Week II
At the start of the Second World War, Bill King was a Lieutenant in charge of his first submarine HMS Snapper. The first winter of the war was unusually cold. Commander Bill King’s submarine Snapper served in the North Sea from April 1939 for 12 months. During that time it had numerous contacts with enemy ships, mainly in the Skagerrat Strait, between the southeast coast of Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden.
Under King, ‘Snapper’ sunk six ships before the end of July 1940. In September 1940 he was lucky to escape when ‘Snapper’ ran aground on the German-occupied Dutch coast. Waiting for a high tide to refloat the submarine, it was spotted by two German Messerschmitt aircraft patrolling in the area. Luckily King skilfully managed to return his crew to the safety of open water.
He was rewarded by an invitation for brandy and cigars with Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, followed by a Distinguished Service Cross.
At first there was a kind of chivalry displayed between friend and foe. Sinking one merchant ship by its deck gun, the target erupted in a sheet of flame. She was carrying aviation fuel. Yet despite knowing that the smoke would alert enemy aircraft of their presence, the Snapper still delayed valuable minutes hauling German survivors out of the sea, and lowering them, shaking with exhaustion and cold, down the forehatch. On one occasion, on the journey back to Harwich, a young Nazi survivor lectured them on Germany’s political necessities, while the British crew went about their duties. They listened politely.
Invasion of Norway
One morning the sky was filled with German planes flying in thick streams northward. The invasion of Norway had begun. The sea was swarming with minesweepers and anti-submarine craft. But there were easy targets too as Germany urgently sent supplies for its invasion forces. Submarine technology, however, was primitive in places. Lining up a target Commander King had his own method. He would stand brazenly on the bridge, and aim his torpedoes with his knuckles. If the enemy ship was going slow, he would give nine degrees of lead, which approximates the width of the human fist at full arm’s length. If the ship was going fast, he used two fists.
Lightening speed
Quickly surfacing, and before the escorts realised the convoy was under attack, King stood on the bridge, extending his arm over Snapper’s bow, using his knuckles as a gunsight. Within minutes the escort vessels spotted him, and rushed angrily towards him. On this occasion, as soon as King shouted the order to fire four torpedoes, his next order was “Dive! Dive! Dive!” while he jumped with lightening speed down the hatch.
As his submarine slid beneath the waves, he heard the distant thud of four hits. Then followed the terrifying ordeal of depth-charge attack. Under-water bombs clicking and exploding close to the hull. ‘Snapper rocked on the impact, and it seemed impossible that her steel hull should not cave in. Hour after hour we remained silent or whispering necessary orders. I knew how unnatural this agonising suspense must seem to ordinary sailors who were my crew; they had to wait motionless for death...’*
The cold, however, was an enemy in itself. Standing on the conning tower, in the severe afternoon cold, the spray turned faces and clothes into‘ crackling icicles’; while the watch below lived in wet woollens, impossible to dry. For a two or three week patrol, King never undressed. When he lay down on his bunk, he removed his oilskin coat only, keeping on his seaboots and oilskin trousers, ready at all times to leap up and take command in emergency. And there were many.
Extreme pressure
The Snapper had a length of 193 feet, a beam of 24 feet and a displacement of 670 tons. In 1939, Snapper played an accidental but crucial role in solving the mystery of why German submarines (U-boats ) remained unharmed after regular attacks by British aircrafts. On 3 December 1939, a Coastal Command aircraft mistakenly assumed HMS Snapper to be a U-boat and bombed her. A 100lb bomb directly hit the conning tower of the British submarine. However, Snapper survived and made port, and the damage turned out to be very minor. This ‘friendly’ fire revealed that 100lb bombs were ineffective against submarines. This incident encouraged research to be done on more effective weapons against U-boats.
Some of HMS Snapper’s successes included attacking and sinking the German tanker Moonsund, on April 12. Two days later on 14 April, Snapper managed to sink another ship, namely the German merchant ship Florida. The next day, she torpedoed and sank two more German minesweepers, M1701 and M1702. After participation in more action in the following months, Snapper was sent for a refit in October 1940 at the Swan Hunter Shipyard at Wallsend on Tyne. The refit was completed on 10 January 1941 but sadly the career of HMS Snapper would shortly come to an end.
When she left harbour Bill King was resting from the extreme pressure of submarine warfare, and his place was taken by Lt Geoffrey Vernon Prowse. Sadly the vessel would never return.
Failed to show
Prowse guided HMS Snapper out of the Swan Hunter yard, in late January 1941 for an assignment to patrol the Bay of Biscay. Here, the submarine was ordered to remain until 10 February, on which she was supposed to return home.
The Snapper would be accompanied by an escort for the return journey but failed to show up for the rendezvous with HMS La Capricieuse on 12 February. Neither the submarine or her crew were ever to be heard of or seen again.
There are several theories concerning the loss of the HMS Snapper – possibly, she could have fallen victim to a German minefield. Another explanation is that the submarine was attacked and sunken by German warships in the area.
Below is a note from an unknown author to Mrs Lucy Lawson after the death of her husband Myles Edward Lawson, whilst serving on HMS Snapper. The note records some verses written by Chief E.R.A Marriott of HMS Sea Lion whom, the author writes, Mr Lawson would have known. It shows to gritty humour of men in extreme danger.
The verses lament the loss of most of the ‘S Class’ submarines in the Second World War. There were 12 ‘S Class’ boats at the start of the war and only HMS Sea Lion, HMS Sea Wolf and HMS Sturgeon survived the conflict.
Eleven watchful ’S’ boats,
Fine and then
‘Seahorse’ fails to answer
So we are ten.
Ten stocky ’S’ boats in a
ragged line
‘Starlet’ drops and stops-out
Leaving us nine.
Nine plucky ’S’ boats
All pressing fate
’Shark’ is overtaken
Now we are eight.
Eight sturdy ’S’ boats
Men from Hants and Devon
‘Salmon’ is over due
And so the numbers seven.
Seven gallant ’S’ boats
Trying all their tricks
’Starfish’ tries a newer one
Down we come to six.
Six tireless ’S’ boats
Fighting to survive
No reply from ‘Swordfish’,
Now we are five.
Five scruffy ’S’ boats
Patrolling close to shore
’Snapper’ takes a short cut
Now we are four.
Four fearless ’S’ boats
too far out to sea,
‘Sunfish’ bombed and scrap-heaped,
We are only three.
Three threadbare ’S’ boats
patrolling over the blue,
Three lonely ’S’ boats…….**
Next week: Rest and recuperation in the Lebanon brings a romantic reward for Bill.
NOTES: * From Adventure in Depth, by Commander Bill King, published by Putnam 1975.
** The verses were discovered at the back of the Engine Room logbook in one of the surviving ’S’ submarines, by research student Anne Selders. The date of this note is unknown but it was presumably sent to Mrs Lawson after the Second World War ended. (Historic Dockyard, Chatham ).
