Probably OT : Gordon Tait & interception of German weathership Lauenburg

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
06/06/2005

OBITUARY : Admiral Sir Gordon Tait
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Admiral Sir Gordon Tait, who has died aged 83, commanded a record number
of submarines; in his final appointment, as Second Sea Lord and a member
of the board of Admiralty, he was the highest ranking naval officer to
have been born in New Zealand.../snip/

...Tait passed his "perisher" in 1946, and during the next 10 years, until
promoted to commander, he was captain of a record number of submarines;
these included Teredo, Solent, Ambush, Oryx and Sanguine. Three of Tait's
four officers in Oryx went on to become admirals.

Oryx's motto was the dog-Latin taurus excreta cerebrum vincit (bullshit
baffles brains), which Tait had proudly brought with him from another
submarine. But when he realised that this message was about to be sent on
Christmas cards to all and sundry, he persuaded his officers to join him
in inking out the potentially offensive words.

Allan Gordon Tait was born on October 30 1921 at Timaru, South Island, New
Zealand, and went to Timaru Boys' High School, of which his father was
rector. His grandfather and great-grandfather had been naval officers, but
Tait's first taste of the Navy was in a school performance of HMS Pinafore
in 1938. He joined the Royal Navy as a special entry cadet in 1939.

As a junior officer, Tait served on Arctic convoy duties in the cruiser
Nigeria, and in June 1941 took part in the interception, off Jan Mayen
Island, of the German weathership Lauenburg. Though shrouded by fog, the
German ship was detected by high-frequency, and her crew abandoned ship
after they were fired upon at short range. The captured codebooks and the
Enigma machine were probably second in importance only to those captured
in the German submarine U-110 a month earlier, and helped complete the
picture of how enemy naval codes worked.../snip/

...After leaving the Navy, Tait retired to New Zealand. "Like an old
salmon," he said, "I always knew I would come back." A member of the
Royal Yacht Squadron, he started for home in a yacht, crossing the
Atlantic with his wife; but they abandoned the voyage in the West Indies.
Later, Tait bought for a pittance from his father-in-law an 1892-vintage
70ft ketch, Viking, in which he explored North and South Islands.

His obvious talents, and his wife's connections, soon propelled him into
the chairmanship of companies and trusts, including the Antipodes' largest
brewery, Lion Nathan; the Todd Corporation, New Zealand's largest private
company; and Mount Cork Airlines.

A keen skier and tennis-player, Tait became president of the New Zealand
Sports Foundation and chairman of the New Zealand International Yachting
Trust. He also enjoyed the theatre and opera, and played both clarinet and
piano.

In March this year Tait presided over the 125th jubilee celebrations of
his and his father's old school.

Tait was always at ease with himself and with the world. Although
self-effacing, he was an excellent leader: quiet, intelligent and cool
under pressure. He was also a superb shiphandler.

He was appointed KCB in 1977.

Gordon Tait, who died on May 29, married, in 1952, Philippa Todd, daughter
of Sir Bryan Todd; she survives him with their two sons and two daughters.


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