RN officer sank one of WWII's last U-boats

Nick Mead 1922–2015

Nick Mead, who has died aged 93, was a British naval officer who sank two German U-boats during World War II, and later became a tobacco farmer in Africa.

In May 1943 Mead was the anti-submarine officer in Broadway, leader of Escort Group C2, when the homeward-bound Convoy HX 237, laden with food and supplies for the Allied war effort, was attacked by three wolf packs of German U-boats north-east of the Azores. On May 12 Swordfish aircraft from the escort carrier Biter detected a U-boat, and Mead, directed by the frigate Lagan, hunted the U-89 and sank it in a silent or "creeping" attack.

Two other U-boats were sunk during the convoy battle and several others damaged and forced to return to base. Though three merchant ships were lost, 35 arrived safely in Britain.

Convoy HX 237 was one more victory in a month later known as Black May for the German U-boat campaign. Karl Dönitz, the man in charge of the campaign, ordered all U-boats to be temporarily withdrawn from the Atlantic. Temporary Sub-Lieutenant Mead was awarded the DSC for his gallantry, skill and devotion to duty.

Two years later, on the morning of April 6 1945, Mead was first lieutenant of the anti-submarine destroyer Watchman, escorting Convoy VWP 16 on its return from France to Portsmouth. The German submarine U-1195 detected propeller noises as it lay on the seabed and rose to attack the convoy. The German commander fired two homing torpedoes, one of which sank an empty troopship; Mead, keeping the morning watch on the bridge, immediately counter-attacked using Hedgehog, Watchman's forward-throwing anti-submarine mortar, and sank U-1195 at the first pass.

The sinking of U-1195 was one of the last of the war. Mead, who was due to go on leave that morning, travelled to London on the same train which carried the survivors of the U-boat. He was awarded the bar to his DSC; the U-boat is now a popular dive site.

Frederick Nicolas Mead was born on March 19, 1922 at Queenstown, Ireland, where his father was serving in the Navy, and educated at Dorset House, Littlehampton and Tonbridge School, Kent. As a child he accompanied his parents on an appointment to Hong Kong between 1923 and 1925.

Prior to the outbreak of war Mead studied at a crammer and had passed the entrance exams for Dartmouth, but his course was cancelled. While waiting for his call-up papers he joined the Oxford and Cambridge forestry camp in the Forest of Dean. He was shocked when he came to London to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and found the city in the middle of the Blitz.

He served as a seaman in the carrier Victorious during the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck. As "doggie" (or messenger) to Victorious's Commander (Flying), Mead observed air operations closely, before starting officer training at Hove. In March 1943 he joined the four-funnelled, American, lend-lease destroyer Broadway on convoy duties in the Atlantic. The destroyer was quite unsuited for the heavy seas, and winter mornings started with removing ice from the upper works with steam hoses. To add to the discomfort, the seas broke over the bridge and Broadway rolled by up to 60 degrees; at one point she lost a funnel and two men were washed overboard.