David Wanklyn
Malcolm David Wanklyn, was a Royal Navy commander and one of the most successful submariners in the Western Allied navies during the Second World War. Wanklyn and his crew sank 16 enemy vessels.
Born in 1911 to an affluent family in Kolkata, British India, Wanklyn was influenced into a military career at a young age. His father was a successful businessman and engineer who served in the British Army in the First World War and his uncle was a destroyer commander who had a successful war fighting German U-boats in the First Battle of the Atlantic.
Wanklyn developed a seafaring interest at the age of five and applied to join the Royal Navy aged 14. Despite some physical ailments, he was able to pass the selection boards. He progressed as commissioned officer fairly quickly and by 1931 had been promoted to sub-lieutenant and lieutenant two years later in 1933. After serving on a variety of surface ships, he joined the submarine service.
After the outbreak of the Second World War, Wanklyn was given command of which he commanded from February until August 1940. Wanklyn sailed on patrol in the North Sea, during which he sank one vessel. In August 1940 he was given command of newly commissioned. In December 1940 the submarine was reassigned to the Mediterranean. Wanklyn began the first of his patrols in January 1941 and remained on operations in the Battle of the Mediterranean for the remainder of his career.
During 15 months of operations, Wanklyn led Upholder on 27 patrols and sank 11 Axis merchant and troopships while damaging four more. During his combat career he fought many actions with Regia Marina warships. He sank one destroyer and one minesweeper, and damaged a light cruiser. In a rare achievement, he also sank three Italian submarines. It amounted to 128,353 tons of enemy shipping. For the sinking of the heavily defended enemy transport SS Conte Rosso without working Asdic, he received the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be bestowed upon personnel in the British and Commonwealth forces.
On 14 April 1942, while on his 28th patrol, Wanklyn and his crew disappeared. He was posted missing in action. His exact fate remains unknown. Research suggests Upholder was sunk by a combination of an Italian warship and German aircraft. In 1986 the Royal Navy launched another submarine of the same name. The Upholder/Victoria-class submarine HMS Upholder served until 1994 when it was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy as HMCS Chicoutimi. It remains operational.
Early life and family
David Wanklyn's parents were William Lumb Wanklyn and Marjorie Wanklyn. His father was English and his mother's parents were Irish. As a young man Wanklyn preferred to be thought of as Scottish. He spent his formative years in Scotland and developed a close affinity for the country and people. He learned to shoot and practice his fishing skills while living there.Wanklyn's father was born in Argentina and brought up in Ayrshire, Scotland. His ancestors had moved to Argentina in the 19th century. His maternal grandfather was managing director of the Mercantile Bank of the River Plate until its collapse in 1875. His grandfather, Frederick, died soon afterwards and his grandmother Elizabeth discovered his estate had been mismanaged. Left destitute, she headed back to England with her eight children including William. Ill-fortune struck again during their return when the vessel in which they were travelling, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Boyne, ran aground on Friday 13 August on the rocks off the Isle of Molene, near Brest, France. The family lost most of their belongings.
With little money, his mother sent William to one of the family's many connections. He was adopted by a wealthy Manchester businessman who relocated him to the family's Ayrshire residence. He attended Marlborough College and qualified as an engineer. He married Marjorie Josephine Rawson in 1906. At 21 she was 14 years his junior. Eventually they moved to India. William was appointed chief engineer of the Port Engineering Company based near Calcutta. During this time they travelled around the Far East and North America generating business contacts.
On 28 June 1911 their third son, Malcolm "David" Wanklyn was born in Kolkata, India. He had two brothers Peter, Patrick, and two sisters, Nancy and Nancy. The Wanklyns quickly became wealthy and by the time of David's birth they were at the height of their material and social success. In 1911 they were invited to the Delhi Durbar, attended by King George V and Queen Mary.
When the First World War broke out in 1914 William Wanklyn joined the Calcutta Light Horse. He served on the Western Front until 1915 when he returned home to the commissioned officer rank of major in the Royal Engineers. When he was only six, David Wanklyn became enamoured with the sea. At this age he first met his uncle, his mother's brother. Lieutenant Alec Anderson was serving in the Royal Navy. He had commanded a destroyer, and during a convoy escort operation he had rammed and sunk a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland. His crippled ship was towed into Newport for repairs, and he used the opportunity to visit his sister and nephew in Scotland. The meeting had a profound effect upon David, who was deeply impressed by his exploits. Alec survived the war, but not the 1918 flu pandemic.
Wanklyn became a keen sailor and angler and was particularly fond of shooting. He was also an accomplished musician. In his teenage years, his uncle's stories were still vivid and Wanklyn's desires still lay with a naval career. He attended Parkfield Preparatory School in Haywards Heath, Sussex. Academically he excelled, although he was shy and a loner, and had a propensity to avoid team games. Nevertheless, his intellectual approach to his studies won him respect amongst his fellow students and made him a popular individual.
Royal Navy
In 1925 he applied to join the Royal Navy. During the selection board process it was discovered he was colour blind. This congenital disorder would normally have ended his career. Fortunately the chief medical officer was a patient man and coached him to differentiate between what he was seeing and what was a congenital illusion. He passed the written examinations and negotiated the Admiralty Interview Board. In 1925, he entered Dartmouth Naval College.He was assigned as a midshipman on 1 May 1929 after finishing top of his class in five subjects. In 1930 he was assigned to the battleship Marlborough, part of the Third Battle Squadron; and the following year to the battlecruiser in September 1931 on which he served with fellow midshipman, and future vice admiral, Peter Gretton. While serving in the ship, Wanklyn was promoted to acting sub-lieutenant, the equivalent of an army second lieutenant. He was promoted sub-lieutenant on 1 January 1932. Soon afterwards he moved to the naval gunnery school—HMS Excellent—at Whale Island, Portsmouth to learn more about naval navigation to qualify for his second ring at the rank of lieutenant. In February 1933 he moved to HMS Dolphin and was promoted lieutenant on 1 February 1933.
Submarine service
After attending promotion courses in 1932 he joined the Royal Navy Submarine Service the following spring, 1933. He served at Gosport and undertook intensive training on submarines. In September he served in the submarine which was part of the Mediterranean Fleet. It was his first appointment as a submariner. In 1934 he accompanied his new post on trips around the Mediterranean. Visits to Gibraltar, Malta, Algeria, France and Italy followed. In October 1934 he transferred to HMS L56 based with the rest of the 6th Submarine Flotilla at Portsmouth. Wanklyn spent a year on board before becoming the boat's first lieutenant. He learned a number of officer functions and was responsible for the vessel's diving trim and crew discipline. He would recall the performance of the L-class submarine when he commanded other such vessels in early 1940. He served aboard HMS Shark for the majority of 1937 and 1938 and became her first lieutenant.He patrolled around Gibraltar during the Spanish Civil War. Admiralty orders dictated any Nationalist or Spanish Republican Navy vessel that attempted to attack British shipping was to be sunk on sight. On one occasion, the submarine encountered a German U-boat. The two submarines watched each other from a distance of without taking action. While based at Malta Wanklyn married his girlfriend Betty at the Holy Trinity Church, Sliema, on 5 May 1938. Wanklyn invited all the officers and men who formed a guard of honour. It was not usual for officers to mix with lower ranks but Wanklyn showed no prejudice.
Wanklyn returned to Gosport in July 1939 and became the first lieutenant and second-in-command of HMS Otway, part of the 5th Submarine Flotilla, in August 1939. The submarine left Gosport on 24 August 1939 and sailed to Gibraltar to take on fuel and supplies. At the outbreak of war Wanklyn was deployed to Malta on 2 September and then to Alexandria in Egypt on 2 October 1939. Over the course of the Phoney War, Otway was in training. On Christmas Day the vessel docked in Marseille. Wanklyn was ordered to London to receive a new command. He was driven to Paris, where he spent boxing day and then on to Cherbourg, where he sailed for England.