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Lot Essay
Sold with the recipient's original Certificate of Service and a copy of the London Gazette announcing his 'Mention'.
Mention in Despatches London Gazette 23.2.1940 'In recognition of the gallant and successful action with the Admiral Graf Spee'.
Chief Petty Officer Joseph Westcott Watts was born in the Parish of Wellington, Somerset in September 1897 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Servant in September 1913. Joining the Cruiser H.M.S. Foresight in July 1914, he remained in her until the end of hostilities, during which period she won Battle Honours for "Belgian Coast 1914" and "Dardanelles 1915-16".
Remaining a Regular between the Wars, Watts received his L.S. and G.C. Medal aboard the Danae in January 1931 and his Jubilee Medal aboard the Exeter, which ship he had joined back in August 1933. Advanced to Chief Petty Officer in the following year, he was due to be pensioned ashore in September 1939, but the advent of hostilities found him instantly re-employed aboard the Exeter on the eve of her great clash with the Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate.
In the action fought soon after dawn on 13.12.1939, Exeter, moving at full speed on a course 'almost directly towards the Pocket Battleship', got her 8-inch guns into action at a range of nine miles. The Admiral Graf Spee's response was swift and accurate:
'Just five minutes after the commencement of the action, an 11-inch shell burst alongside the British ship [Exeter], killing the Torpedo Tubes' Crews. A minute later she received a direct hit on 'B' turret which put its two 8-inch guns out of action. Splinters swept the Bridge, killing or wounding all but three of the Officers and Ratings there. The Captain escaped and, finding the Bridge out of action and the Wheel-house communications wrecked, he made his way aft to fight the ship from there. As he did so, Exeter received two more direct hits from 11-inch shells forward. Nevertheless, a few minutes later she fired her starboard torpedoes at the Graf Spee, but before they reached their mark the Pocket Battleship had turned away under cover of smoke ... [and later] ... Two more 11-inch shells hit the Exeter, causing further casualties and extensive damage. One entered the hull and started a fierce fire between the decks. The other put the fore-most turret and its two 8-inch guns out of action. It was on the occasion of these hits that the spotting aircraft reported, "She has completely disappeared in the smoke and flames, and it was feared that she had gone. However, she emerged and re-entered the action". In doing so the men of the Exeter proved again the indomitable spirit of the Royal Navy. Their ship was badly stricken. Two of the three turrets were out of action, leaving her no guns forward. She had a 7 degrees list and was down by the head. All her compasses had been smashed, and the Captain was handling the ship with the aid of a small boat's compass. In these circumstances she altered course towards the enemy and fired her port torpedoes ... The Exeter, gradually dropping astern, fought on until she had nothing left to fight with. At about 7.30 a.m. her sole remaining turret was flooded. Ten minutes later she turned to the South-East and slowly limped away, making necessary running repairs as she went' (The King's Cruisers, by Gordon Holman, refers).
Not surprisingly, the heaviest casualties to be inflicted on the British Squadron were those aboard the gallant Exeter. She had five Officers and 56 Ratings killed, and three Officers and 20 Ratings wounded - three of the latter later died. Chief Petty Officer Steward Watts won his 'Mention' for assisting these wounded during the action, and afterwards:
'Throughout the action and during the passage to the Falklands, C.P.O.S. Watts worked efficiently and tirelessly, and was of every encouragement to the wounded. He stayed below decks for a period of 48 hours on end without thinking of taking a brief respite. He had practically no sleep' (P.R.O. ADM 1/10488 refers).
Leaving the Exeter in April 1940, his next appointment was in the Ex-Union Castle Line's Edinburgh Castle, an Accomodation Ship, but in September 1941, he returned to regular seagoing duties in the Cruiser Charybdis and was aboard her during the period in which she won Battle Honours for "Malta Convoys 1942" and "North Africa 1942". Luckily, however, he was posted to Hannibal, the Naval Base in Algiers, in April 1943, thereby avoiding a similar fate to that of 462 Charybdis crew members who lost their lives later that year off France, when their ship was torpedoed and sunk. Watts next appears to have served in the Merchant Fishing Vessel Blackcap, until taking up his final wartime appointment aboard the Aircraft Carrier Implacable in May 1944. In her he would have seen action off Norway throughout the remainder of the year, and, ultimately, out in the Pacific. He was finally pensioned ashore in July 1947.
Mention in Despatches London Gazette 23.2.1940 'In recognition of the gallant and successful action with the Admiral Graf Spee'.
Chief Petty Officer Joseph Westcott Watts was born in the Parish of Wellington, Somerset in September 1897 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Servant in September 1913. Joining the Cruiser H.M.S. Foresight in July 1914, he remained in her until the end of hostilities, during which period she won Battle Honours for "Belgian Coast 1914" and "Dardanelles 1915-16".
Remaining a Regular between the Wars, Watts received his L.S. and G.C. Medal aboard the Danae in January 1931 and his Jubilee Medal aboard the Exeter, which ship he had joined back in August 1933. Advanced to Chief Petty Officer in the following year, he was due to be pensioned ashore in September 1939, but the advent of hostilities found him instantly re-employed aboard the Exeter on the eve of her great clash with the Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate.
In the action fought soon after dawn on 13.12.1939, Exeter, moving at full speed on a course 'almost directly towards the Pocket Battleship', got her 8-inch guns into action at a range of nine miles. The Admiral Graf Spee's response was swift and accurate:
'Just five minutes after the commencement of the action, an 11-inch shell burst alongside the British ship [Exeter], killing the Torpedo Tubes' Crews. A minute later she received a direct hit on 'B' turret which put its two 8-inch guns out of action. Splinters swept the Bridge, killing or wounding all but three of the Officers and Ratings there. The Captain escaped and, finding the Bridge out of action and the Wheel-house communications wrecked, he made his way aft to fight the ship from there. As he did so, Exeter received two more direct hits from 11-inch shells forward. Nevertheless, a few minutes later she fired her starboard torpedoes at the Graf Spee, but before they reached their mark the Pocket Battleship had turned away under cover of smoke ... [and later] ... Two more 11-inch shells hit the Exeter, causing further casualties and extensive damage. One entered the hull and started a fierce fire between the decks. The other put the fore-most turret and its two 8-inch guns out of action. It was on the occasion of these hits that the spotting aircraft reported, "She has completely disappeared in the smoke and flames, and it was feared that she had gone. However, she emerged and re-entered the action". In doing so the men of the Exeter proved again the indomitable spirit of the Royal Navy. Their ship was badly stricken. Two of the three turrets were out of action, leaving her no guns forward. She had a 7 degrees list and was down by the head. All her compasses had been smashed, and the Captain was handling the ship with the aid of a small boat's compass. In these circumstances she altered course towards the enemy and fired her port torpedoes ... The Exeter, gradually dropping astern, fought on until she had nothing left to fight with. At about 7.30 a.m. her sole remaining turret was flooded. Ten minutes later she turned to the South-East and slowly limped away, making necessary running repairs as she went' (The King's Cruisers, by Gordon Holman, refers).
Not surprisingly, the heaviest casualties to be inflicted on the British Squadron were those aboard the gallant Exeter. She had five Officers and 56 Ratings killed, and three Officers and 20 Ratings wounded - three of the latter later died. Chief Petty Officer Steward Watts won his 'Mention' for assisting these wounded during the action, and afterwards:
'Throughout the action and during the passage to the Falklands, C.P.O.S. Watts worked efficiently and tirelessly, and was of every encouragement to the wounded. He stayed below decks for a period of 48 hours on end without thinking of taking a brief respite. He had practically no sleep' (P.R.O. ADM 1/10488 refers).
Leaving the Exeter in April 1940, his next appointment was in the Ex-Union Castle Line's Edinburgh Castle, an Accomodation Ship, but in September 1941, he returned to regular seagoing duties in the Cruiser Charybdis and was aboard her during the period in which she won Battle Honours for "Malta Convoys 1942" and "North Africa 1942". Luckily, however, he was posted to Hannibal, the Naval Base in Algiers, in April 1943, thereby avoiding a similar fate to that of 462 Charybdis crew members who lost their lives later that year off France, when their ship was torpedoed and sunk. Watts next appears to have served in the Merchant Fishing Vessel Blackcap, until taking up his final wartime appointment aboard the Aircraft Carrier Implacable in May 1944. In her he would have seen action off Norway throughout the remainder of the year, and, ultimately, out in the Pacific. He was finally pensioned ashore in July 1947.