The rare and outstanding battle of the Atlantic D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Chief...

The rare and outstanding battle of the Atlantic D.S.M. group of seven awarded to Chief Engine Room Artificer D. ‘Don’ Portree, Royal Canadian Navy, who was decorated for his gallant deeds in H.M.C.S. Assiniboine in August 1942, when she engaged, rammed and sunk the U-210. The action was captured in a remarkable series of photographs taken by an embarked official war correspondent and historian, an action marked by the extraordinary belligerence of the U-boat’s crew, several of whom loudly ‘Heiled’ on being rescued and brought aboard Assiniboine: not to be outdone, it is said that Canadian celebratory yells on getting their ‘kill’ probably ‘frightened U-boats’ as far as 10 miles away Distinguished Service Medal, G.VI.R. (21972 D. Portree, E.R.A.4, R.C.N.) impressed naming; 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star, 1 copy clasp, France and Germany; Defence Medal, Canadian issue in silver; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, with overseas clasp; War Medal 1939-45, Canadian issue in silver; Canadian Forces Decoration, E. II.R. (CPO 1/c D Portree) mounted as worn, good very fine (7) £3,000-£4,000 --- Importation Duty This lot is subject to importation duty of 5% on the hammer price unless exported outside the UK --- --- One of approximately 100 awards of the D.S.M. to the Royal Canadian Navy. D.S.M. London Gazette 22 December 1942: ‘For services in action with enemy submarines while serving in H.M. Canadian Ships.’ Donald Portree was born in Winnipeg, Canada in 1911 but later made his way east, ‘riding the rails’ during the depression. By 1940 he had settled with his wife in Hamilton, where he was working as a moulder at Dominion Foundries. Having then joined the Royal Canadian Navy, he was serving as an Engine Room Artificer in the destroyer H.M.C.S. Assiniboine by 1942. Assiniboine’s subsequent action with U-210 is well-documented, both in words and in photographs, due to her having embarked an official war correspondent and historian; the images used here are courtesy of the Department of National Defence/National Archives of Canada In August 1942, Assiniboine was detailed to act as escort to convoy SC-94, bound from Sydney, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, to the U.K. Lieutenant-Commander J. H. Stubbs, R.C.N., commanding Assiniboine, had the largest and fastest ship amongst the accompanying escort of three R.N. and three R.C.N. corvettes, the whole charged with protecting the 33 participating merchantmen. In the event, 11 of them were sunk. On the morning of 6 August 1942, U-210 was sighted by Assiniboine’s lookout at 1125 hours, a few miles away on the convoy’s starboard bow. Increasing speed, she hastened towards the surfaced U-boat which dived after three salvoes from her guns. Assiniboine’s then delivered three depth charge attacks, following which U-210 was sighted again at 1712 hours, surfaced about half a mile away, in the shifting and sometimes dense fog. A wild goose chase ensued, the destroyer and U-boat darting in and out of the fog patches, with Stubbs being unable to bring his 4.7-inch guns to bear on the target. Finally, however, Assiniboine got so close that only her secondary armament was able to depress sufficiently to bear on the twisting U-boat, her half-inch calibre machine-guns desperately trying to compete with the U-boat’s torrent of 37mm. and 20mm. fire. Hits were achieved by both sides, German sailors being swept from the boat’s casing in rushing to man the guns, but themselves getting hits on Assiniboine’s bridge and forward gun positions, killing one gunner, and wounding thirteen others. A fire fed by gasoline stored on Assiniboine’s upper deck took hold, starboard of the wheelhouse, and the ship’s coxswain, Chief Petty Officer Bernays, ordered two members of his team to go out and fight the flames. One of them was Chief Engine Room Artificer Don Portree, who was flipped over the ship’s rails when the pressure suddenly surged through his fire hose. Holding on for dear life, he was at length hauled back aboard, and by the time Assiniboine’s First Lieutenant, Ralph Hennessy, arrived on the scene, he found that Portree and Chief Torpedoman Burgess were well underway in fighting the fire. Stubbs, meanwhile, continued his battle with the U-boat, dropping more depth charges but without result. Finally, he was able to move off and bring his 4.7-inch guns to bear, obtaining a hit on the submarine’s bridge which killed the German captain. And when the U-210 commenced to dive, Stubbs was at last able to ram her just behind the conning tower. Yet, in an extraordinary act of belligerence the U-boat resurfaced and resumed firing her 20mm. gun. Once again Assiniboine’s 4-7-inch guns got stuck in, whilst Stubbs circled and rammed, this time convincingly so: U-210 was finished, slipping beneath the waves for a final time. In concluding his official report, Captain Stubbs stated: ‘I turned as quickly as possible to find him surfacing again but slightly down by the stern, still firing and making about 10 knots. After a little manoeuvring, we rammed him again well abaft the conning tower and fired a shallow pattern of depth charges as we passed. Also one 4.7″ shell from “Y” Gun scored a direct hit on his bows. He sank by the head in about two minutes. Dianthus appeared out of the fog just in time to see him go. The yell that went up from both ships must have frightened U-boats for about 10 miles in the vicinity. Ten prisoners were picked up by Assiniboine, 8 by Dianthus, six of which were later transferred to Assiniboine. While they were being separated the prisoners “Heiled” several times at the top of their voices. When received onboard, officers, of which there were two, and ratings, were segregated. Casualties sustained amounted to one rating killed, one officer and twelve ratings wounded. Ship’s plating was punctured in dozens of places on the water line, gun shields, bridge, range finder, funnels and searchlight platform. Several bullets penetrated to the wheel house, which probably accounts for the lack of track charts for this particular period. All compartments below the waterline, aft to the provision room were flooded, and extra shores were placed. A./S. and R.D.F. were out of action as well as gun circuits and certain lighting circuits. It is notable that two of the most delicate instruments in the ship, the plot and the gyro, remained intact. In view of all this I decided the ship must return to St. John’s forthwith … ’ The gallant actions of Assiniboine’s crew were duly rewarded: in fact, in terms of a single action, the ship became one of the most decorated in the history of the Royal Canadian Navy: Stubbs received the D.S.O., his First Lieutenant the D.S.C., the coxswain the C.G.M. (one of just two such awards to the R.C.N. in the last war), and Portree and three others the D.S.M. Fourteen of the crew were mentioned in despatches, too. Portree received his D.S.M. at an investiture held in July 1943 and returned to Hamilton after the war. He died there in 1994. Sold with copied research.