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Auction: 8023 - Orders, Decorations, Medals & Militaria
Lot: 192

x A Second World War Submariners Group of Five to Able Seaman J. O´Connor, Royal Navy, Twice Mentioned in Despatches For His Services in H.M.S. Tigris, 1941-43, During this Period She Was Accredited with 10 Surface Vessels and 2 Italian Submarines Destroyed, He Eventually Shared Her Fate, Going Down With All Hands, When She Was Believed to Be Sunk Off Naples, 27.3.1943 1939-1945 Star; Atlantic Star; Africa Star, with North Africa 1942-43 Bar; War Medal, M.I.D. Oakleaf; Naval Long Service & G.C., G.VI.R. (J.104085 J. O´Connor. A.B. H.M.S. Vernon.), good very fine, mounted for display, with photograph of recipient and crew on H.M.S. Tigris (lot) Estimate £ 180-220 M.I.D. London Gazette 23.9.1941 Able Seaman James O´´Connor, P/J.104085, H.M.S. Tigris, ´´For courage, skill and enterprise in successful submarine patrols.´´ M.I.D. London Gazette 27.1.1942 Able Seaman James O´´Connor, P/J.104085, H.M.S. Tigris, ´´For bravery, coolness and skill in successful Submarine patrols.´´ Able Seaman James O´´Connor, born Hoylake, Wirral, 1906, he was the son of John O´´Connor (H.M. Coast Guard); enlisted in the Royal Navy, 1924; with the outbreak of the Second World War he volunteered for Submarine Service as a Able Seaman (Leading Torpedo Operator), 1939; served in H.M.S. Tigris from 11.3.1940 until she failed to return from a patrol off Naples, 10.3.1943; during this period she mainly took part in patrols off the Bay of Biscay, North of Norway and the Arctic Circle, she accounted for ten surface vessels, totalling nearly 25,000 tons, including the Pocket Battleship Supply Ship Thorn (who serviced the Admiral Hipper), 3.4.1941; she sank two Italian Submarines - the Michele Bianchi, West of Gibraltar, 5.7.1941 and the Porfido off Bone, Algeria, 6.12.1942; she also took part in Special Operations, including as part of Operation European, when she landed three two-man canoes of Free French Commandos off France, 29/30.3.1941. The Tigris left Malta, 18.2.1943, to patrol off Naples. She was last sighted by an Italian plane at 0730 on the 24th February, 39 miles from Capri. On the morning of the 27th the German submarine chaser UJ-2210, escorting a convoy six miles south east of Capri, made contact with a submarine. She carried out three depth charge attacks with the third attack bringing oil to the surface. The contact was noted to be stationary. A fourth attack of 15 depth charges brought a huge bubble of air to the surface. On the 6th March the Tigris was ordered to Algiers, however, there was no reply to this signal. She failed to return to Algiers by the 10th and was declared overdue on that date. Tigris was most likely the submarine sunk on the 27th February by UJ-2210. 6 Officers and 57 men were posted missing and never returned. Able Seaman James O´´Connor is commemorated on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

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