An inquiry at the time of her loss ignored the report from the spotter plane and concluded that the submarine had sunk during the deep dive she was scheduled to perform on that day, somewhere north of Inchmarnock.

The reply from Flag Officer Submarines repeated the mistaken assumption that the Vandal lay in deep waters off Inchmarnock, where salvage would be impossible.

In 1994 the Scottish Branch of the Submariners Association finally persuaded the Navy to search the area north of Arran where a number of trawlers had reported their nets being snagged by an underwater object.

A Royal Navy expedition aboard HMS Hurworth finally located the wreck in June 1994,[3] 300 feet (100 m) below the surface 1.5 miles (3 km) northwest of Loch Ranza, roughly where the spotter plane had first reported the presence of an oil slick.

[7] A memorial to those lost aboard HMS Vandal was erected beside the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal at Lochranza Pier, Isle of Arran, by HM Submarines Old Comrades Association in 1997.