Bob Whinney

On 17 January whilst escorting Convoy ON18 Duncan was accidentally rammed by a Norwegian merchant vessel causing a twenty-foot hole in her side but fortunately she did not sink and was taken under tow to Invergordon for temporary repairs.[17] She was later towed to Grangemouth for repairs that were not completed until 22 July.[18]

After another short stint at the Anti-submarine training school Whinney joined the lead ship of the 4th Destroyer flotilla HMS Cossack under Captain Philip Vian, with whom he had served under as a midshipman on Royal Sovereign.[19] In May 1941 whilst they were escorting a southbound convoy WS8B from Glasgow they heard that HMS Hood had been sunk by German battleship Bismarck. Cossack along with Maori, Sikh, Zulu and Polish destroyer ORP Piorun were detached from the convoy to aid the hunt for Bismarck. On the evening of 26 May Piorun spotted Bismarck and opened fire; Vian kept up the attacks throughout the night, maintaining contact until the arrival of the big ships of the fleet the next day.[20]

His next appointment was to the staff of the Commander-in-chief, South Atlantic stationed in Freetown, West Africa where he advised on Anti-submarine matters and trained the local escort force.[21] Here he caused a slight controversy when he was sent to investigate the Cape Verde Islands by reconnaissance aircraft for signs of German U-boats being refuelled there; the islands belonged to Britain's allies Portugal and Whinney flying too close was caught snooping.[22] He also caught malaria whilst stationed here which needed several months of treatment beginning at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases (then based in Liverpool) on his return to Britain at the end of 1942.[23]

Whinney assumed command of the destroyer HMS Wanderer in April 1943 while it was being converted to a long range escort in the dockyards of Devonport.[24] They served on the Western Approaches Command initially based at Greenock but later moving to Londonderry. Their first operational job was to escort troop ships for the Allied invasion of Sicily.[25][26]

On 25 August 1943 during a convoy bound for Gibraltar, Wanderer attacked and sank German submarine U-523 some 400 miles (640 km) off Cape Finisterre with depth charges, whilst co-operating with the British corvette HMS Wallflower.[26][27] U-523 suffered 17 dead with 37 survivors.[28]

The following day (26 August), Wanderer delivered an advance RAF party to Portugal to implement the agreement signed between Britain and Portugal for the use of airfields in the Azores from which to operate their maritime patrol aircraft.[26][29]

On 17 Jan 1944 Wanderer, in concert with the frigate HMS Glenarm, sank a U-boat (identified as U-305[30][31] but possibly U-377[32]) in the North Atlantic. Whinney was concerned about the repercussions of this action, as he had disobeyed an order, and carried out an unauthorized attack, to achieve this result,[33] but he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) in February 1944, and on 20 June 1944 he was awarded a Bar to the decoration.[34]

On 5 July 1944 while supporting the Normandy Invasion, Wanderer and the British frigate HMS Tavy sank U-390 in the Baie de la Seine, English Channel, with depth charges; 48 were killed with 1 survivor.[26][35][36] 49°52′N 00°48′W Whinney received a second Bar to his DSC for this action in October 1944.[37]

Having landed the survivor from U-390 at Portland Whinney discovered that Wanderer was no longer sea worthy so he was reassigned to a job in the Admiralty assessing reports of Anti-submarine actions.[36][38] However, having been on the job for only a few weeks Whinney fell ill with "operational fatigue" in late December and so it came as a great surprise to be promoted to commander on 31 December 1944.[39]

After a short spell on the sick list, Whinney decided to get back to work and was offered a post as Executive Commander at HMS Dolphin, the Royal Navy submarine school at Fort Blockhouse.[39]