HMS Maori

History & Background

• 1937
  Laid down and launched at Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering, Govan, Glasgow. One of the Royal Navy's powerful Tribal-class destroyers: 115 metres long, 1,870 tons displacement, armed with eight 4.7″ guns and quadruple torpedo tubes.
• 1938
  Commissioned as HMS Maori (F24) in January 1938. Named for the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand, following the Tribal-class tradition of naming ships after indigenous peoples of Commonwealth nations.
• 1941
  May 1941: HMS Maori played a decisive role in the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck. During the night action of 26–27 May, she fired two torpedoes, scoring at least one hit, contributing to the immobilisation of the Bismarck before her final sinking the following morning.
• 1942
  Deployed to the Mediterranean, operating out of Malta as part of Force K. On 12 February 1942, during a heavy Axis air raid on Grand Harbour, HMS Maori was struck by bombs while at her moorings. She caught fire and sank, breaking in two as she went down.
• 1950s
  Upper works and deck fittings were partially salvaged for scrap metal in the post-war years. The hull sections, however, were too difficult to raise and remained on the seabed below Fort St. Elmo, where they have rested ever since.
• Today
  Protected under Malta's Cultural Heritage Act as a WWII wreck. The bow section, around 42 metres of the original hull, lies almost upright on sand at 12-16 metres off Fort St Elmo, broken and encrusted with marine life. A beginner-friendly wreck dive accessible to Open Water divers whenever conditions in St Elmo Bay are settled.

HMS Maori's bow section, about 42 metres of the original hull, rests below the towering bastions of Fort St Elmo where Marsamxett Harbour meets the open sea. The wreck broke in two during scuttling and now tilts slightly to port: hull plating is partially intact, the gun deck silted but recognisable, and the forward gun bases still visible. The stern was abandoned in deep water during the 1945 tow and is not part of this dive. The bow sits in cleaner, more open water than most Maltese harbour wrecks, offering visibility of 10-20 metres. Grouper and barracuda are resident. One of very few Maltese wrecks accessible as both a shore and boat dive.