HMS Trooper (N91) was a T-class

British T class submarine

The Royal Navy's T class of diesel-electric submarines was designed in the 1930s to replace the O, P and R classes. Fifty-three members of the class were built just before and during the Second World War, where they played a major role in the Royal Navy's submarine operations...

 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...

 of 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 was laid down by Scotts

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company

Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde.- History :...

, Greenock

Greenock

Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

 and launched in March 1942.

Career

Trooper spent most of her short career serving in the Mediterranean. She sank the Italian tanker Rosario, the Italian merchant Forli, a sailing vessel and the Italian submarine Pietro Micca. She also damaged two other enemy vessels, and unsuccessfully attacked the Italian merchant Belluno (the former French Fort de France).

On her first operation, she took part in Operation Principal, which used human torpedo

Human torpedo

Human torpedoes or manned torpedoes are a type of rideable submarine used as secret naval weapons in World War II. The basic design is still in use today; they are a type of diver propulsion vehicle....

es to sink Italian ships in Palermo harbour.

Trooper sailed from Beirut

Beirut

Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...

 on 26 September 1943, on her 8th War Patrol to patrol in the Aegean Sea off the Dodecanese islands. On 14 October she challenged Levant Schooner Flotilla F8 off Alinda Bay, Leros. She failed to return on 17 October and was reported overdue on that day. She is presumed lost on German mines around Leros.

The Germans claimed that Trooper was sunk by Q-ship

Q-ship

Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, Decoy Vessels, Special Service Ships, or Mystery Ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them...

 GA.45 on 15 October 1943. The submarine GA-45 attacked was actually HMS Torbay

HMS Torbay (N79)

was a T-class submarine of the Royal Navy. She was laid down at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 9 April 1940.Torbay had an active and successful career, serving mainly in the Mediterranean, although she also served in the Pacific Far East at the end of the war.Altogether she sank 17 merchant...

which escaped undamaged.