Steel Ships and Iron Men

I present Lieutenant-Commander Eric Walmsley, as memorialized in the London Telegraph.

Lieutenant-Commander Eric Walmsley, who has died aged 95, was captain of Saumarez, one of the destroyers whose torpedo attack on the Scharnhorst assured the battlecruiser's destruction at the Battle of North Cape.

On December 26 1943, Scharnhorst sortied out of the Norwegian fjords to attack the east-bound convoy JW55B. After a day-long battle of manoeuvre, Scharnhorst was damaged, but seemed about to escape from the battleship Duke of York. As two divisions of destroyers struggled through high seas in the dark to overtake her, Walmsley fired a burst of starshell which blinded the German ship. Then, when Scharnhorst swung away to comb the tracks of their torpedoes, Walmsley found himself ideally positioned for his own torpedo attack.

The Telegraph reported at the time that the destroyers, under murderous fire from Scharnhorst's guns, pressed on indomitably until each side fired torpedoes at point-blank range. The official historian recorded that one sailor cried out: "Get out wires and fenders! We are going alongside the bastard!" Splinters from a near-miss by one of Scharnhorst's 11-inch shells peppered Saumarez with holes. Another 11-inch shell passed through the gun direction tower and obliterated everyone inside without exploding, while Saumarez's after end was spattered by short-range fire. With 10 dead and many wounded, Walmsley pressed home the attack, firing his puny guns and scoring one torpedo hit as the German battleship loomed over him. As a result, Scharnhorst was slowed sufficiently for Duke of York to close the range further and deliver the coup de grace shortly after 7pm.

Saumarez had lost power; her radio aerials were shot away; the after shell room and magazine were flooded; and the starboard engine was out of action. Walmsley had to stop for 20 minutes and wallow head to wind until he was escorted into the Kola Inlet for repairs. He was awarded a Bar to an earlier DSC.

Hat tip to Argghhh!