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| Naval Art Collecton - Vice-Admiral Sir Ian McIntosh KBE, CB, DSO, DSC |
Ian Stewart McIntosh was born in Melbourne on October 11th 1919, and educated at Geelong Grammar School. lan Mclntosh volunteered for the navy in his native Australia in 1938 aged 18. McIntosh joined the submarine training course at HMS Dolphin on 30th December 1940. He was awarded the King's Dirk for graduating top of his class at Dartmouth and elected to qualify as a submariner in late 1940. On joining his first submarine, Porpoise, in 1941, at the time undertaking mine laying operations in home waters, McIntosh insisted that the Chief Engineroom Artificer show him the purpose of all the machinery, valves and pipes. But he was reticent about where he had been since completing his submarine training six months. On March 25th, 1941 Ian McIntosh was on board the Anchor Line steamship Britannia some 500 miles off Freetown, Sierra Leone, when the Britannia was attacked by the German commerce raider Thor. Thor, a motor ship capable of about 18 knots and armed with four 5.9in guns, had already sunk ten merchant ships when she attacked the Britannia. Britannia's single 4in gun was soon knocked out. On fire and sinking, she was abandoned. Early damage to her radio aerial meant that no distress message had been sent. Mclntosh found himself in lifeboat No 7, which was in great danger of being caught under Britannia's counter. The merchant navy officer in charge, Third Officer William MacVicar, recorded that it was entirely due to the skill of Sub-Lieutenant Mclntosh that this lifeboat was kept afloat and survivors were able to embark. Its Board of Trade capacity was given as 58, but 82 were crammed on board. This meant that only two oars could be used, Mclntosh and a naval rating getting the boat clear of the burning ship. For the next day the lifeboat rode to a sea anchor in a Force 5 NE trade wind, the choppy sea requiring energetic baling. On the second day Mclntosh located three holes behind the ballast tanks caused by German gunfire, the leaks from which would eventually have been fatal as the survivors grew weaker and unable to bale out such an inflow. By dint of leaning over the gunwhale, often with head and shoulders under water, he was able to plug them with pieces of blanket and then nail pieces of tobacco tin over them, causing himself extreme fatigue and illness. An attempt was made to sail east towards the African coast, but this was abandoned after 24 hours as the boat was too overburdened to make progress upwind and had probably only moved 20 miles due south. The decision was made to run before the wind and make for Brazil judged to be about 1,300 miles distant. The boat's 16 gallons of water in sealed containers and the supply of biscuits and condensed milk were clearly insufficient despite rigorous rationing. On the fourth day several of the men fainted. The crew became quarrelsome and the chief cook, who had drunk sea-water, threw himself overboard. The heat was terrific and all were getting sea-water boils and sores. When rain came their first efforts to save some water were unsuccessful, but on the sixteenth day a violent storm and heavy rain made frantic baling necessary and eased the water rationing, deaths having diminished the number needing it. After 23 days, they made a landing without mishap on the island of Curupu on northern Brazil and were succoured by fishermen. Forty-four had died. Both MacVicar and McIntosh were appointed MBE for their gallant conduct. McIntosh returned to England for three months recuperation and then was appointed to the 3rd submarine flotilla at Holy Loch and subsequently, in March 1942, to the submarine Thrasher based at Alexandria. In early July Thrasher was one of only three submarines at sea. Returning to Alexandria, she was attacked by British aircraft and put into dock for a month. Mclntosh left Thrasher at the end of September and returned home to qualify as a submarine commanding officer. His first command was the obsolescent H44, used for anti-submarine training. at Rothesay, working from HMS Cyclops (7th Submarine Flotilla) before taking command of the operational boat HMS Sceptre on 18th February 1943, working from HMS Forth at Holy Loch (3rd Submarine Flotilla). He was awarded a mention in dispatches for his part in Operation Source, the midget submarine attack on the German heavy warships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow in the Altenfjord on the Norwegian coast. In March 1943 Mclntosh was credited with sinking four escorted merchant ships off the coast of Norway. The following May, McIntosh sank the blockade-runner Baldur in Spanish territorial waters, which resulted in a minor diplomatic incident but ended Spain's wartime trade in iron ore with Germany. On night surface patrol off Norway, he sighted three ships and three escorts, and immediately fired four torpedoes which struck their targets; one ship exploded and another burst into flames before disappearing. Under McIntosh's command Sceptre became one of the most successful of the S-class boats in home waters, sinking almost 15,000 tons of enemy shipping; he was twice mentioned in dispatches for courage and devotion to duty, and was awarded the DSO in 1944. After the war he commanded the sub-marine Alderney with distinction, and then served two years with the Australian Navy. In 1950 he was appointed to the responsible post of teacher to the submarine commanding officers' qualifying course, after which he commanded the submarine Aeneas. Promoted to commander in 1952 and captain in 1959, his career included some very satisfying mainstream jobs - second in command of the large aircraft carrier Ark Royal, command of the 2nd Submarine Squadron and command of the aircraft carrier Victorious for two years from 1966. Mclntosh was promoted to rear admiral in 1968 and appointed Director-General (Weapons) at Bath, managing the naval weapon development programmes. This experience was valuable to his final appointment as Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in the rank of vice admiral, He was appointed CB in 1970 and KBE in 1973 when he retired from the Royal Navy. He died on July 31st, 2003, aged 83. |
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