THE Royal Navy is continuing investigations of a wreckage find, claimed by an Italian diver to be a Second World War submarine built in Barrow.

Massimo Bondone believes he has discovered the long-lost wreckage of the HMS P311, which has been missing for 73 years.

The diver reportedly said he found the P311 at a depth of 80 metres (262 feet) off the isle of Tavolara last weekend.

A Royal Navy spokesman said: “We are examining our records to determine whether or not this is a Royal Navy submarine”.

The HMS P311 was downed off Sardinia with its 71 crew members between December 30 1942 and January 8 1943. The vessel vanished after leaving Malta in December 1942 to take part in Operation Principle, an Allied attack on Italian warships off the coast of the Mediterranean island. 

She was en route to La Maddalena, Sardinia, to attack two Italian gun cruisers. Her last signal was sent on December 31 1942 and the P311 is believed to have been sunk by Italian mines on or around two days later.

The T-class submarine was fitted with two Chariot manned torpedoes. Paola Pegoraro of the Orso diving club, which provided logistics for Mr Bondone’s dive, said these were used to identify the vessel.

The P311 was the only boat in her class never to be given a name. She was due to be named Tutankhamun, after the Egyptian pharaoh, but was lost before she could be officially named.

None of the vessel's crew - including its highly decorated commanding officer, Commander Richard Cayley - were ever found.