OBITUARY : Lieutenant Joel Blamey, October 9, 1904 - September 10, 2006
Martin Postranecky <mp-/[email protected]>
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The Times October 03, 2006 OBITUARY : Lieutenant Joel Blamey, October 9, 1904 - September 10, 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Engineer whose skill and leadership were much prized by the submarine captains under whom he served "JOE" BLAMEY was the Royal Navy's oldest surviving wartime submariner. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal as a senior engine room rating for his service in the minelaying submarine Porpoise and the Distinguished Service Cross, having been commissioned, as warrant engineer officer of the Strongbow in the Far East. His 28 years in submarines is thought to be a record..../snip/ ....Blamey was next appointed to the Shalimar. She was still under construction and he assisted with the intelligence assessment of the captured U-boat U570, which had been renamed Graph and commissioned into the Royal Navy..../snip/ ....Lieutenant Joel Blamey, DSC, DSM, submarine engineer, was born on October 9, 1904. He died on September 10, 2006, aged 101. The Times October 5, 2006 Lives Remembered ---------------- Group Captain Douglas Cook writes: The obituary of Lieutenant Joel Blamey (October 3) mentioned his part in assessing the captured U-boat U570, which was renamed Graph and commissioned into the Royal Navy. This U-boat had been captured on August 27, 1941, by an aircraft of Coastal Command. Squadron Leader J. H. Thompson and his Hudson crew of No 269 Squadron operating from Iceland saw the U-boat surfacing and immediately attacked with four depth charges. Two minutes later the submarine resurfaced and crew members appeared on deck. A burst of fire from the Hudson's mid-upper turret forced them back to the conning tower and a white flag was raised. Thompson radioed for help and a Catalina of No 209 Squadron came to guard the sub until a Royal Navy armed trawler reached the area in the middle of the night. The following afternoon the submarine crew were made prisoner and U570 taken in tow. It transpired that Thompson's attack had damaged the batteries, causing a chlorine discharge and the speedy return to the surface for the crew to escape the fumes. see : ----- http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-2385191,00.html http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1569314_5,00.html