A fine Second War 'Sink the Haguro!' C.G.M., Arctic Convoy PQ 17 Mentioned in Despatches gro...

A fine Second War ‘Sink the Haguro!’ C.G.M., Arctic Convoy PQ 17 Mentioned in Despatches group of five awarded to Stoker Petty Officer J. Yates, Royal Navy, for great gallantry in braving super-heated live steam to perform vital tasks that saved H.M.S. Saumarez when her boiler room was hit by a five-inch shell from the heavy cruiser Haguro during the Battle of the Malacca Straits in May 1945, the last major surface action of the war; Yates was a veteran of the Dunkirk Evacuation, multiple Arctic Convoys (including PQ 17, for which he was Mentioned in Despatches), the sinking of Scharnhorst, and the Normandy Landings Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, G.VI.R. (Sto. P.O. J. Yates, P/KX. 95334); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 clasp, France and Germany; Burma Star; War Medal 1939-45, with M.I.D. oak leaf, minor contact wear, generally good very fine (5) £12,000-£16,000 --- Provenance: Buckland Dix & Wood, April 1994; Dix Noonan Webb, November 2015. C.G.M. London Gazette 16 September 1945: ‘For great gallantry and outstanding devotion to duty. No. 1 Boiler Room of H.M.S. Saumarez was hit by an enemy shell. Stoker P.O. Yates, the sole survivor from the boiler room though badly burnt and in great pain at once shut the steam off from the oil fuel pump and heaters, and would not allow himself to be treated for his hurts until he had reported the damage. This most gallant action did much to limit the damage to his ship.’ This was the last of the 72 Conspicuous Gallantry Medals that were awarded during the Second World War. M.I.D. London Gazette 1 January 1943. Yates would almost certainly have been eligible for the retrospective Arctic Star, awarded from 2013 to surviving veterans and their next-of-kin only, seventy years after his qualifying operational service. Jack ‘Spud’ Yates was born in Oldham, Lancashire, on 13 September 1918. He appears to have joined the Royal Navy in the late 1930s (acquiring the nickname ‘Spud’, as he said, ‘for some inexplicable reason’) and spent the first part of the war in the Fleet Minesweeper H.M.S. Halcyon. Halcyon could also act as an escort vessel, and when so tasked exchanged her minesweeping equipment for dropping gear for 40 depth-charges. She started her war at Harwich, clearing mines in the Channel. At the evacuation of Dunkirk, she picked up 2,271 troops and three of her crew were killed in air attacks. After repairs, Halcyon reverted to mine clearance off the east coast, where she was subjected to almost daily air attacks. She was badly damaged by a mine explosion in September 1940. Repairs lasted until July 1941. The Arctic Run and Mentioned in Despatches Halcyon then escorted the first Allied convoy to Archangel. She stayed on in North Russia to keep the ports clear of mines and to escort incoming and departing convoys. Returning home in October 1941, she was fitted out for Arctic service and Yates took leave to marry a local Oldham girl. In December 1941 Halcyon took part in Operation Anklet, the commando raid on the Lofoten Islands. By Spring 1942 thirteen major convoys had made the arduous passage to north Russia, with the loss of one out of 103 merchant ships. In response, the Germans moved capital ships, including the powerful battleship Tirpitz, eleven U-Boats and 243 aircraft to north Norway. On 27 June 1942 Halcyon and Yates, now a Leading Stoker, sailed as part of the close escort for the 35 merchant ships of convoy PQ 17 to Archangel. Further protection was provided by a Screening Force of four heavy cruisers and a distant escort of two battleships and an aircraft carrier. On 4 July intensive air attacks began, and two merchantmen were sunk. At 2111 hrs, in the mistaken belief that the German warships had sortied to attack the convoy, the Admiralty ordered the Cruiser Screen to withdraw to the west. 12 minutes later, a second signal was sent: “Owing to threat from surface ships, convoy is to disperse and proceed to Russian ports.” 13 minutes after that, a third signal went out from the Admiralty; “Convoy is to Scatter.” The word ‘Scatter’ indicated an immediate threat from surface ships. Detailed instructions had been issued, detailing actions to be taken by each ship after it received the order ‘Scatter’ and, in accordance with them, the six destroyers of the Close Escort departed with the Cruiser Force. The remaining 13 anti-aircraft and anti-submarine Close Escorts dispersed, continuing to head for Russia but leaving the merchant ships entirely unprotected. The sea was calm, the weather bright, and there was almost continuous daylight. It was immediately obvious after the ‘Scatter’ order that the merchant vessels would be massacred. The senior remaining close escort ship was H.M.S. Palomares, which had excellent anti-aircraft capabilities but no protection against submarines, so she ordered Halcyon and another minesweeper to close and act as her escorts. She set a course for an anchorage on the Russian island of Novaya Zemlya, which was reached two days later despite many air attacks. Eventually a party of 14 ships formed up. After two days they fought their way through into Archangel, arriving on 11 July. Halcyon performed two notable rescues of PQ17 merchantmen. In the first, she came upon the big American merchant ship Samuel Chase drifting helplessly. Chase signalled: 'Two direct hits, three near misses, main steam line broken. Shall we abandon ship?' Halcyon’s skipper replied, 'Do not abandon ship - we will take you in tow.' A strong tow was shot over to Samuel Chase, Halcyon gradually increased engine revolutions and the huge merchantman started to move. The two vessels made a steady five knots south to the White Sea until the Americans, fired up by the example of the little 1,000-ton sweeper, managed to get their engines going again, just before enemy dive bombers arrived. Both vessels finished the journey under their own steam. In recognition of Halcyon’s crucial assistance, the master of Samuel Chase asked the minesweeper to escort him into harbour.  When Halycon docked at Archangel on 11 July, it discovered that “Five ships are all that are definitely safe.” Six more reached Russia over the following days. Twenty-three ships (68% of PQ 17) had been sunk and hundreds of seamen were dead or drifting in small boats. ‘God save the King! We knew you would save us!’ Halcyon’s second rescue was a dramatic search for PQ 17 survivors four hundred miles high up in the Barents Sea in mid-July 1942. Russian aircraft spotted three rafts and radioed their position with an estimate of the direction in which they would drift. Three British minesweepers from the recently arrived PQ 17 Close Escort group were sent out from Archangel to find them. They were allotted nine days for the search - three days to reach the area, three days to look for the rafts, three days to return. The first twenty-four hours of vigilance slipped by fruitlessly. Every crewman on Halcyon was badly strained and tired after the dramas of the past two weeks; no one had had more than four hours sleep and most were beginning to feel downhearted. In the afternoon of the last day of the box search, the atmosphere was tense. The rafts had been adrift for thirteen days, and all the minesweepers had to go on were rough calculations made a week ago by the Russian pilot. The remaining hours steadily ticked away. At 7.30 a.m. on the last day the black Arctic fog descended. This seemed to be the end. Their time would expire at noon. Halcyon's captain sent the signal for the final lap of the search. For this last half hour everyone lined the rails and at a quarter...