HMS Venturer-- Part 5: The 4th's the Charm

Lt. Jimmy S. Launders fired off four torpedoes at 17-second intervals beginning at 12:02 and all took four minutes to reach their target.  Then he dived the Venturer, expecting German retaliation.  The U-864 heard the torpedoes coming at her and took evasive action, dived deeper and turned to avoid them.

She managed to evade the first three but steered directly into the path of the fourth.  Exploding, the German ship split in two and sank with all hands some 490 feet below the surface of the water.

Launders was awarded a bar to his Distinguised Service Order medal for this.

During the Venturer's career, it also sank five merchant ships.

When the war ended, the ship was destined for the scrapyard before being sold to the Royal Norwegian Navy and renamed the Ulstein and served until January 1964 when it was retired and scrapped.

And, I wouldn't have known this story except for writing about a War of 1812 ship.  That's called Road Tripping Through History.

Quite the Story.  --GreGen