The Victoria Cross awarded for outstanding Gallantry
(A brief look at those RN Submariners awarded the VC for gallantry during the first 100 years of the Royal Naval Submarine Service).
World War II
rammed
by one of the escorts he pressed home his attack using only his eyes and a
magnetic compass and sank a large troop ship. Following the attack he was
depth charged by an escorting destroyer using almost forty depth charges. He
eventually managed to escape and bring Upholder back to base. The Upholder
was eventually depth charged and lost with Wanklyn and all hands on their
25th and last patrol after 16 months in the Med. in April
1942. In all the Upholder had sunk at least 22 enemy ships during their many patrols
including 3 submarines 1 cruiser and 2 destroyers.The next episode in February 1942
resulted in the award of two VC's and involver HMS Thrasher operating
out of Alexandria in Egypt. She had attacked an enemy convoy near Crete and
as a result was depth charged by the escorting destroyers. She survived the
attack but after
surfacing later discovered that two unexploded bombs had
become caught, one in the boats gun deck and the other under the casing.
Lieutenant Peter Roberts and Petty Officer Tommy Gould
volunteered to go up and attempt to remove the bombs. The first bomb above
on the gun deck was fairly easy to get at and was very carefully removed and
tipped over the side. The second bomb was lodged well under a low and narrow
part of the casing. To get at it involved crawling on their stomachs
about 20 feet beneath the casing and to carefully drag the bomb back with
them .This very dangerous and difficult task was successfully completed and the bomb was dropped into the sea.
This feat was even more difficult than it sounds because it was carried out in
complete darkness and, because the enemy was still close by looking for them and liable to
detect them at any minute, they knew that if detected the submarine would be
forced to dive to save itself and the crew and the two of then would be
drowned. They were both subsequently awarded the VC and Tommy Gould was the first
ever submarine rating to receive the award.
In March 1942 HM Submarine Torbay captained by Lieutenant-Commander Tony Miers was operating near Corfu when they attacked a convoy in confined waters, heavily patrolled by the enemy, and sank two ships. The Torbay then endured a prolonged counter-attack involving some forty depth charges but Tony Miers managed to evaded the attack and brought the boat safely back to base. He was later awarded the VC for his courage and leadership.
Not all of the submarine VC's
awarded during the second world war involved boats operating in the
Mediterranean or for action involving full sized submarines. Lieutenants
Donald Cameron and Basil Place were among those submariners who
volunteered for service in the midget X-craft submarines in 1942.
In September 1943 after extensive training and trials six of these miniature submarines were selected
for an attack on the 53,000 ton German Battleship the Tirpitz which was
holed up in the Altenfjord in Norway. The Altenfjord and Tirpitz were
heavily defended and Tirpitz was proving difficult to sink from the air. It was
decided that the six X-craft, X5 to X10, would be used to gain access
to the the Tirpitz and to place explosive charges under her to sink her. The
plan involved great risk and the X-craft involved had mixed success. The six
X-craft were towed to Norway by six full sized submarines. During the voyage
across the North Sea to Norway X8's
tow parted and she was never seen again. X9 also lost its tow but
was eventually found again by HMS Stubborn one of the towing submarines. During the efforts to re-connect the tow the X9 was
damaged and had to be abandoned after its crew were taken off. The four remaining X-craft did reach the
fjord and started to penetrate the defences which involved a trip of about
50 dangerous miles defended by anti-submarine
and anti-torpedo nets as well as patrol craft, mine fields and
shore gun
batteries. X10 developed various defects during the passage up the fjord and
had to lay up to make repairs and didn't get to the Tirpitz until several
days after the main attack by which time it was impossible to get near the
Battleship. The fate of X5 commanded by Lieutenant Henty
Henty-Creer is not clear but it was thought that she probably did
reach the Tirpitz but was lost with her crew**. However Cameron in X6
and Place in X7 definitely did carry out the planned attack. X7 managed to get through all of
the defences and dropped her two charges under the battleship before
escaping only to sink nearby although her crew managed to escape only to be
captured. X6 also got
to the Tirpitz despite serious flooding and other defects. She dropped her
charges and the crew escaped and were captured as the boat finally sank alongside the
Battleship. The four charges place under Tirpitz by the two boats exploded shortly afterwards
inflicting severe damage and she was was out of action for a lengthy period. Cameron and Place were later awarded the VC
for their valiant efforts. X-craft were used on
several more occasions in Europe up to and including the D-Day landings
before they were moved to the Far East for action against the Japanese.
X24
is the only midget submarine to have survived and can be seen on display in
the RN Submarine Museum in Gosport Hampshire.
She stopped about 45 meters away from the Cruiser and a tired Magennis again donned his diving suit and left the XE1 to detach the
carrier. Despite the danger of being seen by the enemy in the gin clear
water and the fact that his suit was damaged and leaking air Magennis
eventually released the carrier and re-entered to boat which then made its long
and dangerous way back out to the open sea where the explosion of the six
mines was clearly heard at the planned time.Unfinished business
** Returning to the brave and daring attack on the Tirpitz by X-craft in 1943. The recent discovery of the remains of an X-craft in the position 500 yards to the north of where Tirpitz was anchored at that time and where X5 was reportedly fired on by the Germans appears now to support the belief that she had reached the battleship and the fact that there is no sign of the two mines she carried for planting under the ship is convincing evidence that X5 had fully played her part in the attack on Tirpitz before being lost with all hands. Surely the government must now award Lieutenant Henty-Creer a posthumous VC as well as suitable awards to his brave crew. What do you think?
Postscript
All submariners are a special breed of men but those who served in submarines during war time were all heroes and a great many gave their lives during those conflicts. A great many were awarded medals of various kinds for their bravery and dedication to duty and there were no doubt many who perhaps should have been decorated were not but the five men from WWI and the nine from WWII who were awarded the Victoria Cross epitomise the courage and professionalism of the true submarine hero. As Sir Winston Churchill said:-
"Of all the branches of men in the Forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the Submariner. Great deeds are done in the air and on land but, never the less, nothing surpasses their exploits".
Resurgam.
