Beschreibung:

A rare Second World War submariner’s D.S.M. group of five awarded to Acting Chief Petty Officer H. C. Grieve, Royal Navy, a 2nd Coxswain who was twice mentioned in despatches in H.M. submarine Trident prior to being decorated for her subsequent attack on the Prinz Eugen off Norway in February 1942 Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (J. 109625 H. C. Grieve, A./P.O.); 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; War Medal 1939-45, M.I.D. oak leaf; Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.VI.R., 1st issue (J. 109625 H. C. Grieve, L.S., H.M.S. Trident), extremely fine (5) £1600-1800 Footnote D.S.M. London Gazette 16 June 1942: ‘For skill and daring in a surface attack by H.M.S. Trident on the Prinz Eugen and escorting destroyers.’ Herbert Cumming Grieve entered the Royal Navy in May 1925 and transferred to the Submarine Service as an Able Seaman in early 1935. A Leading Seaman serving in H.M. submarine Trident by the outbreak of hostilities in September 1939, he was quickly engaged on war patrols off Scandinavia, initially under Commander James Gordon R.N., and then from January to April 1940, under Lieutenant-Commander Alan Seale, R.N., the latter period witnessing the torpedoing of the German tanker Stedingen south of Oslo on 8 April, after her crew had abandoned ship. Brace of “mentions” Later that month Lieutenant-Commander Geoffrey Sladen, D.S.O., R.N., took command of Trident, and she departed on her eighth wartime patrol a few days later, a patrol that included a surface action against the German merchantman Clare Hugo Stinnes I on in Kors Fjord 2 May - Trident fired 70 rounds, compelling the enemy ship to beach itself on Skorpa Island, but, as related by David Thomas in Submarine Victory, the enemy’s response was swift: ‘Also within sight of the enemy coast was the Trident (Lieutenant-Commander G. M. Sladen) when she carried out a surface attack on a German supply ship laden with iron ore from Narvik. It was in Kors Fjord, and the surrounding hills were lined with groups of Norwegian people who watched the action with interest and admiration. The Trident opened fire at a range of 5,000 yards with her gun and the German vessel beached herself in her attempt to escape. Sladen finished her off with a torpedo, which exploded on the rocks below her and blew a great hole in her bottom. But the Trident was not to get away without a fight. As she came out of the Fjord she was attacked and the depth charges were near enough to start some minor leaks in the hull. These were not serious, but what made things difficult was that the Trident already had some water in her bilges and was trimmed heavy. As she dived she went down to 400 feet, but was unable to pump out her bilges, as the oily water in them would inevitably give away her position to the hunting boats above. The bilge water was collecting aft, making her stern heavy, so that she took up an angle of ten degrees down by the stern, giving her a depth aft of 425 feet. To get her on an even keel, a bucket chain was formed in the boat and the after bilges baled out by hand. The water was transferred forward from hand to hand until at last the stern was brought level with the bows. The Trident made her way clear of her attackers and was then brought up to periscope depth to find the sea empty.’ Then on 8 October 1940, during her 13th wartime patrol, Trident carried out an attack on the U-31 in the Bay of Biscay, but her torpedoes missed - so she surfaced and fought a spirited gun action, closing to point blank range and getting a hit in on the U-Boat’s conning tower, an action all the more courageous in view of the area being infested with enemy A./S. vessels. Grieve was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 3 December 1940 refers). Appointed to the acting rank of Petty Officer in February 1941, Grieve and his shipmates continued to carry out patrols in the Bay of Biscay until ordered to Polyarnoe, Russia that August. A few days later, on the 19th, Trident fought a surface action with the German merchantman