The war at sea: a series of paintings by Norman Wilkinson.

LD 4 2 9 7 . SIJNI)ERLANI) ;I'I'ACKING A S i i i i ARINE PAck IN THE BAY OF BISCAY 46 LD 4 3 2 5 . IFIL RAFT. T h e courage of o u r merchant sea- mcii is proverbial. A t the mercy of the sea in sinking ships, torpedoed, bombed, ni ach me-gunned, a n d cast away o n rafts, these me n have never faltered i n their duty of keeping the life-line open. LI) p 2 6 . RE-SCUE, TUG. 1 h e rescue tug service has done .Splendid work i n salvaging damaged vessels. Many thousands of tons of in- valuable shipping have been p u t back into service t h r ough its aid. LD 4303. MOTOR I o R P E l ) ( ) BOATS. N 1 .B.s leaving a torpedoed enemy vessel alter an attack o n coastal ship- ping. L i ) 4 3 2 7 . SWORDFISH OF THE F1F;I:I A I R A R M AYrAcKIN(; THE Sc/ia in/Joist AND (;iieisciiiu IN THE CHANNEL. Th i s episode has been p u t on r e c o r d i n m e m o r y o f the superb gal- lantry of the crews of the six Sword- fish who in the face o f terrific fire pressed home their attack with tor- p e d o e s . All six were shot down. There w e r e o n l y five survivors, of whom four were wounded. Among t h o s e lost was their gallant leader, Lieu t.-Coni Ii1ai1(leI- Esmonde. He was awarded a p o s t h u m o u s V.C. LD 4 3 2 8 . TiLE J e r v i s Bay. T h e l o n g s t o r y o f gallantry in the Navy has n o finer example of hero- i n n a n d self-sacrifice than that shown by Ca p t a i n Fegan of the Jervis Bay. 9 An armed niercliantnian, she was the s o l e p r o t e c t i o n for a convoy of thirty-nine ships. Towa r d s dusk the convoy was attacked by a heavily ariiied raider, probably a Pocket battleship. T h e Jervis Bay, armed only with 6-in, guns a n d wi t hou t armour, t u r n e d immediately towards the raider, a t the sanie time ordering the c o n v o y t o d i s p e r s e . W h e n last seen she was heavily o n lire a n d firing every gun t ha t would bear, a n d so passc(I to h e r glorious end. LI) 429J. () h i I N F i t F M A LTA CONVOY. I n August, 1942, a n impo r t a n t con- voy was dispatched to Malta with urgently needed stores. It was im- perative that this convoy should get through if the island was to survive. T h e oil tanker Oh i o carried the main Oil supply, a n d it was u p o n this vessel t ha t the enemy concentrated its at- tacks. Al though heavily damaged by torpedo a n d bombing, she succeeded in reaching Malta with h e r precious cargo intact. L D 43() I . THE, SEC()NI) BATTLE OF N ARVIC. O n April 1 3 t h , 1 9 4 o , a N a v a l force u n d e r t h e c omma nd of Vice-Admiral Whitworth, consisting of H.M.S. lVasspite a n d six destroyers, entered M o t Fjord where a n umb e r of Ger- ma n destroyers were known to he liarbotiring. Seven hal-ge- type dc- stroyei-s were engaged and Ptit o u t of action., L i ) 4 3 2 9 . T I l E EN!) OF A FOCKE-\VULF. The s e aircraft have b e e n exten- sively used by the Germans for long distance raids o n Allied shipping in the Atlantic.