The Royal Navy has a long list of ships which made a name for themselves during World War Two, but we must not forget the much smaller vessels which were so essential to Malta's defence. The sunken wreck of one such vessel lies off the Maltese coast; H.M. Drifter Eddy.

Eddy, pennant no. FY12, was quite a small vessel. She measured 94 and a quarter feet long and 18 and a half feet wide. Her hold was nine and a quarter feet deep and her engines were "triple expansion" of 270 horse-power, producing nine knots per hour. She was built in Aberdeen, Scotland, by Alexander Hall and Engineering Company Ltd and launched on August 6, 1918.

Her launching was too late for any effective role in World War One, so she was attached to the squadron conducting mine clearance on the south coast of England. Once all clearance work was completed, she was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet and mostly based in Malta. On August 14, 1936, the Admiralty decided to place Eddy on the Reserve List in Malta.

Once Britain declared war on Germany, Eddy was recommissioned as a "minesweeper drifter" and joined the 403rd Minesweeping Group (Drifters) stationed in Malta. Although of a different class from other vessels, she still took part in most mine-sweeping and salvage work. Eddy was armed with a small three-pounder gun at the bow and a Lewis gun above the wheelhouse. As a precaution against magnetic mines, she was fitted with an anti-magnetic cable all around the ship-side at water-level, to avoid any damage from the mines she hunted.

Leading Stoker Joseph Faure had joined the Royal Navy along with his bosom friend Joseph Medina. They were both 18 and from Cospicua and were posted to HMS St. Angelo. Faure was actually two months short of his 18th birthday but was accepted through some assistance by a parish priest. At the outbreak of the war, he was assigned to HMD Eddy in her duties to sweep the approaches to Malta's harbours for the much needed supplies which were now being attacked and sunk by the enemy.

Unfortunately, Eddy was not destined to survive the war. On May 24, 1942, Faure was on leave and Eddy was on "stand-by". She left Grand Harbour under cover of darkness to sweep a channel further north which was mined by Italian E-boats the previous night. At 4.30 pm the next day, about a mile off St. Elmo Point, while on her way back to port, she struck a mine and sank. The skipper and ten of her crew survived, but eight others were missing and presumed dead. Among them were Able Seaman Emmanuel Cremona, Petty Officer Stoker Emmanuel Pizzuto, Petty Officer Steward Joseph "San Guzepp" Spieri and Acting Petty Officer Salvatore Borg, who died of injuries the next day.

Stoker Joseph Medina was not as lucky as his old friend Joseph Faure. He died trapped in the steel wreckage when Justified struck a mine and sank less than a month later - on June 16, 1942.

The article appears by permission of Denis Darmanin. The original includes pictures of HM Drifter Eddy, Joseph Faure and Joseph Medina.