Groups and Single Decorations for Gallantry


This by no means ended the thrilling experiences of the E.11. Before she set out on her return journey from the Sea of Marmora she had sunk in all one large gunboat, two transports, three small ships, and one ammunition ship (the Nagara), and had forced another store ship to run ashore; and when, on her way back, she was about to enter the Dardanelles again, Nasmith sighted another transport coming up astern, and he waited until she came along and then torpedoed her and sent her to the bottom. In all the E.11 destroyed eleven ships, no bad record for a small vessel with a crew of 30 officers and men, who had to face the gravest perils single-handed from the time they entered the Dardanelles until they left them. On the way out these perils were encountered in a most alarming form. As the E.11 was making her way seawards beneath the surface, those on board became aware of a resistance which was not of the sea, and every now and then a faint bump was heard against the vessel's side. Instinctively and instantly everyone on board realised what had happened.


The submarine had fouled the cable by which a floating mine was chained to its anchor on the sea bed, and the cable, instead of slipping past the smooth hull, had somehow become entangled in the forward hydroplanes. Any one of those ominous bumps might suffice to explode the mine and send the submarine to the bottom like a log. It was impossible for Nasmith to manoeuvre his boat in an effort to get rid of the thing, for he was passing through the most thickly mined area of the whole Straits, and any deviation from the set course would almost certainly have taken the boat straight to destruction. Nor could he rise to the surface and send a man out to detach the machine, for the churning screws of the patrol boats could be heard overhead. There was nothing for it but to carry on as slowly and as carefully as possible and to trust to Providence. For eleven miles the submarine crept on with sudden death dangling from her bows, a death from which those on board were saved only by the lightness of the bumps by which the mine had announced itself. A sharp blow would have detonated it. One can imagine what feelings of relief there were when the boat at last reached an area where she could 'break surface' in safety. Once afloat again, it did not take long to disentangle the cable and drop the mine over the side.


His courageous services brought Lieutenant-Commander Nasmith the award of the Victoria Cross, while the two other officers on board, Lieutenant Guy d'Oyly-Hughes and Lieutenant Robert Brown, R.N.R., received the Distinguished Service Cross. All the Petty Officers and men were granted the D.S.M.


Remarkably, Nasmith, his crew and the E. 11 returned to the Sea of Marmora for two further protracted and highly successful patrols. On the first of them, in July-August 1915, which lasted for 29 days, they sank the Turkish battleship Barbarossa, a gunboat, six transports, a steamer and 23 dhows, in addition to bombarding enemy troops and other military objectives along the coast. And on the second, which lasted for 42 days in November-December 1915 - the longest patrol accomplished by any submarine to date - they sank a destroyer, 11 steamers and 35 sailing ships.


From the end of 1916 Brassington served above the waves in a variety of vessels, including the destroyer Foyle which, on the night of 15 March 1917, struck a mine killing twenty-seven of her crew of seventy. Fortunately, Brassington was only slightly wounded on this occasion. He was advanced to Leading Stoker in May 1918 and was discharged to shore ‘Free’ on 16 February 1920. Sold with copied discharge papers and a small photograph of him, with his father, wearing naval uniform with H.M.S. Pembroke cap tally.


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