Jimmy Launders
Encyclopedia
James "Jimmy" S. Launders DSO & Bar
, DSC & Bar
(1919–1988) was an officer in the British Royal Navy during and after World War II. He retired from the service in 1962, but continued to serve in an unofficial capacity on training programs until his death in 1988. In addition to his reputation amongst his crew, colleagues, and historians as a brilliant, highly skilled, and courageous commander, Launders is remembered as the only submarine commander in history to have engaged and destroyed an enemy submarine (U-864) during time of war using only his own un-aided vessel (HMS Venturer
) while both ships were fully submerged. The unique type of engagement and the unusual nature of the enemy submarine's mission has provided one of the more enduring footnotes to the war, further cementing the fame of Launders, Venturer, and her crew for their wartime action.
to the battlecruiser
on 1 January 1939. He was serving aboard Repulse when the war broke out.
on 22 December 1942. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1943. His career was on a "fast track", and on 18 May 1943, he received his first command, one that would make him famous: .
Venturer was Launders' first submarine posting, but his intellect, quick thinking, and leadership had put him in position for just such a challenging command. Venturer was a fast-attack "hunter-killer" sub, whose mission was to hunt for enemy shipping and other submarines, attack them, and to effect a speedy getaway without engaging in a prolonged action. Launders was a "rising star" in the Royal Navy
submarine command at the time. a "boy-wonder with a genius for mathematics," which gave him a tremendous edge in making the necessary vector calculations (manual or minimally mechanical-computer assisted figuring of speed and trajectories for targets, torpedoes, attacking vessels, currents, etc.) that were part of submarine warfare tactics of the day.
The Royal Navy staff's opinion of Launders' capabilities was apparently shared by his crew. Regarding his time aboard Venturer with Launders, former Royal Navy Sub Lieutenant John Frederick Watson (a retired geologist who served with Launders during the war aboard Venturer and was decorated "Awarded for Great Keenness and Devotion to Duty" for his actions during that time) stated:
Former Able Seaman and retired Royal Navy instructor Henry James Plummer also served aboard Venturer during the war with both Launders and Watson. Himself decorated ("Awarded for Courage, Cheerfulness, and Alertness"), Watson said of Launders:
King George VI also praised Launders, declaring him "...a fearless and skillful commander."
Lofoten Islands on 11 November 1944, some 7 nautical miles (13 km) east of Andenes
, Norway, Venturer's most notable feat was the sinking of U-864 on 9 February 1945, off Bergen, Norway while both vessels were submerged. Launders became the first, and to date only submarine commander to be publicly acknowledged as having sunk another submarine in combat with both vessels were submerged.
west of Bergen
, Norway, his submarine torpedoed and sank U-864, commanded by KrvKpt. Ralf-Reimar Wolfram. U-864 was a Type IX U-boat, designed for long, ocean-going voyages with limited re-supply. It was on a highly-sensitive, long-range, covert mission codenamed "Operation Caesar" to deliver highly sensitive technology to their wartime ally, the Empire of Japan
. U-864's top-secret manifest included jet-engine parts from the German Me-262 jet fighter plane that the Japanese were going to try to clone, missile guidance systems from Peenemünde, of the type used on the V-2 Rocket
, and many tonnes of mercury
, a raw material that was in short supply in Japan that was vital to the industrial production of ordnance since it was a necessary component in the fabrication of detonators.
U-864 had put in to the U-boat pens
in Bergen to repair damage from having run aground during their first attempt to set off on the mission (they had to take very round-about routes that were often not well charted to avoid Allied anti-submarine warfare patrols in the main shipping channels). During the boat's layover there several days earlier, the pens were hit by an Allied bombing raid, but U-864 itself escaped serious damage. With her damage repaired, U-864 once again was underway for Japan.
However, their normally quiet engine started to make an abnormally loud, rhythmic noise that could be easily detected by any ASW
equipment in the area. KrvKpt. Wofram decided to return to Bergen to repair the problem.
Little did he know (nor did anyone in Germany's U-boat command
, for that matter) that the Enigma code, Germany's top-secret naval encryption system, had been broken by British mathematician Alan Turing
and his cryptanalytics team at Bletchley Park
. All naval communications to and from the Nazi U-boat fleet were being read by the Allies, and they knew of Operation Caesar. Wanting to avoid giving the Japanese any advantage that might extend the war in the Pacific, Royal Navy Submarine Command dispatched Venturer to intercept and destroy U-864.
Launders' received a brief message from Royal Navy Submarine Command as to the estimated whereabouts of U-864 (with reasonable precision, somewhere near the island of Fedje
, off Norway's southwest coast, just north of the pens at Bergen), along with instructions to destroy her. Launders set about the task, making one risky but calculated decision: he decided to switch off the Venturer's ASDIC (an advanced form of sonar
of the time), which would severely limit their ability to detect other submarines, but would greatly reduce the chance of being detected themselves. They would rely purely on Venturers hydrophone
(a common, long-used, and far less sophisticated than ASDIC underwater acoustic detection device) to try to detect U-864. It was a huge gamble.
U-864 had already left the area recommended to Launders. Unfortunately for the U-boat, U-864's commander had decided once again to return to Bergen to repair an engine noise problem. The decision would bring U-864 right back past Fedje, where HMS Venturer was lurking.
Venturer' s hydrophone
operator noticed a strange sound which he could not identify. He at first thought that it sounded as though some local fisherman had started up a boat's diesel engine. Launders decided to track the strange noise. Then, due to poor adherence to proper periscope usage protocol on the part of the German crew, the officer of the watch on Venturers periscope noticed another periscope poking up above the surface of the water. Combined with the hydrophone reports of the strange noise, which he determined to be coming from a submerged vessel, Launders surmised that they had found U-864.
Launders tracked U-864 by hydrophone (in itself a difficult feat), hoping it would surface and allow a clear shot. However, U-864 detected the presence of an enemy submarine, remained submerged, and started to zig-zag. This made U-864 quite safe according to the assumptions of the time.
After several hours, it became clear that the U-boat was not going to surface, but Launders decided to attack anyway. It was theoretically possible to compute a firing solution in three dimensions, but this had never been attempted in practice because it was assumed that performing the complex calculations would be impossible. Nevertheless, Launders and his crew made the necessary calculations, made assumptions about U-864' s defensive manoeuvers. Launders ordered the firing of all torpedoes in the four bow tubes (as a small, fast-attack boat, Venturer was equipped with only four in the bow, none in the stern, and carried a full complement of only eight torpedo
es), with a 17.5 second delay between each shot, and at variable depths. U-864 made a crash dive, straight into the path of the 4th torpedo. The result was catastrophic damage to the U-864s hull, causing the German boat to instantaneously implode, with the loss of all hands. U-864 sank 31 nautical miles (57 km) from Bergen.
, and all maritime operations relating to the wreck (including environmental cleanup efforts) must adhere strictly to the international protocols dealing with treatment of such sites.
For their actions, several crewmen aboard Venturer were decorated by the Royal Navy, and Launders' naval career continued well after the war. As for U-864, in addition to being the last German U-boat sunk by enemy action prior to the end of the war on 8 May 1945, she also maintains her notoriety for two other reasons:
First, it was on a mission to carry top-secret military parts to Imperial Japan, Germany's Axis
ally. The manifest included jet engine
parts from a German Messerschmidt
Me-262, the world's first operational jet fighter aircraft. The parts would have likely arrived too late in Japan to have made much of a difference in the outcome of the Pacific Theatre of the war. In fact, U.S. troops occupying the Japanese home islands after the war found Japanese versions of an Me-262-like craft, the Karyu
, hidden under camoflauge.
Second, U-864 was also carrying in its keel steel bottles containing a total of between 60–65 metric tonnes of mercury
, a bio-toxic metal that was used at the time in the industrial manufacture of ordnance detonators and firearms cartridge primers. Some of the bottles were probably broken open during U-864s demise and others were probably compromised over time due to the corrosive effects of being submerged in salt water for years. As the mercury escaped, it was converted to methylmercury
, CH3Hg, which has even more toxic potential than pure mercury since it is more readily propagated through the food-chain, affecting a greater quantity and variety of organisms. It is innately toxic as well since it indistinguishable to certain transport proteins in the human body from a vital amino acid
, and is therefore transported freely throughout the body with devastating results. The particular area where U-864 came to rest is currently off-limits to fishing while the Norwegian government determines the best course of action for remedying the ecological disaster caused by the methylmercury contamination.
Jimmy Launders died in 1988 of natural causes at the age of 69.
James Stuart Launders, Distinguished Service Cross with Bar, Distinguished Service Order with Bar, is as follows:
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, DSC & Bar
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
(1919–1988) was an officer in the British Royal Navy during and after World War II. He retired from the service in 1962, but continued to serve in an unofficial capacity on training programs until his death in 1988. In addition to his reputation amongst his crew, colleagues, and historians as a brilliant, highly skilled, and courageous commander, Launders is remembered as the only submarine commander in history to have engaged and destroyed an enemy submarine (U-864) during time of war using only his own un-aided vessel (HMS Venturer
HMS Venturer (P68)
HMS Venturer was a Second World War British submarine.-Construction:Venturer was the lead boat of the British V class submarine, a development of the successful U-class...
) while both ships were fully submerged. The unique type of engagement and the unusual nature of the enemy submarine's mission has provided one of the more enduring footnotes to the war, further cementing the fame of Launders, Venturer, and her crew for their wartime action.
Early Royal Navy career
Launders joined the Royal Navy as a cadet on 1 January 1938. Upon completion of his training, he was posted as a midshipmanMidshipman
A midshipman is an officer cadet, or a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Kenya...
to the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
on 1 January 1939. He was serving aboard Repulse when the war broke out.
Assignment to Venturer and reputation
Though he would continue to serve aboard Repulse for more than two years, it was to be his last assignment to a surface vessel for some time. On 1 April 1941 (after the war had been raging for about a year and a half and the Battle of the Atlantic was well underway), Launders was posted to his first submarine assignment aboard . In recognition of his outstanding service during that critical phase of the Battle of the Atlantic, Launders was awarded the Distinguished Service CrossDistinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
on 22 December 1942. He was subsequently promoted to lieutenant on 1 April 1943. His career was on a "fast track", and on 18 May 1943, he received his first command, one that would make him famous: .
Venturer was Launders' first submarine posting, but his intellect, quick thinking, and leadership had put him in position for just such a challenging command. Venturer was a fast-attack "hunter-killer" sub, whose mission was to hunt for enemy shipping and other submarines, attack them, and to effect a speedy getaway without engaging in a prolonged action. Launders was a "rising star" in the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
submarine command at the time. a "boy-wonder with a genius for mathematics," which gave him a tremendous edge in making the necessary vector calculations (manual or minimally mechanical-computer assisted figuring of speed and trajectories for targets, torpedoes, attacking vessels, currents, etc.) that were part of submarine warfare tactics of the day.
The Royal Navy staff's opinion of Launders' capabilities was apparently shared by his crew. Regarding his time aboard Venturer with Launders, former Royal Navy Sub Lieutenant John Frederick Watson (a retired geologist who served with Launders during the war aboard Venturer and was decorated "Awarded for Great Keenness and Devotion to Duty" for his actions during that time) stated:
It was very much a Band of Brothers. Only 37 in the crew and Launders was way ahead in terms of his experience, his knowledge, his abilities; it was obvious to the rest of us. Nobody thought to question what he decided to do.
Former Able Seaman and retired Royal Navy instructor Henry James Plummer also served aboard Venturer during the war with both Launders and Watson. Himself decorated ("Awarded for Courage, Cheerfulness, and Alertness"), Watson said of Launders:
We trusted him. We knew he was a good commander. We’d have gone to the end of the Earth with him…because he was that good.
King George VI also praised Launders, declaring him "...a fearless and skillful commander."
Action aboard Venturer
Although she had sunk some 13 German vessels during 10 patrols over the previous 12 months, including the Type VIIc U-Boat U-771 off Norway'sNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
Lofoten Islands on 11 November 1944, some 7 nautical miles (13 km) east of Andenes
Andenes
is a town and former municipality in Vesterålen district in Nordland county, Norway.Andenes was separated from Dverberg January 1, 1924. It was merged with Dverberg and Bjørnskinn to create the new municipality of Andøy January 1, 1964....
, Norway, Venturer's most notable feat was the sinking of U-864 on 9 February 1945, off Bergen, Norway while both vessels were submerged. Launders became the first, and to date only submarine commander to be publicly acknowledged as having sunk another submarine in combat with both vessels were submerged.
Sinking of the U-864
He was the commander of the when, on 9 February 1945, in the North SeaNorth Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
west of Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Norway, his submarine torpedoed and sank U-864, commanded by KrvKpt. Ralf-Reimar Wolfram. U-864 was a Type IX U-boat, designed for long, ocean-going voyages with limited re-supply. It was on a highly-sensitive, long-range, covert mission codenamed "Operation Caesar" to deliver highly sensitive technology to their wartime ally, the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. U-864's top-secret manifest included jet-engine parts from the German Me-262 jet fighter plane that the Japanese were going to try to clone, missile guidance systems from Peenemünde, of the type used on the V-2 Rocket
V-2 rocket
The V-2 rocket , technical name Aggregat-4 , was a ballistic missile that was developed at the beginning of the Second World War in Germany, specifically targeted at London and later Antwerp. The liquid-propellant rocket was the world's first long-range combat-ballistic missile and first known...
, and many tonnes of mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
, a raw material that was in short supply in Japan that was vital to the industrial production of ordnance since it was a necessary component in the fabrication of detonators.
U-864 had put in to the U-boat pens
Submarine pen
A submarine pen is a bunker which is designed to protect submarines from air attack.The term is generally applied to submarine bases constructed during World War II, particularly in Germany and the occupied countries which were also known as U-boat pens .-Background:Amongst the first...
in Bergen to repair damage from having run aground during their first attempt to set off on the mission (they had to take very round-about routes that were often not well charted to avoid Allied anti-submarine warfare patrols in the main shipping channels). During the boat's layover there several days earlier, the pens were hit by an Allied bombing raid, but U-864 itself escaped serious damage. With her damage repaired, U-864 once again was underway for Japan.
However, their normally quiet engine started to make an abnormally loud, rhythmic noise that could be easily detected by any ASW
Anti-submarine warfare
Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....
equipment in the area. KrvKpt. Wofram decided to return to Bergen to repair the problem.
Little did he know (nor did anyone in Germany's U-boat command
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
, for that matter) that the Enigma code, Germany's top-secret naval encryption system, had been broken by British mathematician Alan Turing
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing, OBE, FRS , was an English mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist. He was highly influential in the development of computer science, providing a formalisation of the concepts of "algorithm" and "computation" with the Turing machine, which played a...
and his cryptanalytics team at Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an estate located in the town of Bletchley, in Buckinghamshire, England, which currently houses the National Museum of Computing...
. All naval communications to and from the Nazi U-boat fleet were being read by the Allies, and they knew of Operation Caesar. Wanting to avoid giving the Japanese any advantage that might extend the war in the Pacific, Royal Navy Submarine Command dispatched Venturer to intercept and destroy U-864.
Launders' received a brief message from Royal Navy Submarine Command as to the estimated whereabouts of U-864 (with reasonable precision, somewhere near the island of Fedje
Fedje
Fedje is an island municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Fedje was separated from Austrheim on 1 January 1947.The main island of Fedje is surrounded by about 125 smaller islands and rocks mostly north of the main island, and the name Fedje applies both to the main island, and to all the...
, off Norway's southwest coast, just north of the pens at Bergen), along with instructions to destroy her. Launders set about the task, making one risky but calculated decision: he decided to switch off the Venturer's ASDIC (an advanced form of sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
of the time), which would severely limit their ability to detect other submarines, but would greatly reduce the chance of being detected themselves. They would rely purely on Venturers hydrophone
Hydrophone
A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change...
(a common, long-used, and far less sophisticated than ASDIC underwater acoustic detection device) to try to detect U-864. It was a huge gamble.
U-864 had already left the area recommended to Launders. Unfortunately for the U-boat, U-864's commander had decided once again to return to Bergen to repair an engine noise problem. The decision would bring U-864 right back past Fedje, where HMS Venturer was lurking.
Venturer
Hydrophone
A hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change...
operator noticed a strange sound which he could not identify. He at first thought that it sounded as though some local fisherman had started up a boat's diesel engine. Launders decided to track the strange noise. Then, due to poor adherence to proper periscope usage protocol on the part of the German crew, the officer of the watch on Venturers periscope noticed another periscope poking up above the surface of the water. Combined with the hydrophone reports of the strange noise, which he determined to be coming from a submerged vessel, Launders surmised that they had found U-864.
Launders tracked U-864 by hydrophone (in itself a difficult feat), hoping it would surface and allow a clear shot. However, U-864 detected the presence of an enemy submarine, remained submerged, and started to zig-zag. This made U-864 quite safe according to the assumptions of the time.
After several hours, it became clear that the U-boat was not going to surface, but Launders decided to attack anyway. It was theoretically possible to compute a firing solution in three dimensions, but this had never been attempted in practice because it was assumed that performing the complex calculations would be impossible. Nevertheless, Launders and his crew made the necessary calculations, made assumptions about U-864
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es), with a 17.5 second delay between each shot, and at variable depths. U-864 made a crash dive, straight into the path of the 4th torpedo. The result was catastrophic damage to the U-864s hull, causing the German boat to instantaneously implode, with the loss of all hands. U-864 sank 31 nautical miles (57 km) from Bergen.
Aftermath of the
U-864 engagement Discovered in 2003, the wreckage rests beneath 460 feet (140.2 m) of water some 2.2 nautical miles (4.1 km) West of the island of Fedje, which is located off Norway's Southwest coast, some 31 nautical miles (57 km) North of the city of Bergen. Since she went down with all 73 hands on board, the wreck is classified as a War GraveWar grave
A war grave is a burial place for soldiers or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. The term does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be war graves, as are military aircraft that crash into water...
, and all maritime operations relating to the wreck (including environmental cleanup efforts) must adhere strictly to the international protocols dealing with treatment of such sites.
For their actions, several crewmen aboard Venturer were decorated by the Royal Navy, and Launders' naval career continued well after the war. As for U-864, in addition to being the last German U-boat sunk by enemy action prior to the end of the war on 8 May 1945, she also maintains her notoriety for two other reasons:
First, it was on a mission to carry top-secret military parts to Imperial Japan, Germany's Axis
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
ally. The manifest included jet engine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
parts from a German Messerschmidt
Messerschmidt
*For the Danish politician - see Morten Messerschmidt*For the German physician and explorer of Siberia - see Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt*For the German aircraft designer and manufacturer - see Willy Messerschmitt...
Me-262, the world's first operational jet fighter aircraft. The parts would have likely arrived too late in Japan to have made much of a difference in the outcome of the Pacific Theatre of the war. In fact, U.S. troops occupying the Japanese home islands after the war found Japanese versions of an Me-262-like craft, the Karyu
Karyu
is a Japanese musician, best known as the guitarist and main composer for the now disbanded D'espairsRay. He is currently in Angelo, which he joined in 2011.-Early life:...
, hidden under camoflauge.
Second, U-864 was also carrying in its keel steel bottles containing a total of between 60–65 metric tonnes of mercury
Mercury (element)
Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is also known as quicksilver or hydrargyrum...
, a bio-toxic metal that was used at the time in the industrial manufacture of ordnance detonators and firearms cartridge primers. Some of the bottles were probably broken open during U-864s demise and others were probably compromised over time due to the corrosive effects of being submerged in salt water for years. As the mercury escaped, it was converted to methylmercury
Methylmercury
Methylmercury is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is a bioaccumulative environmental toxicant.-Structure:...
, CH3Hg, which has even more toxic potential than pure mercury since it is more readily propagated through the food-chain, affecting a greater quantity and variety of organisms. It is innately toxic as well since it indistinguishable to certain transport proteins in the human body from a vital amino acid
Amino acid
Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
, and is therefore transported freely throughout the body with devastating results. The particular area where U-864 came to rest is currently off-limits to fishing while the Norwegian government determines the best course of action for remedying the ecological disaster caused by the methylmercury contamination.
After the war
After victory in Europe on 8 May 1945, Launders did not muster out of the Royal Navy, but continued to serve, receiving promotions to lieutenant commander in 1949 and commander in 1957. In the post-war years, he was posted to a number of different vessels and shore stations, held a number of staff posts, and was even posted to NATO. Launders retired from the Royal Navy in 1962 with the rank of commander.Jimmy Launders died in 1988 of natural causes at the age of 69.
Service record
According to the Royal Navy's Historical Society, the service record of CommanderCommander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
James Stuart Launders, Distinguished Service Cross with Bar, Distinguished Service Order with Bar, is as follows:
- Cadet – 1 January 1938
- Midshipman – HMS Repulse – 1 January 1939
- Posted to HMS P35 – 1 April 1941
- DSC – war patrols in the Mediterranean, 22 December 1942
- Promoted Lieutenant – 1 April 1943
- Posted to HMS Venturer 18 May 1943. He remained with her until the end of the war.
- Bar to DSC – war patrols, 18 July 1944
- DSO – For destruction of U771, 1 November 1944
- Bar to DSO, for destruction of U864, 9 February 1945
- 1946 – off active service
- Posted to HMS Dolphin – Submarine depot, Portsmouth. January 1947
- Posted to HMS Dryad – Training unit, Navigation officer. 1949.
- Promoted Lieutenant Commander, 1 April 1949
- Posted HMS Alcide – A class submarine, 5 July 1951
- Posted to HMS President – Shore station, London – 1953
- Posted to HMS Terror – Far East Station, 1955, Staff
- Promoted to Commander, 30 June 1957
- Posted to HMS Vanguard – Reserve Fleet, 1959. Officer specialising in seamanship training.
- Posted to NATO, 1961
- Captain HMS Forth and Commander 7th Submarine Squadron at Singapore 1968 to 1970–