David Wanklyn

Lieutenant Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn (28 June 1911 – 14 April 1942) was the Allies' most successful submariner in the Second World War in terms of tonnage sunk, and received the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life
He was born in Kolkata, India to William Lumb Wanklyn and Marjorie Wanklyn; he was married to Elspeth.

Military career
Wanklyn joined the Royal Navy in 1925, trained at Dartmouth Naval College, and was assigned as a midshipman in 1930 to the battleship HMS Marlborough, part of the Third Battle Squadron; and the following year to the battlecruiser HMS Renown (1916). After attending promotion courses in 1932 he joined the navy's submarine arm. From August 1933 he served in the submarine HMS Oberon which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet, but in October 1934 transferred to HMS L56 based with the rest of the 6th Submarine Flotilla at Portsmouth. In 1936 he was promoted to First Lieutenant (i.e. second in command) of the boat. In January 1937 he moved to HMS Shark. He became second in command of HMS Otway, part of the 5th Submarine Flotilla in August 1939 but was shortly afterwards promoted to be commander of HMS H32. He was given command of HMS Upholder, which was then under construction, in August 1940.

As a 29 year-old Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, he was awarded the VC for his "utmost courage" on 24 May 1941 south of Sicily. Commanding HM Submarine Upholder on her seventh patrol, an Italian troopship (the 18,000 ton former liner Conte Rosso), which was with a strongly protected convoy, was torpedoed while the submarine's listening equipment was broken and periscope use was not reliable. The troopship sank, Upholder escaped after evading 37 depth charges.

Citation
"ADMIRALTY. Whitehall 16th December, 1941.

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the grant of the VICTORIA CROSS for valour and resolution in command of His Majesty's Submarine Upholder, to:

Lieutenant-Commander Malcolm David Wanklyn, D.S.O., Royal Navy.

On the evening of the 24th of May, 1941, while on patrol off the coast of Sicily, Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn, in command of His Majesty's Submarine Upholder, sighted a south-bound enemy troop-convoy, strongly escorted by Destroyers.

The failing light was such that observation by periscope could not be relied on but a surface attack would have been easily seen. Upholder's listening gear was out of action.

In spite of these severe handicaps Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn decided to press home his attack at short range. He quickly steered his craft into a favourable position and closed in so as to make sure of his target. By this time the whereabouts of the escorting Destroyers could not be made out. Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn, while fully aware of the risk of being rammed by one of the escort, continued to press on towards the enemy troop-ships. As he was about to fire, one of the enemy Destroyers suddenly appeared out of the darkness at high speed, and he only just avoided being rammed. As soon as he was clear, he brought his periscope sights on and fired torpedoes, which sank a large troop-ship. The enemy Destroyers at once made a strong counterattack and during the next twenty minutes dropped thirty-seven depth-charges near Upholder.

The failure of his listening devices made it much harder for him to get away, but with the greatest courage, coolness and skill he brought Upholder clear of the enemy and safe back to harbour.

Before this outstanding attack, and since being appointed a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, Lieutenant-Commander Wariklyn had torpedoed a tanker and a merchant vessel.

He has continued to show the utmost bravery in the presence of the enemy. He has carried out his attacks on enemy vessels with skill and relentless determination, and has also sunk one Destroyer, one U-boat, two troop-transports of 19,500 tons each, one tanker and three supply ships. He has besides probably destroyed by torpedoes one Cruiser and one Destroyer, and possibly hit another Cruiser."

Death
By the end of 1941 Lieutenant-Commander Wanklyn had sunk nearly 140,000 tons of enemy shipping, including a destroyer and troopships, tankers, supply and store ships. Wanklyn was killed along with his crew when Upholder was lost on her 25th patrol, becoming overdue on 14 April 1942. The most likely explanation is that she fell victim to depth charges dropped by the Italian torpedo boat Pegaso north east of Tripoli on 14 April 1942 although no debris was seen on the surface. The attack was 100 miles away from Wanklyn's patrol area; it is thought that he may have changed position to find more targets. It is also possible that the submarine was sunk by a mine on 11 April 1942 near Tripoli, when a submarine was reported as approaching a minefield. More recent research carried out by Italian naval specialist Francesco Mattesini points to a German aerial patrol supporting the same convoy, composed of two Dornier Do-17s and two Messerschmidt Bf-110s, which attacked an underwater contact with bombs two hours before the Pegaso incident. The author also asserts that the seaplane crew was unsure if the target they pintpointed to Pegaso was a submarine or a school of dolphins. Mattesini, however, admits the possibility that Pegaso could have finished off the submarine previously damaged by the German aircraft. Wanklyn was the Allies' most successful submariner in terms of tonnage sunk.