H.M.S. Eagle Air Craft Carrier.

Capt Humphrey Mountagu Whittle (1898-1942) - Find...

 

I was assuming that it was one of the aircraft known to have been used by 151 Squadron. I do not yet know Whittle's full squadron history, or the significance of the photograph.

 

No. 151 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia

Seems they never had Fairey battles in this Squadron

World War II
On 4 August 1936 the squadron was reformed at RAF North Weald from 'B' Flight of 56 Squadron, as a fighter squadron, flying Gloster Gauntlets. In December 1938 these were exchanged for Hawker Hurricanes, when the squadron came under Squadron Leader Edward Mortlock Donaldson. It operated throughout the Second World War, flying with Hawker Hurricanes, Boulton Paul Defiants and later de Havilland Mosquitoes, disbanding on 10 October 1946 at RAF Weston Zoyland.

TD

 

Indeed, but I do not know the significance of the photograph as it is not annotated. Whittle may not have served with 151 Squadron at the time the photograph was taken.

 

Superb photographs, thank you for posting them.

 

From the Lancashire Evening Post 28th October 1942.

 

This fits with 151 Squadron as they were a night fighter squadron equipped with the Boulton and Paul Defiant between Dec 1940 and Jul 1942. No. 151 Squadron (RAF) during the Second World War

Group Captains are not on the flying staff of Squadrons. So how did he fall due to enemy action?

 

Info here:

Group Captain H M WHITTLE (), Royal Air Force) [Royal Air Force WW2 Casualty ]

 

the casualties from the 25th October 1942 Torquay raid.

CLIFFORD PICKERING

Sergeant

Service Number: 1207343


P.T. Instructor, Torquay Hospital

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

29 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15186.

United Kingdom




ALFRED ROE

Private


10th Devon (Torbay) Bn.

Home Guard

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

20 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15179.

United Kingdom




MAURICE WILLIAM WEEKES

Private


10th Devon (Torbay) Bn.

Home Guard

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

18 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. G. 2. Grave 15178.

United Kingdom




ALLAN HENRY WOOD

Flying Officer

Service Number: 402145


Royal Australian Air Force

Australian


Died 25 October 1942

27 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15188.

United Kingdom




ROBERT HERBERT CHAPMAN

Pilot Officer

Service Number: 412481


460 Sqdn.

Royal Australian Air Force

Australian


Died 25 October 1942

20 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15184.

United Kingdom




HELEN CORDELL BELL

Nurse

Service Number: W/589200


Voluntary Aid Detachment

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

24 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15183.

United Kingdom




WALLIS St. JOHN LITTLEWOOD

Wing Commander

Service Number: 10116


151 Sqdn.

Royal Air Force

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

51 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15185.

United Kingdom




HUMPHREY MONTAGU WHITTLE

Group Captain


151 Sqdn.

Royal Air Force

United Kingdom


Died 25 October 1942

43 years old


TORQUAY CEMETERY AND EXTENSION

Sec. M.X. Grave 15187.

United Kingdom

 

THE SINKING OF HMS EAGLE, MALTA, 11 AUGUST 1942

A11360
Object description
On the horizon HMS EAGLE, Audacious class aircraft carrier is listing heavily to starboard. She is in the process of capsizing and sinking in the Mediterranean Sea, off Malta, 11 August 1942. A Dido Class Cruiser is heading towards EAGLE to rescue survivors.

https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?131607

Quite a few of the associated IWM pics - currently - say 19 AUGUST 1942 (curiously) - e.g. A11353...

THE END OF THE BRITISH AIRCRAFT CARRIER, HMS EAGLE, WHILST ON CONVOY DUTY TO MALTA. 19 AUGUST 1942.

THE END OF THE BRITISH AIRCRAFT CARRIER, HMS EAGLE, WHILST ON CONVOY DUTY TO MALTA. 19 AUGUST 1942.

 

And they are confused about which “Eagle” was sunk. The Eagle sunk in 1942 was a conversion from a Chilean battleship purchased while building.
HMS Eagle (1918) - Wikipedia

The Audacious class was a class of carrier designed in 1942 and there were two “Eagles”. The first laid down in 1944 was cancelled at the end of the war while only partially built. Then in Jan 1946, the lead ship of the class, Audacious building at H&W in Belfast, was renamed before her launch to commemorate the “Eagle” lost in 1942. She served in the RN until 1972 before being scrapped in 1978.

 

The Sinking of H.M.S. " Eagle "

" Eagle " was hit by four torpedoes at 1115/11 in position 38° 05' N., 03° 03' E.

The relative positions of convoy and escort at this time are shown in Plate 6. The positions of " Nelson " and " Rodney," are however, not definitely known. In Cruising Diagram 16, as drawn in Appendix IV of the orders for the operation, alternative positions for the battleships are given. It has been assumed that they were in positions " D " and " R " on C.D.16 and have been shown in these positions on the diagram.

The convoy and escort were carrying out zig-zag No. 10 at 13 knots, and were on the starboard leg at 1115. How long they had been on this course is not known, as the zero hour for the zig-zag has not been stated.

So far as is known, no ship saw either the U-Boat, its periscope, or the tracks of its torpedoes ; no ship on the screen obtained asdic contact or picked up hydrophone effect.

It was considered at the time that the U-Boat was German and had fii ed electric torpedoes. The nationality of the U-Boat is confirmed by' German broadcasts and press reports, from which it is clear that this extremely daring and successful attack was carried out by " U 73." The Commanding Officer of this U-Boat, K-apitanleutnant Rosenbaum, has been awarded the Ritterkreuz for this feat, a decoration which lie thoroughly deserved. A translation of an interesting German report about this action is given in Appendix II.

With so little to go on, it is impossible to analyse this attack but the following points have been noted :‑

(1) Owing to shortage of escorts, due to the fuelling programme, the ships on the wings had been opened out to 2,000 yards.

(2) At 1100, " Laforev " turned over the escort to " Westcott," the latter relieving her in

position " 0." Westcott " had come from the starboard wing position and " Laforey "
proceeded ahead at 28 knots on completing the turn-over.

(3) Position " 0 " was approximately four miles ahead of " Eagle " and, therefore, if the U-Boat passed through the screen near this position, it is reasonable to suppose that it would have done so at about 1100.

(4) On this assumption the temporary dislocation of a portion of the screen at 1100 might explain the failure to detect the U-Boat.

(5) The oilers (Force " R ") were in a position some miles ahead of the convoy. The asdic efficiency of the screen was thus reduced at this time by the number of wakes left ahead of the convoy by destroyers proceeding to and from the oilers at high speed.

(6) " Charybdis " was stationed 4i cables on the starboard quarter of " Eagle," but did not obtain asdic contact, although, after the torpedoing of " Eagle," she steamed at 15 knots along the probable track. No depth-charges were dropped owing to survivors in the water.

Under the circumstances, it was not possible to develop any counter-measures on a large scale, but a short search was made by " Keppel," " Malcolm," " Amazon," " Venomous," " Wolverine," and " Wrestler," who were joining from astern. They did not, however, sight the destroyers picking up survivors until three-quarters of an hour after the torpedoing of " Eagle," and their search can therefore have been of but little value. It was unsuccessful.

Apart from this, the probable position of the U-Boat after the attack was crossed by " Charybdis " and " Lookout " shortly after the torpedoing. Neither ship obtained a contact.

In the German press report (Appendix II), it is stated that, when the U-Boat was closing to attack, which she did at periscope depth, a destroyer " dashed past " her at a distance of 80 m. (88 yards) ; also that she torpedoed " Eagle " from a distance of 500 metres (550 yards).

APPENDIX II .

Extract from " Volkischer Beobachter " of the 12th September, 1942.

The end of H.M.S. " Eagle " .

Conversation with the U-Boat Captain Rosenbaum, by War Reporter Edgar Schroder

We won't waste any time over the fact that the English reported " The German U-Boat, which sank the 22,600 tons aircraft-carrier ' Eagle' in the Western Mediterranean on the 11th August, 1942, was later herself destroyed ; she was cut in two by ramming, none of the crew surviving."

We saw this brave and successful boat put into harbour_we took part in the plain but ceremonial welcome at the base, heard the words spoken by the C.-in-C. German U-Boats in the Mediterranean when be addressed the crew and their young Captain, Lieutenant-Commander Rosenbaum, were witnesses when the Captain received from the Senior Officer U-Boats the Knight's Insignia of •the Iron Cross awarded to him by the Ffihrer, and we looked into the eyes'of this man, the only one of the crew to see the " Eagle "—through the periscope—before she sank.

In those grey-blue eyes, as in the' happy faces of his men, life, which had triumphed over death in the stern attack on the great British ship, was shining.

For closely had death approached this U-Boat while she was executing her unprecedentedly daring attack ; death—and all men knew it—stood behind the Captain' as he gave his orders.

" Put on life-jackets and escape apparatus I We are attacking. ' Our target is the ' Eagle '."

" We are attacking." These words, spoken that noon, when the U-Boat was alone, at the moment of contact with a superior force, were more than a promise ; it was ,a pronouncement, whose weight must have been felt even by the youngest seaman. To attack in a U-Boat demands more of a seaman than the order to go forward requires

of a soldier on the field of battle ; for a U-Boat each man has the same chance of escape ; either all return or
a great silence'Covers boat and crew.

"Target—' Eagle '." These two words have a double meaning. The sinking of this aircraft-carrier; as the Senior Officer U-Boats said in his address to the crew, was no ",chance success "; it was the last link in a chain of deliberations and decisions. We cannot, of course, discuss them here. It is enough to say that they aimed at the most effective use of the U-Boat in the most promising position.

The decisive final link in the chain was, as the Senior Officer U-Boats particularly emphasised in terms of the highest praise, forged by Rosenbaum's U-Boat. He described the attack as " a classic " carried out by men sustained by a pitiless will to destroy the enemy; an attack which has written a new and particularly beautiful page in the history now being made by the German U-Boats in the Mediterranean.

It is easy to read all this and, without forgetting the deadly seriousness of the situation in which the U-Boat found herself, the reader may perhaps smile at being told that the Captain, who for 2t hours was passing orders, as he concentrated all his will and ability at the periscope, asked for one brandy when he sighted " Eagle " and another two later on. There was not much sea and great was the danger that the periscope would be sighted and give away the presence of the U-Boat.

Not content with one target, the U-Boat made ceaseless efforts to get into a position for an attack on one or other of the warships which crossed her sights ; for there was the dread lest the attack on the aircraft-carrier might miscarry and leave the U-Boat mourning missed opportunities to attack other ships. But the young Lieutenant-Commander kept his head and, waiting for his opening, obtained the best target of his career.

" I never saw so many British flags before," he said with a smile, as he described to us his impressions at the periscope. A German U-Boat captain is not easily upset, even by such a huge number of ships—he did not say this himself, of course, but his action proves that we are right in this.

" I only once saw the Captain excited " one of the crew told me, " and that was when the great aircraft-carrier came in sight ; but he had himself in hand again in an instant ; and from then on every movement was the controlled action of a man completely concentrated on his target. This wonderful outward calm—our own hearts told us how his must have been beating—had its effect upon us all. It was an experience to see how exactly and how surely the orders of the Captain and of the Engineer Officer—the latter responsible for keeping the boat at periscope depth—came swiftly following one after the other, especially at the time when the destroyer dashed past us only eighty metres away and we had to go deeper as quickly as we could. But it wasn't fong before our boat stuck her nose
out again, I can tell you." • •

On this occasion there was that most desirable thing—good luck wedded to good management. Mere words cannot really describe Rosenbaum's achievement, that of bringing his U-Boat through a double screen of warships

to " Eagle " in broad daylight, at periscope depth and in circumstances generally unfavourable to him. .

• The achievement met its reward. When the ring of ships was pierced, Rosenbaum had placed his boat only 500 metres distant from " Eagle "—and he was ready to fire.

" Eagle " was zig-zagging, as the whole formation was, but at the critical moment her zig-zag brought her beam on to the U-Boat even as she fired her torpedoes.

It was 1315. It was about this time that Norman Thorpe, Reuter's special correspondent in " Eagle," who afterwards told of terrific explosions shaking the ship from stem to stern, asked the Commander, before jumping over the side : " Is this the end ? " The officer conk' not reply with words, he could only nod.

The death, throes lasted for two minutes and then " Eagle " went down. Her sinking was heard in the U-Boat ; a nerve-racking noise, which those who heard it will never forget, the cracking, rustling sounds of bursting bulkheads, the noise of boilers exploding under water—and then the quiet after the hull had sunk down past the U-Boat and had reached the bottom.

It was just the same as when we sank that cruiser. The hunting craft was so startled that they dropped their. depth-charges more or less at random. It would have been a bad day for us if the torpedoes had missed and there had been no men swimming about in the water to be rescued, distracting the attention of the destroyers.

The U-Boat is extricated from the danger area by every artifice that our skilful U-Boat men are capable of. Soon the depth-charges illre being dropped fairly far away and then stillness returns to the sea. In the U-Boat all had been still since that first muffled outburst of joy.

An interesting fact, which could not have been elicited by direct questioning, came out in conversation. In 1933 Lieutenant-Commander Rosenbaum, who has been in U-Boats since October 1936—previously he had served in cruisers—went as a naval cadet on a training cruise in " Koln." At Tsingtau, he and the other cadets were invited on board " Eagle "—the very ship that he was to see nine years later through the periscope of his U-Boat.