Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry 42
A Second War submariner’s D.S.M. group of five awarded to Leading Signalman L. Smith, Royal Navy, for his gallant services in H.M.S. Seawolf, in particular his part in a torpedo attack on a German U-Boat on 18 March 1942 whilst on patrol in the Norwegian Sea
Distinguished Service Medal,
G.VI.R. (JX.134370 L. Smith, L. Sig.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; War Medal 1939-45, nearly extremely fine (5)
£1,000-£1,400 D.S.M. London Gazette 16 June 1942: ‘For daring enterprise and devotion to duty in successful patrols in H.M. Submarine Seawolf’
Leslie Smith was born in 1914 in Aberdare, Glamorgan and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy 2nd Class on 27 May 1930. In the 1930s he saw service in the heavy cruiser H.M.S. Dorsetshire from September 1931 until July 1933 and the Destroyer H.M.S. Basilisk from October 1933 to July 1936 in addition to a number of shore establishments before transferring to the Submarine Service based at H.M. S. Dolphin in November 1936. After a brief spell in L.26 he joined the S-Class Submarine Seawolf in May 1938 and was advanced to Leading Signalman in June 1939. He would serve in Seawolf until September 1943.
Assigned to the 6th Submarine Flotilla, based out of Blyth and under the command of Lieutenant J. R. Studholme, Seawolf left Dundee for her first war patrol on 2 September 1939. She would go on to complete 29 war patrols between September 1939 to July 1942, a period in which Seawolf witnessed the sinking the German merchant ship Hamm in the Skaggerak in April 1940, its participation in Operation Thwart - the landing and collection of Norwegian agents at Ullero Island, Norway in July 1940, the tracking of the Bismarck prior to its sinking in May 1941 and on 6 March 1942, a brush with the Bismarck’s sister ship, Tirpitz, a frustrating episode referred to in David A. Thomas’s Submarine Victory: ‘Less than a month after Sladen’s attack, Seawolf, under the command of Lieutenant R. F. Raikes, had the bleakness of its icy patrol in the northern wastes temporarily relieved by a sighting of the monster battleship Tirpitz. Raikes was one of the submarine commanders covering the exit route from Trondheim. He was positioned in Fro Havet, the wide approach to Trondheim Fiord. On the evening of March 6th the fighting top and masts of a large warship appeared over the horizon. Raikes ordered maximum speed to try to intercept and attack. Feelings in the submarine ran high as it was learned in Seawolf that she was after a battleship. But disappointment soon followed when Raikes realised he could not close the range enough to attack. So Tirpitz ploughed along mightily, within sight but out of torpedo range. Seawolf got off an enemy sighting report and returned sadly to the routine of patrolling and battling with ice which was a constant worry for our submarine commanders in these latitudes in winter... Seawolf’s sighting report set in motion a series of events designed primarily to bring Tirpitz to action and concurrently to give protection to the Russia-bound convoy PQ 12 and the homeward bound convoy from Russia, QP 8... Seawolf was the nearest any of our conventional submarines ever got to Tirpitz, except for another brief sighting by P 54 in July.’
Less than two weeks later, however, on 18 March 1942, Seawolf did get in range to fire 6 torpedoes in an attack on a U-boat in the Norwegian Sea, resulting in the recommendation of gallantry awards including Smith’s D.S.M. Lieutenant R. P. Raikes recorded the following in Seawolf’s log:
‘1301 hours - Sighted a U-boat on the surface. Enemy course 272°, speed 10 knots. Started attack. 1325 hours - Fired six torpedoes from a range of 6300 yards. 7min 21sec after firing a very heavy explosion was heard. Smoke was seen on the bearing of the target that had disappeared. It is thought the enemy was sunk.’
The patrol report for H.M.S. Seawolf for the period 1 March - 19 March 1942 contained the following entries, submitted by the Captain of the 3rd Submarine Flotilla: ‘2. The U-boat attacked on 18th March appears to have been destroyed, the principal evidence being the second “tremendous muffled explosion” which is typical of the noise made by a ship “breaking up” immediately after the detonation of a torpedo. Frequently this sound has been mistaken for depth charges. It was unfortunate that no recognisable debris was found in the vicinity but no reasonable doubt can exist of the success of the attack. It is greatly to Lieutenant R.P. Raikes, Royal Navy’s credit that he was able to profit by this one slender opportunity at the end of an arduous and, under the circumstances, heartbreaking patrol. It was an excellent instance of quick and accurate thinking, good drill and a high standard of readiness. 3. Recommendations for awards for this successful action will be made later.’
An Appendix to this report states the following: ‘This was Seawolf’s 25th war patrol and the under-mentioned ratings have been with her throughout. From my own own observation and from reports from my predecessors, they have carried out their duties with marked ability and keenness. E.R.A. Daw; E.A. Shaylor; L/Sig Smith’
Between July 1942 and September 1943, Smith remained assigned to Seawolf while she underwent a refit in North America. Then posted to H.M.S. Unruffled in December 1943, he served in her until July 1945 and was released from the service, Class A, as a Leading Signalman on 12 November 1945.
Sold with the recipient’s original Certificate of Service, 2 photographs of H.M.S. Seawolf, a photograph of the crew of H.M.S. Seawolf in which the recipient is identified, copies of 3 H.M.S. Seawolf patrol reports and other copied research.
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