Beschreibung:

“I was a single man. I was quite happy to go out there because I was all pumped up. We had just sunk a blooming great warship - this could be the icing on the cake, you know? It’s just something exciting that I might never ever get a chance to do.” (Petty Officer Graham Libby, D.S.M.) The exceptional Falklands War D.S.M. pair awarded to Petty Officer (Sonar) (Submarine) Graham J. R. ‘Horse’ Libby, Royal Navy, the senior qualified diver in H.M. Submarine Conqueror, who volunteered to carry out a night dive in ‘dark, freezing, and terrifying conditions’ to free a floating wire aerial which had become trapped round Conqueror’s propeller, causing cavitation and noise which put the submarine at great risk of detection by the enemy; the only NATO nuclear-powered submarine to engage an enemy ship with torpedoes, it was Conqueror that torpedoed and sank the Argentinean cruiser General Belgrano on 2 May 1982; having returned to U.K. waters in July 1982, Conqueror shortly afterwards took part in Operation ‘Barmaid’, an audacious, highly secret and ultimately successful mission to capture a complete ‘towed-array sonar system’ from a Soviet spy-ship - Graham Libby led the team of four divers who brought the prize aboard Distinguished Service Medal, E.II.R., 2nd issue (A PO (S) (SM) G J R Libby D152458V); South Atlantic 1982, with rosette (APO (SSM) G J R Libby D152458V HMS Conqueror) with related miniature medals and submariner’s badge, nearly extremely fine (2) £40,000-£50,000 Footnote Provenance: Formerly in the Collection of the late Len Matthews who purchased these medals from the recipient in December 1988. D.S.M. London Gazette 8 October 1982: ‘In recognition of gallantry during the operations in the South Atlantic.’ The published citation states: ‘Acting Petty Officer (Sonar) (SM) Graham John Robert Libby, D152458V. While on patrol north of the Falklands Islands on 25th May 1982 a floating wire aerial trapped round HMS CONQUEROR’s propeller causing cavitation and noise to the detriment of her operational effectiveness. Acting Petty Officer (Sonar) (SM) Libby volunteered to carry out a dive to free the obstruction. With the submarine surfaced he knew full well that if she were detected by Argentine aircraft she would possibly have to dive without recovering him. He was also battered by heavy waves, threatening to part his lifeline and sweeping him away. Nonetheless he succeeded in clearing most of the obstruction, after twenty minutes in dark, freezing, and terrifying conditions, enabling HMS CONQUEROR to continue on her patrol unhindered. Acting Petty Officer (Sonar) (SM) Libby demonstrated a degree of cold, calculated courage and willingness to risk his life for the benefit of the ship far beyond any call of duty.’ A total of only 11 D.S.Ms. awarded for the Falklands War, including 6 to the Royal Navy, 2 to the Royal Marines, and 3 to the Fleet Air Arm. Libby’s D.S.M. and the D.S.O. to Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown are the only two gallantry awards to submariners for this campaign. The story of the sinking of the Belgrano has been well-told in many books but it was not until the publication in 2012 of Stuart Prebble’s book ‘Secrets of the Conqueror’ that another story emerged; one of clandestine, highly secret and sensitive cold war operations, in which Conqueror was involved both before and after the Falklands conflict. His story is based on, amongst other things, personal conversations he had in later years with many of the crew of the Conqueror, clearly including Graham ‘Horse’ Libby. The South Atlantic Of the sinking of the Belgrano, Prebble writes: ‘Lunch on that day consisted of roast pork with all the trimmings, followed by apple crumble and custard. Grant Louch [weapons engineering rating] had just come off his morning duty and tried to grab two hours’ sleep before he would be called to action stations. Needless to say, he did not sleep. “I remember it being very calm,” he recalls. “Everyone was doing everything exac