Campaign Groups and Pairs 203
Eleven: Chief Petty Officer J. W. Watts, Royal Navy, who was Mentioned in Despatches for his services in H.M.S. Exeter during her epic encounter with Graf Spee at the Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939
1914-15 Star (L. 4759, J. W. Watts, O.S.3, R.N.; British War and Victory Medals (L.4759 J. W. Watts. O.S.1 R.N.); 1939 -45 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, 1 clasp, North Africa 1942-43; Pacific Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf; Jubilee 1935; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue, with Second Award Bar (L.4759 J. W. Watts O. S.1. H.M.S. Danae.) mounted as worn, the earlier awards heavily polished and the second with slack suspension thus fine, the rest good very fine (11)
£800-£1,200 Provenance: Spink, September 2001.
M.I.D. London Gazette 23 February 1940: ‘In recognition of the gallant and successful action with the Admiral Graf Spee.’
Joseph Westcott Watts was born in Wellington, Somerset in 1897 and entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Servant on 5 September 1913. Joining the Cruiser H.M.S. Foresight on 30 July 1914, he remained in her throughout the war, witnessing action at the Belgian Coast 1914 and Dardanelles 1915-16. Notably, during the latter campaign, she came to the assistance of survivors of the Titanic’s sister ship, H.M.H.S. Brittanic, which sank after being mined in the Kea Channel in October 1916.
Remaining in the Royal Navy between the wars, Watts was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal while aboard H.M.S. Danae in January 1931 and his Jubilee Medal while in the Heavy Cruiser H.M.S. Exeter, which ship he initially joined in August 1933. Advanced to Chief Petty Officer in 1934, he was due to be pensioned ashore in 1939 but the commencement of hostilities found him once more required aboard the Exeter, now part of Commodore Harwood’s South America Cruiser Squadron, ‘Force G’ consisting of Cumberland, Exeter, Ajax and Achilles, which had been disposed by the Admiralty to locate and sink the commerce raiding German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. Two of Admiral Graf Spee’s last victims, SS Doric Star (2 December 1939) and SS Tairoa (3 December 1939), had succeeded in transmitting wireless signals before being sunk and upon receipt of the report of the attack on Tairoa, Harwood correctly concluded that the Admiral Graf Spee’s next destination would be the River Plate.
At dawn on 13 December, Admiral Graf Spee sighted H.M.S. Exeter off the estuary of the River Plate and closed at full speed, opening fire on Exeter at 06.17 with her six 11 inch guns at a range of 19,000 yards, thus beginning the Battle of the River Plate. Exeter, also closing at full speed, got her 8-inch guns into action four minutes later at a range of nine miles. Ajax and Achilles meanwhile worked their way north east to split the German’s fire but it was Exeter who bore the brunt: ‘Just five minutes after the commencement of the action, an 11-inch shell burst alongside the British ship [Exeter], killing the Torpedo Tubes’ Crews. A minute later she received a direct hit on 'B' turret which put its two 8-inch guns out of action. Splinters swept the Bridge, killing or wounding all but three of the Officers and Ratings there. The Captain escaped and, finding the Bridge out of action and the Wheel-house communications wrecked, he made his way aft to fight the ship from there. As he did so, Exeter received two more direct hits from 11-inch shells forward. Nevertheless, a few minutes later she fired her starboard torpedoes at the Admiral Graf Spee, but before they reached their mark the Pocket Battleship had turned away under cover of smoke ... Two more 11-inch shells hit the Exeter, causing further casualties and extensive damage. One entered the hull and started a fierce fire between the decks. The other put the fore-most turret and its two 8-inch guns out of action. It was on the occasion of these hits that the spotting aircraft reported, “She has completely disappeared in the smoke and flames, and it was feared that she had gone. However, she emerged and re-entered the action”. In doing so the men of the Exeter proved again the indomitable spirit of the Royal Navy. Their ship was badly stricken. Two of the three turrets were out of action, leaving her no guns forward. She had a 7 degrees list and was down by the head. All her compasses had been smashed, and the Captain was handling the ship with the aid of a small boat’s compass. In these circumstances she altered course towards the enemy and fired her port torpedoes ... The Exeter, gradually dropping astern, fought on until she had nothing left to fight with. At about 7.30 a.m. her sole remaining turret was flooded. Ten minutes later she turned to the South-East and slowly limped away, making necessary running repairs as she went’ (The King's Cruisers, by Gordon Holman, refers).
Harried by its three smaller opponents and suffering damage, the Admiral Graf Spee was obliged to make for the port of Montevideo. Rather than renew the action, Captain Langsdorff scuttled the Admiral Graf Spee on 17 December 1939. The gallant Exeter having the largest calibre guns of the cruiser squadron had naturally been the Admiral Graf Spee’s primary target and suffered 61 killed and 23 wounded in the action. Chief Petty Officer Steward Watts was Mentioned in Despatches in part for assisting these wounded men during and after the action: ‘Throughout the action and during the passage to the Falklands, C.P.O.S. Watts worked efficiently and tirelessly, and was of every encouragement to the wounded. He stayed below decks for a period of 48 hours on end without thinking of taking a brief respite. He had practically no sleep.’
Watts left the Exeter in April 1940. In September the following year he joined the Cruiser H.M.S. Charybdis and was aboard her during the period in which she won Battle Honours for “Malta Convoys 1942 “ and “North Africa 1942”. He was then fortunate to be transferred to H.M.S. Hannibal, the Naval Base in Algiers in April 1943, and as a result avoided the fate of the 462 crew members of Charybdis who lost their lives six months later when their ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel. Watts final wartime appointment, in May 1944, was aboard the newly commissioned aircraft carrier H.M.S. Implacable. With squadrons of Fairey Barracudas and Supermarine Seafires aboard, the carrier witnessed considerable action off Norway later that year, including sinking six ships and and damaging a German submarine during Operation Athletic. She was then ordered to the Pacific in May 1945 where her first operation as part of the British Pacific Fleet was against Japanese airfields at Truk in the Caroline Islands. He was finally pensioned ashore in July 1947.
www.dnw.co.uk all lots are illustrated on our website and are subject to buyers’ premium at 24% (+VAT where applicable)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186 |
Page 187 |
Page 188 |
Page 189 |
Page 190 |
Page 191 |
Page 192 |
Page 193 |
Page 194 |
Page 195 |
Page 196 |
Page 197 |
Page 198 |
Page 199 |
Page 200 |
Page 201 |
Page 202 |
Page 203 |
Page 204 |
Page 205 |
Page 206 |
Page 207 |
Page 208 |
Page 209 |
Page 210 |
Page 211 |
Page 212 |
Page 213 |
Page 214 |
Page 215 |
Page 216 |
Page 217 |
Page 218 |
Page 219 |
Page 220 |
Page 221 |
Page 222 |
Page 223 |
Page 224 |
Page 225 |
Page 226 |
Page 227 |
Page 228 |
Page 229 |
Page 230 |
Page 231 |
Page 232 |
Page 233 |
Page 234 |
Page 235 |
Page 236
