John Leach (Royal Navy officer)

John Leach
John Leach
	Captain John Leach on the deck of HMS Prince of Wales in 1941
Born	1 September 1894
Died	10 December 1941 (aged 47); HMS Prince of Wales, South China Sea, off Kuantan, Malaya
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1907–1941
Rank	Captain
Commands held	HMS Prince of Wales (1941); HMS Cumberland (1936–38)
Battles/wars	First World War; Second World War Atlantic War Operation Rheinübung Battle of the Denmark Strait; ; ; Pacific War Malayan campaign Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse †; ; ; ;
Awards	Member of the Royal Victorian Order
Relations	Sir Henry Leach (son)

MVO (1 September 1894 – 10 December 1941) was a British naval officer. He was the only captain of the battleship HMS Prince of Wales

during its short period in service.

Early life and career

The son of Charles Rothwell Leach, a solicitor, Leach entered the

First World War

.

Bismarck

Very soon after Prince of Wales entered active service in 1941, the ship fought under Leach's command in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, and suffered damage fighting the German battleship Bismarck. However, damage inflicted by Prince of Wales caused Bismarck to lose fuel, forcing the latter to attempt to return to a base in occupied France.^[1]

Despite a proposal to court-martial Leach for breaking off the action with Bismarck after Hood had sunk,^[2]^[3]^{[Note 1]} he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his part.^[4] In the 1960 film Sink the Bismarck! Leach was played by actor Esmond Knight, who had been on the bridge of Prince of Wales' with Leach during the Battle of the Denmark Strait and was partially blinded when the ship was hit by Bismarck's gunfire.^[5]

Force Z

In late 1941, Prince of Wales formed part of

First Sea Lord during the Falklands War.^[7]

Notes

^ Kennedy expounds on the court martial claim via the epilogue in Pursuit - The Sinking of the Bismarck. According to Kennedy the claim for a proposal to court martial Leach came from post war letters written by Admiral Tovey, after he retired, and not from Admiralty sources. Kennedy states in his epilogue that "...later in life Tovey's memory let him down..." and that plus the fact that Leach was retained in his command and given a commendation must cast considerable doubt on the court martial proposal.

References

^ Garzke & Dulin 1985, p.230
^ Kennedy, Ludovic (1974). Pursuit – The Sinking of the Bismarck. Book Club Associates. p. 212.
William Morrow & Company
. p. 125 & 313.

^ Houtermann, Hans. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers – 1939–1945". Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2010.

^ "Esmond Knight". IMDb. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

^ Chesneau, p. 13

^ "Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach". The Telegraph. London. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2012.

Bibliography

Chesneau, Roger (2004). King George V Battleships. ShipCraft. Vol. 2. London: Chatham Publishing.
ISBN 1-86176-211-9
.

Hein, David. "Vulnerable: HMS Prince of Wales in 1941". Journal of Military History 77, no. 3 (July 2013): 955–989. Abstract online: http://www.smh-hq.org/jmh/jmhvols/773.html

Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1985). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN 978-0-87021-101-0
.

Willis, Matthew B. 'In the Highest Traditions of the Royal Navy: The Life of Captain John Leach, MVO, DSO'. The History Press, 2011.

Authority control databases
International

ISNI

VIAF

National

France

BnF data

United States

People

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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[4] Kennedy expounds on the court martial claim via the epilogue in Pursuit - The Sinking of the Bismarck. According to Kennedy the claim for a proposal to court martial Leach came from post war letters written by Admiral Tovey, after he retired, and not from Admiralty sources. Kennedy states in his epilogue that "...later in life Tovey's memory let him down..." and that plus the fact that Leach was retained in his command and given a commendation must cast considerable doubt on the court martial proposal.

[1] Garzke & Dulin 1985, p.230

[2] Kennedy, Ludovic (1974). Pursuit – The Sinking of the Bismarck. Book Club Associates. p. 212.

[3] William Morrow & Company
. p. 125 & 313.

[5] Houtermann, Hans. "Royal Navy (RN) Officers – 1939–1945". Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2010.

[6] "Esmond Knight". IMDb. Retrieved 4 December 2020.

[7] Chesneau, p. 13

[8] "Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach". The Telegraph. London. 26 April 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2012.

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[Note 1]

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