A salute to the toughest men in the world.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Piscator, as much as I agree with the details of what you've said, I think you leave out two things merchantmen rarely had to deal with, and two the naval squids rarely had to deal with.

The merchantmen rarely had to deal with battles or blockades.

The naval squids rarely had to deal with pay or shore leave.

[owtth]

Anyone happen to know the name of the music in this piece?

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I think anyone with an interest in Naval history would be interested in General-at-Sea (Admiral) Robert Blake.
He has his place in the Royal Navy museum http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/history/nav ... ert-blake/



And I have visited the house in which he was born, many times, which is also now a museum.


PS, Btw, my signature is a tribute to him.

There have been four HMS Blakes

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Anyone happen to know the name of the music in this piece?

Sound suspiciously ginger to me.

[owtth]

Simply Red? never would've thunk it.

[Calilasseia]

Gawdzilla has already posted on another forum an account I sent to him, which was well received by the other military history enthusiasts he posts alongside, and I think it now apposite to share this with everyone here. Not least because I have a personal interest in the Far East campaign during World War II. What follows is the story of the strangest ship ever to fly a Royal Navy ensign.

The Last Days Of HMS Li Wo

The early days of the war in the Far East saw the commissioning of the strangest ship ever to fly a Royal Navy ensign. A converted river ferry called the Li Wo. As my mother's uncle was a merchant seaman in the Far East for many years prior to WWII, and was actively listed in the naval reserves, he was given command of this vessel, which was thus renamed HMS Li Wo. The ship's task was to patrol rivers and coastal waters in the region around Singapore. Its sole armament was a 4 inch pop gun at the front, and two heavy machine guns. It wasn't expected to meet heavy opposition, but on Valentine's Day, 1942, that's just what it did.

Now, the captain, who now boasted the title of Lieutenant Commander Thomas Wilkinson, RNVR, was one of those larger than life figures - devilishly handsome, your typical lantern-jawed Boy's Own Paper "Days of Empire" hero made real, and thanks to his years in the Far East, he spoke Chinese and Japanese fluently. So, he knew the enemy he was dealing with, including the fact that capture was considered dishonourable in the enemy's eyes. He knew that any serious encounter with the enemy would be an all or nothing affair, literally a fight to the death.

The ship made a run from Singapore as the Japanese invaded, in order to avoid capture, and it was whilst entering open ocean, north of the Banka Straits, that the little ship ran into a full-bore Japanese convoy, complete with a nice juicy oil tanker. Only one problem - it had a heavy cruiser as escort with a full set of 8 inch guns.

True to form, the captain addressed his men. "Gentlemen, the enemy outnumber us, the enemy outgun us, the enemy can outrun us. There is only one possible course of action. Full speed ahead and attack!"

The Japanese were caught by surprise when this innocuous looking little ferry hoisted the Battle Ensign and began firing on their ships. Eventually, they came to their senses, and returned fire, only to find that HMS Li Wo had closed too closely for the heavy cruiser to bring its 8 inch guns to bear - the shells whistled over the top of Wilkinson and his crew as they closed to attack their target. Having set fire to one of the big transports, the little ship closed with the intention of ramming and sinking the now burning transport, that the Japanese sailors had mostly abandoned. Sure enough, HMS Li Wo holed its target below the waterline, and the two ships, now joined in a death embrace, began their descent to the bottom, the crew engaging in hand to hand knife fighting with the few remaining crew of the target. Eventually, HMS Li Wo slipped beneath the waves, with Wilkinson on the bridge, going down with his ship.

The vessel thus became the most decorated small ship in the entire history of the Royal Navy. Here is the list of decorations awarded:

Lt Cmdr Thomas Wilkinson - Victoria Cross (Posthumous)
Sub Lt Ronald George Gladstone Stanton - Distinguished Service Order
Petty Officer Athur William Thomspon - Conspicuous Gallantry Medal
Leading Seaman Victor Spencer - Distinguished Service Medal (later died in Japanese captivity 1945)
Able Seaman Albert Spendlove - Distinguished Service Medal (later co-author of the book Stand By To Die, an account of the HMS Li Wo action and the ordeals of survivors in Japanese captivity)
Lt Edgar Neil Derbridge RNZNV - Mentioned In Dispatches (Posthumously)
Sub Lt John Gardner Petherbridge, Malaya RNVR - Mentioned In Dispatches (Posthumously)
Albe Seaman (Signalman) Desmond Palmer - Mentioned In Dispatches (Posthumously)
Chief Petty Officer Charles Halme "Charlie" Rogers - Mentioned In Dispatches
Leading Seaman William Dick Wilding - Mentioned In Dispatches (served in Royal Navy into the 1950s)
Able Seaman John Smith - Mentioned In Dispatches

Among the other crew members were:

Able Seaman William Henry Baker - Killed In Action
Able Seaman John Thomas Frederick G. S. Bennett - Survived, possibly killed by Japanese troops on Bankga Island whilst evading capture
Leading Seaman Cyril John Cartwright - Killed In Action (ex-HMS Repulse)
Chief Steward Chu Woo Pau - Killed In Action
Leading Seaman Regional Cowtan - Wounded in bayonet attack, Survived, later Killed In Action on HMS Kung Wo
Leading Seaman Richard Clarence Farley - Survived, later Killed In Action aboard HMS Kung Wo
Leading Seaman James Bruce Douglas Hadley - Survived, Wounded, Captured by Japanese, died in Japanese captivity (ex-HMS Repulse)
Able Seaman Edward Hannan - Killed In Action
Engine Room Artificer 4th Class Charles Derek Harvey - Killed In Action
Water Tender Hisa Sung Fah - Killed In Action
Petty Officer Cecil Huntley - Killed In Action (ex-HMS Repulse)
Fireman Hwa Peng Loomg - Killed In Action
General Servant Ling Ah Ling - Killed In Action
Water Tender Loh chung Chu - Killed In Action
Sub Lt john Manson - Survived, possibly died in Japanese captivity
Able Seaman Muhammad Yusf bin Jafar - Killed In Action
Lieutenant (Chief Engineer) James Gall Murray - Killed In Action
Leading Seaman Thomas Henry Parsons - Survived, Mentioned In Dispatches for valour whilst in Japanese captivity, died 1999
Signalman Bernard John Radford - Killed In Action
Signalman Raja Anwar bin Raja Majid - Serious head wounds in action, Killed In Action either during the battle or shortly after
Lieutenant Andrew Robertson - Killed In Action
Able Seaman William Thomas Snow B.E.M. - Killed In Action (British Empire Medal awarded for previous gallantry aboard HMS Glasgow)
Able Seaman Leslie Topliss - Killed In Action
Fireman Wah Way Hung - Killed In Action
Sub Lt John Richard Wood - Killed In Action
Sick Berth Attendant Harry Young - Killed In Action

From here is reproduced the account in The Times newspaper of December 18th, 1946:

VC WON IN NAVAL ACTION
The Times, Wednesday December 18,1946.
RNR Officer's Valour

The King has approved the award of the Victoria Cross to: The late Temporary Lieutenant Thomas Wilkinson, RNR.

On February 14, 1942, HMS Li Wo, a patrol vessel of 1,000 tons, formerly a passenger steamer on the Upper Yangtze River, was on passage from Singapore to Batavia. Her ships company consisted of 84 officers and men, including one civilian; they were mainly survivors from His Majesties Ships which had been sunk, and a few units of the Army and R.A.F. Her armament was only one 4in. gun, for which she had only 13 practice shells, and two machine guns.

Since leaving Singapore the previous day, the ship had beaten off 4 air attacks, in one of which 52 machines took part, and had suffered considerable damage. Late in the afternoon she sighted two enemy convoys, the larger of which was escorted by Japanese naval units, including a heavy cruiser and some destroyers. The commanding officer, Lieutenant T. Wilkinson, gathered his scratch ships company together and told them that, rather than try to escape, he had decided to engage the convoy and fight to the last, in the hope that he might inflict damage upon the enemy. In making this decision, which drew resolute support from the whole ships company, Lieutenant Wilkinson knew that his ship faced certain destruction, and that his own chances of survival were small.

Straight for the Enemy

HMS Li Wo hoisted her battle ensign and made straight for the enemy. In the action which followed the machine guns were used with effect upon the crews of the ships within range, and a volunteer gun's crew manned the 4in. gun, which they fought with such purpose that a Japanese transport was badly hit and set on fire.

After a little over an hour HMS Li Wo had been critically damaged and was sinking. Lieutenant Wilkinson then decided to ram his principal target, the large transport, which had been abandoned by her crew. It is known that this ship burnt fiercely throughout the night following the action and was probably sunk. HMS Li Wo's gallant fight ended when her shells spent and under heavy fire from the enemy cruiser, Lieutenant Wilkinson finally ordered abandon ship. He himself remained on board and went down with her. There were only about 10 survivors, who were later made prisoners of war.

Lieutenant Wilkinson's valour was equalled only by the skill with which he fought his ship. The Victoria Cross is bestowed upon him posthumously in recognition both of his own heroism and self sacrifice and of that of all who fought and died with him.

Lieutenant Wilkinson, who was 44, was the youngest of five sons of the late Captain William Wilkinson, of Widnes. His VC is the 181st awarded in the war, and the 22nd won by the Navy.

The following is the citation in the London Gazette of 13th December 1946, for the award of the Victoria Cross to Thomas Wilkinson

Citation:
The citation in the London Gazette of 13th December 1946 contains the following details :

On 14th February, 1942, H.M.S. Li Wo, a patrol vessel of I,000 tons, formerly a passenger steamer on the Yangtse River, was on passage from Singapore to Batavia. Her company consisted of eighty-four officers and men, mainly survivors from H.M. ships and Army and Air Force units. Her armament was one 4-inch gun (with 13 practice shells) and two machine-guns. Since leaving Singapore she had beaten off four air attacks and had suffered considerable damage. Late in the afternoon she sighted two enemy convoys, the larger being escorted by Japanese fleet units, including a heavy cruiser and some destroyers. Lieutenant Wilkinson, with the unanimous backing of his mixed company, decided to engage the convoy and to fight to the last, inflicting what damage he could. He knew that his ship faced certain destruction. In the action that followed the machine-guns were used effectively, and a volunteer gun-crew fought the 4-inch gun to such purpose that they hit and set on fire a Japanese transport. After a little more than an hour, H.M.S. Li Wo was critically damaged and was sinking. Lieutenant Wilkinson decided to ram the damaged transport. It is known that this ship burned throughout the night and was probably sunk. Having ordered his ship to be abandoned, Lieutenant Wilkinson himself went down with her. Lieutenant Wilkinson's valour was equalled only by the skill with which he fought his ship. The Victoria cross is bestowed upon him posthumously in recognition of the heroism and self-sacrifice displayed not only by himself but by all who fought and died with him.

Needless to say, he is a hard act to follow.

[Bruce Burleson]

My father served in the US Navy in War I, on those old four-stacker Destroyers used in the Atlantic as sub hunter/killers and to escort convoys. He had two of them sunk right out from under him ... but managed to survive and live to tell the tales, and best of all, to father me (!)

He was a pretty salty guy but urged me not to join the Navy. I took his advice and joined the army, a year before the K-War broke out in 1950, which eventually swept me up and had me on the line in that conflict for 16 months, a real horror show.

When I was a kid during War II I had a gig in which we and some of my possemen sold newspapers aboard Naval ships moored in the outer mole of Los Angeles harbor (as they waited to get into drydock for service and repairs). The Texas was in there a number of times and I sold papers aboard her more than once. She was old even then, having been built in 1914 as I recall, and seemed ancient to my young mind. But she was a mighty ship, not doubt about that, though smaller than the more modern battleships that came in there, like the Iowa and Missouri and Pennsylvania, and only had 12 inch guns instead of 16 inch.

Thanks for the story. That's cool that you were actually on the Texas when she was active. Yes, she is not in the Missouri class, but she has undergone some recent renovations and is very well preserved. If you are ever in the Houston area, stop by to see her. That should bring back some memories for you!