Not forgotten
I was at Exeter Cathedral today, taking some internal shots of the roof vaulting when I noticed two Royal Marine buglers. They were there to play the Last Post as there was a small service remembering HMS Exeter, sunk in 1942.
Wikapedia has this to say about the 1942 action:
On 27 February 1942, Exeter was damaged in the Battle of the Java Sea when she received an 8-inch shell hit to a boiler room and was subsequently ordered to Surabaya for repairs. The destroyer HMS Electra was sunk covering her withdrawal.
Two days later, when she attempted to reach the Sunda Strait, she was intercepted by the Japanese heavy cruisers Nachi, Haguro, Myoko and Ashigara and the destroyers Akebono, Inazuma, Yamakaze and Kawakaze on the morning of 1 March 1942. The Second Battle of the Java Sea ensued, and Exeter was soon badly damaged by gunfire, one hit causing the loss of all power to the ship. Scuttling charges were set and she soon began sinking, initially listing to port only to be hit to starboard by two torpedoes from the destroyer Inazuma which sat her back upright and rolled her to starboard before she finally sank about noon.
Her escorting destroyers, HMS Encounter and USS Pope were also lost; Pope temporarily escaped the initial melee, only to be sunk by aerial attack a few hours later. About 800 Allied seamen, including the commander of Exeter, Captain Oliver Gordon, were picked up by the Japanese and became prisoners of war.
The wreck was located and positively identified in February 2007. Exeter lies in Indonesian waters, at a depth of about 200 ft (60 m), 90 miles northwest of Bawean Island - some 60 miles from the sinking position given by her captain.
This veteran, proudly bearing his medals, is inspecting Exeter's bell - although I presume it's actually from the last HMS Exeter, a type 42 frigate decommissioned in 2008.
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- Nikon COOLPIX P7100
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