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Lot Essay
Lieutenant-Commander George Whitfield, a veteran of the Battle of Jutland, where he served as a Midshipman in the Battleship H.M.S. Canada, and a successful graduate of the Submariners' Course at Dolphin in late 1918, was recalled to the Royal Navy from the Retired List on the renewal of hostilities. Appointed to the Battleship Queen Elizabeth as a Lieutenant-Commander in mid-October 1941, he quickly witnessed active service in the Mediterranean, not least on the occasion of the loss of the Barham some six weeks later:
'On 25 November 1941, at about 4.25 p.m., the Battle Squadron consisting of the Barham, Queen Elizabeth and Valiant was carrying out exercises off the Egyptian coast. The vessels were in the act of altering course together, the speed being 17 knots, when a submarine was sighted from the Valiant at a distance of 700 yards. Four torpedoes were discharged at the Barham, all of which appeared to strike. The Battleship rolled over on her side and sank in five minutes, her magazines exploding as she went down. Only about 300 were saved, including Admiral Pridham-Whippell. Those lost numbered 56 Officers, including Captain Cooke, 658 Ratings and 134 Marines, a total of 848 men' (Hocking's A Dictionary of Disasters at Sea refers).
Still reeling from the horrific sights that heralded the loss of the Barham, Whitfield and the crew of the Queen Elizabeth must have been grateful to reach the safety of Alexandria. But as it transpired, just a few weeks later, their sense of security was to be shattered by the gallantry of six Italian frogmen astride their MAS craft (Motoscafi Sommergibile):
Alexandria 17 December 1941:
Christmas Tidings From Mussolini
The success of the Italian Human Torpedo attack against Allied Merchantmen in Gibraltar Harbour in September 1941 impressed the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, and German and Japanese naval experts alike. The latter commenced a series of visits to the MAS headquarters at La Spezia to learn more of the new weapon. The Italians, meanwhile, resolved to mount a second expedition without further delay and made every effort to mislead Allied Intelligence. On 14.12.1941, the 'parent' Submarine Sciré left La Spezia for the Island of Leros, where rumours where circulated to the effect that she was damaged. On the 14th the 'Pig-Crews' arrived by Flying-Boat and the next evening Sciré slipped away from Leros bound for Alexandria where German Intelligence reported the presence of the two 30,000-ton British Battleships. On the 17th, Lieutenant C.C. de la Penne, Royal Italian Navy, the leader of the mission, received the order to proceed with his attack.
Having risked a known minefield Sciré surfaced about a kilometre from the heavily patrolled approaches to Alexandria to launch three submersibles and their two-man crews. Passing safely beneath the British Patrol Vessels, de la Penne and his men were delighted on surfacing outside the Anti-Submarine net to see two warships steaming into harbour. They followed, submerged, passing over the lowered net and thus saving themselves the laborious task of hacking a way through with compressed air cutters. At 2215 the three crews rendezvoused deep inside the harbour as agreed and set off for their respective targets, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and the Tanker Sagona. In the attack on Valiant, de la Penne's Number Two was swept from his seat and de la Penne was unable to attach the 300kg. charge to the hull on his own and so dropped it on the sea-bed a few feet under the giant keel, before sinking his craft and joining his Number Two on a buoy until allowing themselves to be taken prisoner by Valiant's watch. Interrogated without revealing anything, they were sent on shore under arrest.
At 0900 hours, when Admiral Cunningham, the C.-in-C. Mediterranean, aboard Queen Elizabeth, heard of their capture he ordered them to be returned to Valiant and placed beneath the water line. The boats of all ships were called away to drop scare-charges and the Ship's Companies were turned out to rig chain bottom-lines for dragging along the under sides of all warships in harbour. This revealed nothing and yet no effort was made to shift the ships' positions. Admiral Cunningham related, that as time went on, 'the prisoners became very restive'. Finally de la Penne sent a polite message to Captain Morgan of Valiant informing him that his ship was due to blow up in five minutes time. Right on time, the explosion caused damage along 80 feet of the hull. Four minutes later Admiral Cunningham on Queen Elizabeth's Quarter Deck felt a dull thud and was tossed five feet into the air as the charge secured to the bilge blew out a 40 foot square hole under the foremost Boiler Room. Another explosion a few moments earlier under the Sagona had also severely shaken the Destroyer Jervis.
Understandably Admiral Cunningham was anxious to show the world that the attack had failed and that the Royal Navy was still supreme, and to this end ordered the ceremony of the Colours, with Guard and Band, to proceed as usual on his Flagship. However, the truth remained that within the space of a few minutes six enterprising Italians had radically altered the balance of sea power in the Mediterranean.
Whitfield was next appointed, in February 1943, to the ancient Aircraft Carrier Argus, sailing in her from North Africa in the Clyde-bound Convoy MKF8 in the same month. He was placed back on the Retired List in 1946.
'On 25 November 1941, at about 4.25 p.m., the Battle Squadron consisting of the Barham, Queen Elizabeth and Valiant was carrying out exercises off the Egyptian coast. The vessels were in the act of altering course together, the speed being 17 knots, when a submarine was sighted from the Valiant at a distance of 700 yards. Four torpedoes were discharged at the Barham, all of which appeared to strike. The Battleship rolled over on her side and sank in five minutes, her magazines exploding as she went down. Only about 300 were saved, including Admiral Pridham-Whippell. Those lost numbered 56 Officers, including Captain Cooke, 658 Ratings and 134 Marines, a total of 848 men' (Hocking's A Dictionary of Disasters at Sea refers).
Still reeling from the horrific sights that heralded the loss of the Barham, Whitfield and the crew of the Queen Elizabeth must have been grateful to reach the safety of Alexandria. But as it transpired, just a few weeks later, their sense of security was to be shattered by the gallantry of six Italian frogmen astride their MAS craft (Motoscafi Sommergibile):
Alexandria 17 December 1941:
Christmas Tidings From Mussolini
The success of the Italian Human Torpedo attack against Allied Merchantmen in Gibraltar Harbour in September 1941 impressed the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean, and German and Japanese naval experts alike. The latter commenced a series of visits to the MAS headquarters at La Spezia to learn more of the new weapon. The Italians, meanwhile, resolved to mount a second expedition without further delay and made every effort to mislead Allied Intelligence. On 14.12.1941, the 'parent' Submarine Sciré left La Spezia for the Island of Leros, where rumours where circulated to the effect that she was damaged. On the 14th the 'Pig-Crews' arrived by Flying-Boat and the next evening Sciré slipped away from Leros bound for Alexandria where German Intelligence reported the presence of the two 30,000-ton British Battleships. On the 17th, Lieutenant C.C. de la Penne, Royal Italian Navy, the leader of the mission, received the order to proceed with his attack.
Having risked a known minefield Sciré surfaced about a kilometre from the heavily patrolled approaches to Alexandria to launch three submersibles and their two-man crews. Passing safely beneath the British Patrol Vessels, de la Penne and his men were delighted on surfacing outside the Anti-Submarine net to see two warships steaming into harbour. They followed, submerged, passing over the lowered net and thus saving themselves the laborious task of hacking a way through with compressed air cutters. At 2215 the three crews rendezvoused deep inside the harbour as agreed and set off for their respective targets, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, and the Tanker Sagona. In the attack on Valiant, de la Penne's Number Two was swept from his seat and de la Penne was unable to attach the 300kg. charge to the hull on his own and so dropped it on the sea-bed a few feet under the giant keel, before sinking his craft and joining his Number Two on a buoy until allowing themselves to be taken prisoner by Valiant's watch. Interrogated without revealing anything, they were sent on shore under arrest.
At 0900 hours, when Admiral Cunningham, the C.-in-C. Mediterranean, aboard Queen Elizabeth, heard of their capture he ordered them to be returned to Valiant and placed beneath the water line. The boats of all ships were called away to drop scare-charges and the Ship's Companies were turned out to rig chain bottom-lines for dragging along the under sides of all warships in harbour. This revealed nothing and yet no effort was made to shift the ships' positions. Admiral Cunningham related, that as time went on, 'the prisoners became very restive'. Finally de la Penne sent a polite message to Captain Morgan of Valiant informing him that his ship was due to blow up in five minutes time. Right on time, the explosion caused damage along 80 feet of the hull. Four minutes later Admiral Cunningham on Queen Elizabeth's Quarter Deck felt a dull thud and was tossed five feet into the air as the charge secured to the bilge blew out a 40 foot square hole under the foremost Boiler Room. Another explosion a few moments earlier under the Sagona had also severely shaken the Destroyer Jervis.
Understandably Admiral Cunningham was anxious to show the world that the attack had failed and that the Royal Navy was still supreme, and to this end ordered the ceremony of the Colours, with Guard and Band, to proceed as usual on his Flagship. However, the truth remained that within the space of a few minutes six enterprising Italians had radically altered the balance of sea power in the Mediterranean.
Whitfield was next appointed, in February 1943, to the ancient Aircraft Carrier Argus, sailing in her from North Africa in the Clyde-bound Convoy MKF8 in the same month. He was placed back on the Retired List in 1946.