Leading Seaman James (Mick) Magennis Victoria Cross

By John McGregor

Message from the Editor

By the Editor – The author presents two Second World War cases of exceptional daring from the Royal Navy’s midget submarine force: the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz on 22 September 1943, and the attack on the Japanese heavy cruiser Takao on 1 August 1945. James ‘Mick’ Magennis, VC, features prominently in both accounts.

A 15 minute read.

Mick Magennis’ 1,000 miles – Eight days across the North Sea for the Tirpitz attack When I joined submarines in 1962 I became fascinated with submarine history and in particular I admired the brave exploits of the midget X-class submariners. On the walls of the training base HMS Dolphin were the photos of the submarine VC holders – mostly submarine commanding officers but I became aware that Mick Magennis was one of just two sailor VCs. Years later when founding the Neptune Association in honour of the tragic sinking of HMS Neptune and HMS Kandahar in December 1941 I realised that Mick had ser…

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