16 August 1917

Q ship HMS Saros was sunk by a German submarine in the Strait of Messina on 16 August 1917. Saros, previously the 3,700-ton collier Bradford City, built in 1910, operated in the Mediterranean, though she did not appear to have much success. On one occasion, on 30 October 1916, Saros had attracted the attention of a submarine but despite attempts to appear to be a civilian ship in panic mode, the submarine lay off and shelled her, forcing Saros to return fire, which prompted the U-boat to escape. Three days later a particularly careless and lazy attack by a U-boat, which clearly accepted that Saros was just a bog-standard merchant steamer, resulted in Saros scoring at least one hit on the submarine, but that too escaped, and Saros spent a nervous night zig-zagging to avoid the risk of an attack by a submerged enemy. Saros was operating off the south-west coast of Italy when she was spotted and torpedoed by an unnamed U-boat on 16 August 1917. It would appear that there were no casualties from the Saros (also known as Ballistan Saros), which began service with the Admiralty as a Q-ship on 16 October 1915.

17 August 1973

Admiral Sir William ‘Bubbles’ James died on 17 August 1973 at the age of 91. James was the grandson of pre-Raphaelite painter John Everett Millais, and as a young boy he sat as the subject of several of his grandfather’s portraits – one of which (‘A Child’s World’) showed five-year-old James gazing at a soap bubble he had just blown. This image was taken up by the Pears Soap company for advertising and became widely recognised – saddling James forever with the nickname ‘Bubbles’ (or ‘Sir Bubbles’ after his knighthood in 1938). Breaking with family tradition – his father served with distinction in the Zulu Wars with the Army – James pursued a career in the Royal Navy, starting on board the training ship HMS Britannia, after which he was confirmed in the rank of sub lieutenant in April 1901, being promoted to lieutenant later that year. During World War 1 James was Executive Officer in battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary, leaving the ship shortly before the Battle of Jutland, when the warship suffered a catastrophic explosion which sank her with all but 20 of her ship’s company of 1,286. Later in the war he was a key figure in the creation of the Naval Intelligence organisation, decrypting enemy signals and working on the Zimmerman Telegram, which was instrumental in bringing the United States into the war on the side of the Allies. After the war he undertook a number of important roles, including Director of the Royal Naval HMS E13 aground on Saltholm after a German attack. See 18 August. Image from the Imperial War Museum collection: © IWM (FL 4296) Lord and Chief of Staff to both Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet and Mediterranean Fleet. In the 1930s he took command of the Battlecruiser Squadron, with his flag in HMS Hood, and was promoted full admiral in 1938. In World War 2 James was for a time Commander-in-Chief Portsmouth, and commanded Operation Aerial, the evacuation of 200,000 British forces and civilians from Brittany and Normandy which ran in tandem with the Dunkirk evacuation. From 1942 he was appointed Chief of Naval Information, overseeing naval publicity, and on top of all that he was elected Conservative MP for Portsmouth North from 1943-5, during which time he retired from active service. In his retirement James spent a great deal of time researching and writing on British naval history, and was president of the Union Jack Club in London between 1955 and 1964.

18 August 1915

Submarine HMS E13 ended her active service career stranded on a Danish island on 18 August 1915. E3 was a member of the effective E-class submarines that served throughout World War 1, though her own part in the conflict was very brief. The 820-ton submarine was built at Chatham and launched on 22 September 1914, commissioning just over two months later. With a crew of 30, E13 had a range of over 3,200 miles and could operate underwater for more than five hours. E13 and her sister HMS E8 sailed from Harwich on 14 August 1915 to intercept German shipping in the Baltic, in order to disrupt the flow of iron ore from Sweden to Germany. However, because of a faulty gyrocompass, early in the morning of 18 August E13 went aground on the island of Saltholm in the Oresund, between Malmo and Copenhagen, and as dawn broke she was lying fully visible in the shallows. Danish torpedo boat approached and informed E13’s captain that he had 24 hours to leave or else he and his crew would be interned for violating Danish neutrality. Attempts to refloat her failed, and with radio contact lost (the Germans were jamming signals) the British sought to negotiate terms for internment. At this point a German torpedo boat arrived, but withdrew in the presence of Danish vessels. But with the Germans keen to keep Allied submarines out of the Baltic, the torpedo boat and a second vessel were ordered to attack E13, which they did with torpedoes, gunfire and machine guns, killing 15 British sailors and setting the submarine on fire. The Germans only halted their attack when a Danish patrol vessel placed itself between them and the stricken submarine. The remaining 15 crew were interned in Copenhagen for the remainder of the war, though her captain, Lt Cdr Geoffrey Layton, and First Lieutenant escaped to return home and continue fighting for his country. Layton went on to serve with distinction in World War 2, commanding the Royal Navy’s Eastern Fleet and attaining the rank of Admiral. The attack caused outrage in the UK and Denmark as it was a clear violation of neutrality, and the Germans eventually apologised to Denmark. The Danes arranged for the bodies of the 15 sailors who died to be repatriated with full military honours. E13 was towed into harbour from her resting place on Saltholm, but was too badly damaged to be of any use, and was sold for scrap in February 1919.

19 August 1915

CPO Michael ‘Micky’ Keogh of HMS Ark Royal won the Albert Medal for his actions in trying to save the life of a pilot in an aircraft crash on 19 August 1915. Keogh, from Co Cork, joined the Royal Naval Air Service on 23 April 1910, starting as a PO in the carpenter’s crew, later rating as a Leading Mechanic and being promoted to Chief. He also qualified as a pilot in 1913. On 19 August 1915, a BE2c aircraft piloted by renowned Naval aviator Capt Charles Collet was ascending from an aerodrome on the island of Imbros, near Gallipoli, and had reached a height of around 150ft when the engine stopped. The aircraft was buffeted by air currents from nearby cliffs, and fell vertically to the ground, bursting into flames. Keogh and several colleagues saw the crash, and the Irishman; having clambered through a ravine to reach the spot, wrapped a tarpaulin around himself and dashed into the flames in a vain attempt to rescue the fatally-injured pilot, who was still alive when dragged from the flames but who died shortly after. His passenger, George Lacey, was thrown clear of the aircraft and avoided the fire, though he suffered two badly-broken legs. Keogh was gazetted for the award of the Albert Medal on 12 January 1916 – he later exchanged in for the George Cross in 1971. Keogh was commissioned into the Royal Air Force as a Second Lieutenant, Technical Officer, on the formation of the junior service on 1 April 1918. He went on to achieve the rank of Sqn Ldr in the RAF, and then served eight years with the Royal New Zealand Air Force, ending as a Group Captain. He died, aged 94, on 22 July 1983.

20 August 1940

Submarine HMS Cachalot sank U-51 in a surface action in the Bay of Biscay on 20 August 1940. The Porpoise-class minelaying submarine had a brief front-line career. Built by Scotts at Greenock, she was launched on 2 December 1937 and commissioned on 15 August the following year. Displacing 2,160 tons when submerged, the boat carried 1 torpedoes and up to 50 mines, in addition to a 4in deck gun. On 20 August 1940 she was in the Bay of Biscay when she spotted German submarine U-51 on the surface to the west of St Nazaire – the U-boat was on her fourth war patrol, having sunk five merchantmen and an auxiliary warship, totalling more than 30,000 tons. Cachalot struck the fatal blow, and her torpedo sent U-51 to the bottom, taking her crew of 43 with her. Cachalot went on to serve in the Mediterranean but did not survive for long. She sailed from Malta on 26 July 1941 with passengers for Alexandria, and was also tasked with looking out for an Axis tanker bound for Benghazi. Cachalot found the tanker, but unfortunately the tanker’s escorting torpedo boat Generale Achille Papa found the British submarine and attacked. Cachalot dived to escape, but on resurfacing later she was attacked once more and her upper hatch jammed, preventing her from submerging. The Italian rammed Cachalot, forcing the British crew to scuttle their boat; a Maltese steward died in the attack, but the remaining personnel – 67 crew and 20 passengers – were rescued and taken prisoner.

21 August 1853

Merchant ship Breadalbane, carrying supplies for an expedition searching for Franklin’s exploratory voyage looking for the Northwest Passage, was crushed by ice and sank in Lancaster Sound in Canada on 21 August 1853. Breadalbane was a 430-ton three masted barque built on the Clyde in 1843 for a Scottish merchant, taken up by the Admiralty in 1853 to carry coal and other supplies. Accompanied by paddle sloop HMS Phoenix, Breadalbane sailed for the Resolute Bay area of Canada, high in the Arctic Circle (now part of Nunavut) carrying supplies for a venture by Sir Edward Belcher, who was looking for the lost Franklin Expedition of 1845 in HM Ships Erebus and Terror. On 21 August 1853 Breadalbane was anchored in ice f loes south of Beechey Island, some 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle, when ice formed around her hull. One slab pierced her hull , and in the following hours the pressure on her hull increased to the extent that her skipper ordered his 20-strong crew off the ship as quickly as possible, taking whatever they could carry with them. And clambering aboard HMS Phoenix. Within 15 minutes of them evacuating, Breadalbane sank in 100 metres of water in the Barrow Strait. The wreck was discovered in 1980, lying upright and intact, with two of her three masts still in place, on the sea bed in remarkably good condition, having been preserved by the icy water.

22 August 1940

The Royal Marines Siege Regiment stationed at Dover f ired the first shell across the Channel on 22 August 1940. The Regiment was stationed at Dover from its formation on 7 September 1940 until September 1944, and amongst their responsibilities was the operation of A Battery (two 14in guns, named Winnie and Pooh), and B Battery (three 13.5 in railway guns, Sceneshifter, Piecemaker and Gladiator). The 14in guns, which arrived at the site near the village of St Margaret-at-Cliffe in July and December 1940, were spare Mk VII Naval guns with a range of 27 miles, meaning any activities near the coast of the Pas de Calais could be interrupted. As it happened, the first two shots, fired on 22 August 1940, were aimed at a German convoy passing through the Channel. German interest in neutralising these two guns led to extensive attempts at camouflage; at least one dummy gun was built of wood and papier mache, though the effect was somewhat spoiled by the exaggerated droop that developed in the barrel over time. The use of ‘supercharged’ firing, using cordite charges some 20 per cent larger than those for which the guns were designed, meant that Winnie and Pooh could only f ire some 50 round before the rifling in the barrels became worn, so they were used sparingly. The two main guns were installed at the personal request of Winston Churchill (hence the name Winnie), and the Prime Minister was a regular visitor to the site. By mid-1942 the threat of invasion had receded; the railway guns were handed over to the Royal Artillery in late 1943 leaving just the pair of 14in guns, which had their last hurrah when they both fired their maximum 50 rounds at the retreating German army along the Channel coast in August 1944, scoring some direct hits (including an ammunition dump).