|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hugh Mackenzie
| Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Mackenzie, KCB, DSO*, DSC (deceased) Educated at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Hugh Mackenzie served in world war two becoming commanding officer of the Submarine HMS H28 in March 1941, of the submarine HMS H43 in June 1941, of the submarine HMS Thrasher (in which he sank 40,000 tons of enemy shipping) in March 1943 and of the submarine HMS Tantalus (in which he conducted a single patrol of nearly 12,000 miles) in June 1945 Mackenzie went on to be commanding officer of the Underwater Detection Establishment at Portland in 1952, commander of the 1st Destroyer Squadron in June 1954 and Chief of Staff to the Flag Officer Submarines in December 1956. After that he became Captain of the Boys' Training Establishment HMS Ganges in January 1959, Flag Officer Submarines in September 1961 and Chief of the Polaris Executive in Spring 1963 before retiring in September 1968. Vice Admiral Sir Hugh Mackenzie died on the 10th October 1996. |
|
|
| Text for the above items : |
Clipped Signature - Hugh Mackenzie. Served as a submariner in World War Two commanding subs inlcuding H28, H43, Thrasher and Tantalus. He remained in the Navy until retiring in 1968 as Vice-Admiral, and was knighted. He died in 1996. |
HMS/M Thrasher by John Pettitt. HMS Thrasher was on her 8th patrol when on the 16th June 1942, an unsuccessful torpedo attack was made on the German merchant vessel Arkadia off Crete. Later, at 1155 hours, they spotted a deeply laden merchant vessel of about 3000 tons and turned to attack. The vessel had 5 escorts and aircraft circling overhead. At 1234 hours they fired the first salvo from 2000 yards, and immediately the submarine shook from a muffled explosion - probably a bomb from an aircraft, and machine gun bullets were heard striking the water above soon after. Three minutes later, two distant explosions were heard a few seconds apart - perhaps the torpedoes exploding or it may have been depth charges. Thrasher dived and at 1245 experienced the first of 33 depth charges, an uncomfortable experience with minor damage caused to the submarine. The following day, at 0150 hours, the crew discovered a large hole in the side of the gun platform and an unexploded bomb laying on the casing just forward of the gun. With a protion of its tail still attached, the bomb could not roll off of the casing. At 0240 hours, Thrasher went full astern and lowered into the water to dislodge the bomb. After, it was discovered that a further unexploded bomb was inside the casing and lying on the pressure hull. To remove this meant dragging the device 20 feet through the casing with great danger of it exploding. Lt P S W Roberts and PO T W Gould carried out this task and safely disposed of the bomb over the side at 0330 hours. For this action, they were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The painting depicts HMS Thrasher in her blue liver heading for Alexandria at the end of this patrol. |
|
Contact Details |
|
Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
|
|
|
