bombed and damaged by Italian aircraft while in dock in Malta. Repairs and refit were completed on 29 November 1940.

Olympus torpedoed and sank the Italian merchant ship Monteponi (742 GRT) about 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) north of Cape Comino, Sardinia, Italy in position 40°40'N, 09°50'E. on 29 July 1941.

On 9 November 1941 Olympus attacked the Italian merchant ship Mauro Croce (1,049 GRT) with torpedoes and gunfire in the Gulf of Genoa

Gulf of Genoa

The Gulf of Genoa is the northernmost part of the Ligurian Sea. The width of the gulf is about 125 km, from the city of Imperia in the west to La Spezia in the east. The largest city on the its coast is Genoa, which has an important port....

. The target escaped without damage.

On 8 May 1942 Olympus struck a mine and sank off Malta in approximate position 35°55'N, 14°35'E. She had just left Malta on passage to Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...

 with personnel including many of the crews of the submarines HMS Pandora

HMS Pandora (N42)

HMS Pandora was a British commissioned in 1930 and lost in 1942 during the Second World War. This class was the first to be fitted with Mark VIII torpedoes....

, HMS P36

HMS P36 (submarine)

HMS P36 was a British U class submarine, a member of the third group of that class to be built. She was sunk at the quayside in Malta in 1942, and some of her survivors were shipwrecked again in another submarine less than six weeks later....

 and HMS P39

HMS P39

HMS P39 was a Royal Navy U-class submarine built by Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness.- Sinking :P39 had a short-lived career with the Royal Navy. She was assigned to operate in the Mediterranean, based out of Malta as part of the 10th Flotilla. She was in harbour following a patrol in the...

which had been sunk in air raids. There were only 9 survivors out of 98 aboard. They had to swim 7 miles (11 km) back to Malta. 89 crew and passengers were lost with the ship.