HMS Maori

HMS Maori – WWII Tribal-Class Destroyer Wreck, Malta

HMS Maori, a Tribal-class destroyer, was built in 1937 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. in Govan, Scotland. She entered WWII on 3 September 1939 while in Alexandria, joining escort duties before returning to the UK in October. In addition to convoy escort work, Maori took part in North Sea patrols, including towing the disabled submarine HMS Triad into a Norwegian fjord during gale-force winds. In March 1940 she was refitted in Scotland, but soon after, in April, was bombed and damaged by German aircraft; her escort ships HMS Bison and HMS Afridi were sunk in the same attack, while Maori managed to return to Scapa Flow for repairs.

By January 1941, following another major refit, HMS Maori resumed escort service and, together with HMS Cossack, HMS Sikh, and HMS Zulu, took part in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck. Later in 1941 she was dispatched to the Mediterranean. On 12 February 1942, while anchored at Malta, HMS Maori was struck by a bomb that hit her engine and gear room, causing a massive explosion that sank the ship at its moorings in Dockyard Creek. By the end of 1942, the Admiralty ordered her wreck to be raised, moved out of Grand Harbour, and scuttled off Sliema, where it still rests today.