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

I was fortunate in being present a t the invasion on D - D a y , a n d o n a number of subsequent days, i n the destroyer Jervis, one of the war's veterans. Sketching i n a destroyer i n action is n o t too easy; so mu c h is going o n it is difficult to concentrate o n one incident. It therefore becomes a ma t t e r of r a p i d shorthand notes u n t i l a m o m e n t c ome s w h e n t h e no t e s c an b e elaborated i n c o l o u r and i n m o r e detail. \Vhiie the g r o u p o f invasion pictures cover o n l y a fraction o f t h i s great o p e r a t i o n , i t is h o p e d that they may give some impression of t h e part played by the Navy in the landing. N o a t t emp t has been mad e to reconstruct features of the l a n d i n g t h a t were n o t a c t u a l l y w i t n e s s e d . We a t h e r conditions w e r e carefully n o t e d a n d a n attempt made t o p u t clown w i t h truth wha t was s e e n . N o e f f o r t has b e e n ma d e to d r a m a t i z e e v e n t s , a n d b y t r e a t i n g t h e s u b j e c t s w i t h s i n i p l i c i t y i t i s p o s s i b l e that t h e y m a y have some value as records in t h e f u t u r e . I f Naval Officers a n d others w i t h t e c h n i c a l k n o w l e d g e f i n d c e r t a i n f e a t u r e s m i s s i n g i n s o m e of t h e s h i p s they w i l l und e r s t and t ha t for these appa r e n t lapses security reasons mu s t b e blamed. N O R M A N WILKINSON. '1 11 CATALOGUE OF PICTURES L i o . ENEMY SUBMARINE SURREN- DERING T O A HUDsON. O n A u g u s t 2 7 t h , 1 9 4 1 , a Hudson aircraft of Coastal Comma n d sighted a U-boat in bad weather i n t h e At- lantic a n d attacked with machine-gun fire. Panic prevailed in the enemy vessel, a n d a white shirt was displayed as a token of surrender. T h e sub- ma r i ne was kept i n view by relays of aircraft un t i l dusk wh e n a Naval trawler arrived, to be followed at (lawn by a destroyer. T h e submarine was b r ough t safely to Iceland. LI) 4 3 0 6 . 1FIE END OF THE B,sinaick. T h e sinking of the Ge rma n battle- ship Bismarck was the outstanding event of the sea war i n 1 9 4 1 , and a f f o r d e d a n admirable illustration of c o - o p e r a t i o n b e t w e e n s u r f a c e vessels a n d aircraft. Sighted o n the evening o f May 23rd by the cruisers Suffolk a n d Norfolk, she w a s shadowed t h r oughou t the night. A t daylight she was b r o u g h t t o a c t i o n by H o o d and PuinCe of Wales. T h e action was in- conclusive a n d the chase continued. Du r i ng the night of the 21th, an attack was made by Fleet Ai r Arm S w o r d f i s h a n d Fulmars from H.M.S. V i c t o r i o u s . A torpedo h i t w a s lfla(le a n d t h e Bismarck's speed reduced. In the bad weather contact w a s l o s t and it w a s n o t uiitil some twelve hours later t ha t she was sighted by a Cata- lina f l y i n g - b o a t o f Coastal Command. She was f i n a l l y b r o u g h t t o a c t i o n and destroyed o n the mo r n i ng of May 27th. LI) 13I(i. Saii 1)einetrio. S a n 1 ) c m c i r i o , a n oil tanker with a full cargo of oil; was damaged and s e t o n fire d u r i n g the action in which the a rmed nierchan tnian Jervis Bay was sunk. She was abandoned but was sighted some thirty-six hours later by the second officer's boat con- taining the chief engineer a n d four- teen of the crew. It was decided to reboard her. After a n heroic struggle the fire was extinguished a n d she was b r ough t back to England tinder her O W U l)0\er. 1,0 4209. A D E S T R O Y E R SiuoKEscRl:I:N. LI) 4 3 1 1 . A RAIDER I N S I G H T . CONVOY I ) I s P FIRS iNG. L l ) 4 3 1 5 . AliNLIRAL V I AN ' s ACTION. O n March 2211d, 1 9 4 2 , while an impo r t an t c o n v o y w a s o n i t s way to M a l t a , a n a t t e m p t a t i n t e r c e p t i o n was m a d e b y a n u m b e r o f I t a l i a n war vessels, among t hem the battleship Littorio. Admiral Vian, in command Of the escorting cruisers, made an i m m e d i a t e a t t a c k o n the enemy, us- i l i g a h e a v y s i i i o k e s c r e e n t o great t a c t i c a l a d v a n t a g e . I n the resulting a c t i o n t h e e n e m y s h i p s w e r e driven oil, su fl ering considerable casualties. T h e convoy got s a f e l y t h r o u g h to Malta with the loss of only a single i i i e r c h a n tIll an.