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The Man who Torpedoed the Scharnhorst

The destroyers Ardent and Acasta were escorting the aircraft carrier Glorious from Norway to Scapa Flow when they were sighted by the enemy ships the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. In the ensuing engagement the Glorious and Ardent were quickly sunk. The captain of the Acasta decided to fight it out.

Leading Seaman Nick Carter's action station was manning the torpedo tubes. After most of the crew had been killed, he managed to fire a torpedo which hit the Scharnhorst which forced it and the Gneisenau to retire.

The Acasta also sank and Leading Seaman Carter spent three days adrift on a raft in the North Sea. But he survived to tell the tale.

No one would believe his claim that a torpedo he had fired had actually damaged the Scharnhorst and I understand that it was not until the late 50s that his story of the gallant fight put up by the Acasta was finally believed.

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