John Moffat (Royal Navy officer)
John Moffat | |
---|---|
Nickname(s) | "Jock" |
Born | Second World War
| 17 June 1919
John William Charlton Moffat (17 June 1919 – 11 December 2016) was a Scottish Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilot, widely credited as the pilot whose torpedo crippled the German battleship Bismarck [1] and author of the biographical I sank the Bismarck. Moffat took part in the courageous strike on the German battleship Bismarck during its Atlantic sortie, codenamed Operation Rheinübung, on 26 May 1941 whilst flying a Fairey Swordfish biplane.
Early life and family
John Moffat was born in the village of Swinton in the Scottish Borders county, to Mary and Peter Moffat. When he was a child his parents moved to Earlston where his father opened the first garage.
John's father, Peter, had served in the
Mary Moffat was an amateur opera singer. Moffat's mother encouraged him to take up playing musical instruments. Owing to this, John learned to play the violin and piano by the age of 10.[3] During his teenage life Moffat took up equestrianism and followed the riders during fox hunting, which "did not go down well with his parents".[4] In 1929 Moffat saw an Avro 504 aircraft fly over Kelso, triggering a lifelong passion for flying.[5] The pilot was offering rides for 10 shillings. Moffat described the pilot as a Biggles look-alike and was impressed by him. Moffat flew that day for the first time. Moffat described his feeling of his first flight:
As for the experience of flying, I was astounded by it. This was like riding in the locomotive but infinitely more thrilling. There was the noise, the smell of hot oil and high-octane petrol [fuel], and the speed seemed immense as we took off into the air, high above the countryside, with the town far below us. It was the stuff of dreams, like a glimpse of another world that made it impossible, once I was back on the ground, to view my surroundings in the same way again... Now that I think about it, that pilot has an enormous amount to answer for.[6]
Moffat passed the
By 1938, Moffat was bored with life at the bus depot and decided to apply for a position as a naval pilot in the reserve having seen an advertisement which promised to train him as a pilot while offering him a substantial wage. Moffat had not pursued a flying career earlier, believing it to beyond the aspirations of ordinary people, but now seized the opportunity and applied to join the Fleet Air Arm.[10]
Moffat heard nothing from the Navy and moved to
Moffat had been on leave in Kelso on 1 September 1939 when
Fleet Air Arm
Early career
In December 1939 Moffat moved to a flying school in
In July 1940, Moffat's Squadron took part in the attack on Mers-el-Kébir, although Moffat himself did not travel with the carrier Ark Royal for the attack. Later that autumn, Moffat joined 818 Squadron.[14]
Attack on Bismarck
On 24 May 1941, the German battleship Bismarck sank the Royal Navy's flagship
On 26 May 1941 Bismarck was running for the safety of the
In evening twilight at 9.05 P.M., amid gale force winds, Moffat and his observer, T/S-Lt.(A) J. D. "Dusty" Miller, and telegraphist/air gunner (TAG) LA A. J. Hayman, flying in the Fairey Swordfish 5C/L9726 together with 14 other Swordfish attacked Bismarck amidst a torrent of anti-aircraft fire being put up by the ship's guns.
Two torpedoes struck home, one amidships against her port side resulting in slow flooding, and the second in the steering area.[15][16] Her rudders were consequently jammed in a turning position, and although she was still underway at good speed, she was directionless in the water. Attempts to steer by varying the speed of the three propellers failed.[17]
With Bismarck's steering control jammed, the Royal Navy's Force H and Home Fleet were able to catch up with her, surround her and subject her to extensive shelling and torpedoing, after which she turned over and sank the following morning.[17]
The wreck of the Bismarck was discovered in 1989.
At the time of the attack no definitive statement of whose torpedo had hit the Bismarck was released, however following the observation of this wreck historian Mike Rossiter credited John Moffat as by far the most likely, through analysis of the flight paths. However, the son of another Swordfish pilot that attacked the Bismarck, Kenneth Pattisson, believes that it was his father that damaged the ship [18]
After the war
Moffat left the Navy in 1946 and returned to Glasgow. He went to college in Glasgow to get a business degree and also achieved a diploma in hotel management. Moffat had stopped flying after leaving the Navy. In his 60s, after 40 years, he began flying again.[19] He celebrated his 90th birthday in June 2009 by performing aerobatics in a light aircraft.[20] In 2010, his book I Sank the Bismarck (
References
Citations
- ^ https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-latest-activity/news/2016/december/12/161212-naval-pilot-who-crippled-the-bismarck-dies-aged-97 Royal Navy Press Release
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 7–9.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 18.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 19.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 19–20.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 15.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 21.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 22.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 27–28.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 30–31.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 36.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, pp. 54, 59, 60.
- ^ Moffat and Rossiter 2009, p. 80.
- ^ 'The Hunt for the Hood' (2001), Channel 4, television documentary. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1318884/
- ^ Garzke & Dulin, pp. 234–235.
- ^ Bruxelles, Simon de (28 October 2017). "Bismarck hero Kenneth Pattisson's son on the warpath". The Times. London. Retrieved 28 October 2017. (subscription required)
- ^ John Moffat interview Archived 19 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article6572317.ece Times Article 25 June 2009 When you've faced Bismarck, a loop at 90 is child's play
- ^ "Naval pilot who crippled the Bismarck dies aged 97". Staff. navynews.co.uk. 12 December 2016. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
Bibliography
- Garzke, William H.; Dulin, Robert O. (1985). Battleships: Axis and Neutral Battleships in World War II. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-101-0.
- Lieutenant Commander Moffat, John and Rossiter, Mike. I Sank the Bismarck: Memoirs of a Second World War Navy Pilot. Bantam Press, London. 2009. ISBN 978-0-593-06352-1
- 'Lieutenant Commander Jock Moffat RN', The Daily Telegraph Thursday 12 December 2016, p.31.